March 20 Protests Draw Millions - Reportback & Next Steps

[alerts@unitedforpeace.org]

ACTION ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
http://www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
To subscribe, visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email
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In this email:
1. Reportback on March 20 protests
2. This Wednesday, March 24, Congressional Call-In Day on Iraq
3. Upcoming Events

1. OVER 2 MILLION WORLDWIDE PROTEST ON MARCH 20
By our latest count, more than 600 protests against war and occupation took
place around the world on Saturday, March 20, on the one-year anniversary
of the Iraq War. Taken together, these events brought well over 2 million
people out into the streets for peace, in one of the largest ever
coordinated displays of grassroots activism.

For a comprehensive list of where protests took place on March 20, visit:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2336
For news articles and links to photographs and reportbacks, visit:
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2353

Under the banner, "The World STILL Says No to War," people in more than 60
countries throughout the world - from Japan to South Korea to Spain to
Australia to South Africa - called for an end to the occupation of Iraq and
condemned the Bush Administration's empire-building agenda. The March 20
global day of protest surpassed our most optimistic expectations, both in
terms of the number of cities and countries that organized events and the
number of people who took to the streets. At least 300 U.S. cities and
towns held anti-war events on Saturday, as did more than 300 other cities
throughout the world.

In the United States, notable protests included a 100,000-person march and
rally in New York City, and a similar event in San Francisco attended by
more than 50,000. In Crawford, Texas, where President George Bush owns a
ranch and often vacations, 1,000 protesters converged to repudiate his
militaristic policies and call for a diversion of the billions of dollars
that are being spent on war to domestic programs like schools, health
clinics, and unemployment benefits. Military families and veterans led a
protest that drew 1,500 to Fayetteville, North Carolina, outside the Fort
Bragg military base. Please share news clippings and reportbacks from your
local March 20 event by mailing them to UFPJ, P.O. Box 607, Times Square
Station, NY NY 10108.

In Rome, at least one million people took to the streets, in the largest
single protest of the day. In Spain, demonstrations took place in more than
40 cities around the country, bringing hundreds of thousands out into the
streets for the second time since the terrorist attacks that killed more
than 200 Spaniards and injured 1500. London and Tokyo held protests drawing
tens of thousands of participants.

Overall, March 20 showed the ongoing vibrancy and strength of the global
peace movement. The depth of this movement was articulated as the demand
for an end to the occupation of Iraq was linked to other critical issues:
the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the role of the U.S. military in
ousting the president of Haiti, domestic repression and dramatic cuts in
social programs. Congratulations to everyone who helped make the March 20
Global Day of Action such a success.

We still urgently need funds to help cover the many costs associated with
the March 20 mobilization. Please call our office at 212-868-5545 to make a
credit-card donation, or make an online donation by visiting
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/donate. You can also mail a check or money
order to UFPJ, P.O. Box 607, Times Square Station, NY NY 10108.

2. MARCH 24: CONGRESSIONAL CALL-IN DAY ON IRAQ
This Wednesday, March 24, United for Peace and Justice encourages you to
deliver the message and power of the "World Still Says No to War" global
actions to your members of Congress with a National Iraq Call-In Day to
Washington, DC. After months of deceptions and evasions from the Bush
Administration regarding its invasion and occupation of Iraq, the American
people want the whole truth and it's time for Congress to get to the heart
of the matter.

Call the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121 and tell your members of
Congress to support thorough, timely and in-depth investigations into the
use of pre-war intelligence and the awarding of reconstruction contracts:
Tell your Representative to support HR 494 and HR 2625; tell your Senator
to support S1946.

For background and details on these bills, visit
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/article.php?id=2294

3. NEXT STEPS & UPCOMING EVENTS
Help sustain the momentum from Saturday's Global Day of Action! In the
weeks and months to come, there will be many more opportunities to promote
a vision of peace and justice and take action to change the course of U.S.
policy. In this election year, it's critical to keep independent voices and
views in the public eye, to help shape the national debate over the
country's future direction.

One key upcoming date is TAX DAY, APRIL 15, an excellent occasion for
making the links between the massive expense of militarism abroad and the
devastating cuts to social and educational programs here at home. We
encourage you to organize creative Tax Day actions in your community to
highlight the real costs of our government's skewed pending priorities. You
might choose to hand out informational flyers at the post office to people
who are mailing their tax forms, or you could also organize rallies at
health clinics, schools or other community institutions whose budgets are
being slashed at the same time that spending on war is skyrocketing.

Check our website at http://www.unitedforpeace.org over the next two weeks
for educational resources you can use in your community on April 15.

Some other important upcoming events supported by United for Peace and
Justice include:

* March 30: Mobilization and Lobby Day to Close the School of the Americas
(Washington, DC)

* April 21-25: Mobilization to Stop World Bank and IMF Destruction
(Washington, DC)

* April 25: March for Women's Lives (Washington, DC)

* May 1: Major protest for nuclear disarmament, coinciding with the UN
Non-Proliferation Treaty conference in New York City

Visit our website at http://www.unitedforpeace.org for more details on
these events.
You can also download an updated 2004 UFPJ Action Calendar at
http://www.unitedforpeace.org/downloads/2004_action_calendar.pdf

===========================================
ACTION ALERT * UNITED FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE
http://www.unitedforpeace.org | 212-868-5545
To subscribe, visit http://www.unitedforpeace.org/email
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