Five Years Since Millions Marched Against War

Happy 5th anniversary, you dreamers for peace.
I remember the day clearly, in part because it was so damn cold. My face was frozen, my fingers were frozen, well, everything was frozen. I was driving the van that brought the sound equipment to the demonstration that day and had worked the night before so I was very tired.
But as cold as it was and as early as it was, it was clear that this was going to be something very big. You can always tell when it's going to be a big protest because people arrive early. Anybody who's been on more than one demonstration knows that rallies never, ever start on time, so you might as well show up late. But when people are coming early, it's because they've never demonstrated before. So, when you get those people, it's going to be a big one. On February 15, 2003 in Toronto - and hundreds of other cities around the world - it was a big one.
By some estimates, it was the single largest movement of people on a single day in human history, pushing 30 million by many estimates. In London, UK, alone there were some 2 million on the streets (see pic below). It was that big. In Toronto, we were 80,000, the largest protest since the Toronto General Strike as part of the Days of Action movement in 1996.
It was electric. There we were standing in Dundas Square, watching people pour in from every directions. Seas of people and placards and homemade banners filled the streets. The police didn't even bother to try to stop them. On that day the streets were ours.
February 15 didn't stop the war - though the mobilizations across Canada, especially the 250,000 in Montreal, did ensure Canada didn't officially participate. But it made the boneheads and chickenhawks who make the decisions to send the young to kill and die in faraway places for oil wealth and imperial power think twice before starting the next one. I remain convinced that were it not for the domestic and international opposition to the war against Iraq in the US and the UK we would already be fighting in Iran. And the Harper Tories wouldn't have to hide behind weasel words and sneaky maneuvers to keep us in Afghanistan.
February 15 was, quite simply, a moment of real history. I hope you were there.

Artists Against The War

The Society of Illustrators in New York city has an exhibit of anti-war illustrations on display from January 3 until January 28. It's being held in conjunction with The Nation magazine. There's some beautiful and disturbing work there by some of America's leading illustrators. If you're in New York you can see it in person. Definitely check it out. And while we're on the subject of artists against the war - Artists Against War in Toronto, Canada has set up a Facebook group that is growing fast. We've been around since 2003, organizing events and fundraisers for the anti-war movement. Last summer we held an outdoor film festival called Peace Reel, that is planned again for this summer. And our annual conference - Art Changes Everything - is coming up April 12. So, get on over to Facebook and hook up with us.

Films For Peace

So, tonight was the third installment in the Peace Reel Film Festival, organized by Artists Against War in Christie Pits Park, here in Toronto. It's been a great event, nothing quite like watching movies under the stars (or the barely visible spots in the sky that pass for stars in the city). There's no doubt that the event was a great success by all accounts (except that most elusive of accounts - money. We're not allowed to charge, only ask for donations).
The first screening in the series was the Canadian premiere of an incredible film about the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, Occupation 101. Things looked dreary on the day, to be honest, with a major downpour and looming black clouds into the evening. Not the kind of thing which brings people out to an outdoor event. But still the people came - nearly 200 of of them, which is a sure sign of how important this issue is to people, and to the buzz around the film. AAW flew one of the filmmakers up from LA - Sufyan Omeish - to introduce the film and take questions. He was extremely articulate on the issues (not surprising since he and his brother spent 6 years making the film).
The next week the crowd wasn't as large but still respectable at 80 people for Kanehsatake: 270 years of resistance. This film is now more than 10 years old so the fact that it can still draw people speaks to its power and to the issue. It's about the Indigenous occupation of a planned construction site on indigenous land at Oka in Quebec. With the recent national day of action for land rights, this film still has lots of relevance. It was preceded by a short film called Mohawk Smokes - about how the Mohawk community at Tyendinaga, in Ontario, have been selling tobacco to raise money for a traditional longhouse and for community services. One of the directors, Audrey Huntley, along with Doreen Silversmith, an indigenous representative from Six Nations, spoke to the films and the issues within them.
Back to tonight... It was bigger than last week with over 100 showing up to see the screening of The Prisoner: or How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair - a film about a journalist in Iraq who was arrested by US troops and held for 9 months, including in the notorious Abu Ghraib. He was told that he was involved in a plot to kill British Prime Minister Tony Blair. If it weren't for the very real horror that Yunus, the subject of the film, and his brothers suffered it would be a comedy.
Anyway, there's just one more week to go in the Film Festival - which I believe to be Canada's only outdoor film festival. Next week will be the classic anti-colonial film, The Battle of Algiers. If you're in Toronto, you don't want to miss it. It's an incredible movie, so sharp on the issues and reality of foreign occupation that the Pentagon screened it for some of its officers as a lesson in what not to do. Apparently they weren't paying attention.