Home >  Nation & World >  U.S. News

Motorists headed for Panthers basketball game cry foul over protest of looming Iraq war

Monday, March 03, 2003

By Steve Twedt, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

The anti-war movement met the pro-parking crusade in the streets of Oakland yesterday afternoon.

	Anti-war protester Judy Desch, above, of Carrick listens to a speaker during yesterday's rally on the University of Pittsburgh campus. (Matt Freed, Post-Gazette)

As dozens of drivers can attest, the result was a standstill.

Capping a rally outside the William Pitt Union to protest a possible U.S. pre-emptive strike against Iraq, more than 100 people marched west on Fifth Avenue shortly after 3 p.m., then turned right on DeSoto Street and directly into traffic headed to the Petersen Events Center for the 4 p.m. University of Pittsburgh basketball game.

With police sirens trying to hurry them along, and some basketball fans hurling insults their way, the marchers walked past the Petersen center, south on Darragh Street to Fifth Avenue where they briefly blocked the intersection, then headed back toward the student union.

The commingling of protester and basketball fan -- producing the odd juxtaposition of "Peace Not War" signs with "I Need Tickets" placards -- created the most drama-filled moments of the afternoon. Although police threatened arrest at several points of the nearly-90-minute march, no arrests were made.

The rally was put together by the Pittsburgh Organizing Group as part of a series of ongoing public demonstrations against an anticipated U.S. attack against Iraq. The next gathering is scheduled for March 16 at Flagstaff Hill in Schenley Park. Marchers also passed out fliers encouraging residents to show up at the City-County Building, Downtown, at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow to support an anti-war resolution before City Council.

Speakers yesterday included Vietnam era veteran Sandy Kelson of Pittsburgh Veterans for Peace and Molly Rush of the Thomas Merton Center.

Ken Kaminski, 20, a junior at Pitt, wears a gas mask at an anti-war rally on the campus yesterday afternoon. (Matt Freed, Post-Gazette)

"We're about peace, and peace is a long-term enterprise," said Rush. "It means finding creative alternatives to war."

Among the rally supporters was Bonnie Morse, 60, a retired teacher from Bradford Woods, who said she attended because she fears "Americans will be paying the price for generations to come" if they attack Iraq without broad support from fellow member countries of the United Nations.

"We're supposed to be setting an example to the world as to how to respond to global problems, and this is not a very good example."

Mike Epitropoulos, a sociology professor at Pitt, came with wife Anna and their sons, George, 10, and Manoli, 9. They had attended similar rallies before, he said.

"We're committed to a peaceful solution to the situation," he said, adding that he worries about the long-term impact a pre-emptive strike could have on such things as international travel.

"It's very short-sighted not to exhaust all options."

Steven Pav, 29, a student at Carnegie Mellon University, carried a photo of Mister Rogers with a caption that read simply, "Love Thy Neighbor." He termed the U.S. threat of attack "just insanity."

Pitt graduate student Ryan Gould wandered over from the library "just to watch the spectacle" but stayed out of personal interest.

Gould, 24, graduated from West Point in 2000 but was unable to take his commission for medical reasons. Today, he has classmates stationed in Afghanistan, Turkey and other parts of the Middle East.

"It's great that people are able to give their opinion," said the Clarion County native. But, he added later, he believes "the majority of Americans support our government. Protests are great, but you will never see the majority protesting in America because the majority view is represented by the people we elect."

After returning to the student union, some marchers dispersed but others continued, walking east along the Fifth Avenue bus lane.

By then, police were losing patience and threatened arrests more than once. No one was arrested, or hurt, despite the marchers walking against traffic down the middle of South Bellefield Avenue at one point. The march ended about 15 minutes later on Fifth Avenue.