TORONTO, Ontario – Ten thousand Torontonians joined the millions of defiant voices around the world today in a peace rally protesting U.S. President George W. Bush’s campaign for war against Iraq.
The cries for peace became louder after the Bush administration didn’t show signs of backing down from their cries for war, even after the U.S. failed to convince the U.N. Security Council yesterday that Iraq should face military action for not fully cooperating with the weapons inspectors and disarm. Police estimate about 10,000 people took part in the peaceful rally in Toronto, among the estimated 70 other Canadian cities and hundreds of others worldwide staging the demonstrations organized by peace activists in an international day of action.
Demonstrators, who braved the biting cold weather which dipped to -24 C with the wind chill, were from all walks of life, from students and parents with their babies, to activists and groups such as the Canadian Peace Alliance, Canadian Arab Federation and the homeless advocacy group, Toronto Disaster Relief Committee.
They chanted “Stop the killing and the hate” and held banners such as “Don’t Attack Iraq”, “Impeach George Warrior Bush” and “Drop Bush, Not Bombs!” NDP leader Jack Layton and Councillor Olivia Chow joined the march from Dundas Square at Yonge and Dundas Streets, past the U.S. Consulate building on University Ave., which was blocked off by police, to Metro Hall on John St.
“We are facing a rising movement of which you are a part of … based on anger and on hope,” Layton told the crowd at Metro Hall, the final stop of the march. “Anger that George Bush could have brought the world to a precipice of a war in Iraq, a war which will do nothing to increase security-absolutely nothing.”
Bush was the main target of criticism for many, including Layton, who accused him of using the war to benefit his country, as he said the war has already injected billions of dollars into the United States’ struggling economy. And he urged the Canadian government to make a “moral choice” and consider the consequences of war on innocent lives.
“We call on the government of Canada to say this: ‘We reject the path of militarization and war, and we invest in people of the world and their well-being as Canadians,’ ” Layton said, referring to the billions of dollars being invested in war instead of aiding the victims of poverty and diseases such as AIDS.
Meanwhile, the largest anti-war crowd was in Rome, making up what police estimate to be one million people. More than 100,000 protested in Montreal, 100,000 in New York City, and 750,000 in London, the city’s biggest demonstration. Berlin had up to half a million turn out, and about 100,000 demonstrated in Paris.
-With files from CP and AP
Millions March Worldwide To Denounce Bush’s War Plans
• Rome: 1.5 million
• Barcelona: 1 million
• Madrid: 1 million
• New York City 500,000
• Berlin: 500,000
• Melbourne: 200,000
• Athens, Greece: 200,000
• Dublin, Ireland: 100,000+
• Begium: 100,000
• Paris: 100,000
• Sweden: 100,000
• Jakarta: 100,000
• Amsterdam: 80,000
• Montevideo, Uruguay: 50,000
• Thessaloniki, Greece: 40,000
• Sao Paulo, Brasil: 30,000
• Bern, Switzerland: 30,000
• Japan: 25,000
• Budapest, Hungary: 20,000
• Vienna: 20,000
• Iruñea, Basque Country: 20,000
• Buenos Aires, Argentina: 15,000
• Rio de Janeiro, Brasil: 15,000
• Helsinki, Finland: 15,000
•: Johannesburg: 10,000
• Aukland, NZ: 8-10,000
• Sydney, Australia
• Warsaw
