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Cisco DeVries
(510) 981-7103 |
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 18, 2003
BERKELEY
TO HOLD PEACE RALLY ON
DAY AFTER WAR BEGINS
Community
leaders and elected officials announce plan for peace rally at 4 p.m. in
Martin Luther King Jr. Park on first workday evening after Iraq invasion
begins.
Berkeley,
CA – Berkeley community leaders, including the Mayor and several City
Council members, have announced plans for a peace rally and march in the
city on the first workday after the war in Iraq begins.
The
event, which will be held in Martin Luther King Jr. Park (on Martin Luther
King Jr. Way, between Allston and Center Streets), will begin at 4 p.m.
with youth-oriented hip-hop and drumming performances, speakers at 5 p.m.,
a peace march from at 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., and a 7:30 p.m. candlelight
vigil back at the park.
“The
people of Berkeley have grave concerns about this pre-emptive war,” said
Mayor Tom Bates. “We
all hope this event never becomes necessary.
But if a war starts, we want the community to have a peaceful place
to gather and express themselves.”
“Berkeley
citizens will join with millions worldwide to protest the U.S. attack,”
said City Council Member Dona Spring. “The
U.S. must show by example how to work with other nations to resolve
conflict nonviolently through negotiation and worldwide pressure.”
“Members
of the Berkeley faith community are concerned about the injustice and
immorality of a war launched unilaterally by the United States without
significant international support,” said Rev. Marvis Peoples, Pastor
of the Liberty Hill Missionary Baptist Church. “Ministers throughout
our community are encouraging their congregations to participate in this
march and rally if war occurs, while hoping and praying there will be no
need.”
Other
scheduled speakers include Barbara Lubin, director of the
Middle East Children's Alliance; Rev. Bill O'Donnell; Vice Mayor Maudelle
Shirek; City Council member Dona Spring; and Berkeley School Board Member
Terry Doran. Performers
slated to appear include members of the Hip-Hop Collective, Vicente Cruz,
and jazz, Klezmer, and folk performers.
Rally
sponsors include Mayor Bates, City Council Members Spring and Margaret
Breland, Berkeley School Board Member John Selawsky, the Berkeley Ecology
Center, the Tinker's Workshop, and the East Bay Coalition to Stop
Sanctions Against Iraq.
If
the war begins, the rally date will be confirmed on the web at www.ProgressivePortal.org/rally, on voicemail at (510)
594-4088, and on flyers downtown. To register for email notification, send
a note to BerkeleyRally@ProgressivePortal.org.
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