By Justin D. Gest
Crimson Staff Writer, HarvardUniversity
Just days before pivotal midterm elections,about 25,000 protesters huddled around Park at Boston Commonyesterday afternoon to voice their opposition to military actionagainst Iraq.
Organized by United for Justice with Peace, alocal anti-war coalition, the event was large enough to close downadjacent Tremont Street.
Enduring frigid conditions, supporters heard fromGreen Party gubernatorial candidate Jill E. Stein, Boston UniversityProfessor Howard Zinn and actor Tim Robbins, as the smell of burningsage permeated the park‚ as frozen fields and folk songs echoedoff the facades of neighboring buildings.
'War breeds terrorism, war is terrorism,' Zinnsaid, addressing the crowd. 'We need a regime change right here.'Robbins said he was awed by the sheer number of people. He said thatit took years to assemble a crowd that size in the 1960s. Many of theprotestors hoisted signs, while some flew kites and others playedbongo drums and tambourines.
Local political folk singer Pamela Means playedseveral songs while preaching to her fellow protesters.
'Go out and vote your conscience,' Means said. 'Wehave no reason to be afraid.' About 50 Harvard undergraduatesattended the rally with the Harvard Initiative for Peace and Justice(HIPJ), a campus group formed in the wake of Sept. 11.
'The proliferation of rallies over the past fewweeks have to be sending a message to the Bush administration,' saidHIPJ member Jessica E. Gould‚ Harvard Class of 2004.
Many other unaffiliated Harvard students were alsoin attendance.
'It is unbelievable just to see this many peoplemobilized,' said Chanda R.S. Prescod-Weinstein Harvard Class of 2003,who came to the event with a friend from MIT. 'I feelreallyheartened.' Joining the considerable student turnout, localprotestors brought their families. Children could be seen holdinghand-made signs, and veterans likened the potential war in Iraq toVietnam.
'It is shameful to drop bombs on people who needfood and medicine,' said Zinn, who is known for his book, A People'sHistory of the United States. 'You can't bomb a country intodemocracy. 'Boston Police and Park Rangers maintained a strongpresence on horses and in squad cars.
'Staff writer Justin D. Gest can be reached atgest@fas.harvard.edu