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By Jordan Green
Bronx anti-war activists are poised to protest in Times Square if
and when the United States begins a military assault on Iraq.
Community activists who cut a swath across the borough's churches,
unions, colleges, and social service agencies have slowly
progressed from cautious reflection in the aftermath of the Sept.
11, 2001, attacks, to adamant rejection of war in response to
terrorism.
A Feb. 15 rally near the United Nations in frigid temperatures drew
nearly a half million. The borough's anti-war activists are trying
to determine what's next.
"There are a lot of innocents who will die in this war, so why
don't we get together?" said Ines Contreras, 43, who came with a
contingent from the Bronx Spanish Evangelical Church in
Melrose. "For me, it's a pleasure to be out here in the cold."
Contreras' church, along with the King of Glory Tabernacle in
Morris Heights, joined forces with Bronx Action for Justice and
Peace to participate in the rally.
Bronx Action was launched in November 2001 by social workers,
journalists and students who were troubled by President Bush's
military response to the Sept. 11 attacks.
"We felt we had to be cautious about the raw emotions around
9-11,"
said Frank Farkas, a 57-year-old retired social worker from
Kingsbridge Heights.
The group started on neutral footing by sponsoring educational
forums. By last October, Bronx Action was ready to hold its first
rally in response to a congressional resolution authorizing the use
of force against Iraq. The rally refashioned the group into
a "partisan" effort, Farkas said.
Since last fall, a sea change took effect in the borough, as it did
across the country. "People know there's a peace movement now, and
it's large," said Mark Van Hollebeke, a Fordham graduate student
who serves as the group's webmaster. "They accept now that it's
patriotic to dissent."
Bronx Action has 25 core members and a mailing list of more than
300, according to organizer Jordan Moss, editor of the neighborhood
weekly Norwood News. The founding members were already active in
other groups such as the Catholic organization Pax Christi and the
United Federation of Teachers. According to Van Hollebeke, the
group's members represent a sampling of faiths -Hindu, Catholic,
Mennonite, and Lutheran-and have built bridges to their religious
communities.
The swelling of the anti-war movement has given Bronx Action
enviable growing pains. "We're at a crossroads," said Van
Hollebeke. "We have the opportunity to grow by leaps and bounds.
But it's important that at no point along the way should we lose
the practice of democratic participation."
The group's approach has vacillated between aggressive recruitment
and controlled growth, he said.
While Bronx Action has served as something of a clearinghouse for
the anti-war movement, churches like Spanish Evangelical and King
of Glory have initiated their own activism. Similarly, the Bronx
Green Party has started organizingpeace vigils at the Veteran's
Monument in Riverdale every Saturday afternoon.
Earlier this month, New York anti-war forces received home-grown
reinforcement from Rep. José E. Serrano (D-South Bronx), who filed
a lawsuit with five other members of Congress in federal district
court in Boston to challenge the president's ability to launch a
war against Iraq without further congressional approval.
Alahim Cissi, 10, speaks for many in the Bronx anti-war
movement. "I want peace," said Cissi. "I don't think Bush
should be
taking people's lives and taking children from their families just
because Iraq made his dad look like a dummy." |
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Photo caption: Bronx anti-war protesters
cross the 145th Street
Bridge and march through East Harlem on Feb. 15.
Photo credit: Jordan Green |
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