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March 20, 2003
Angry words fly at rally for peace in Ormond
By AUDREY PARENTE and THAD RUETER | News-Journal Staff Writers
ORMOND BEACH — The stress of teetering on the brink of war fractured the peace of a normally calm seaside city Wednesday during a small peace rally, just hours before war with Iraq began.
Protester of the war |
The weekly gathering of Halifax Citizens Against The War was greeted by honks of approval from passing drivers on Granada Bridge, before voices were raised, fingers pointed and push came to shove.
Helen Mueller of West Palm Beach shouted from her car window to war protester Linda Ryan that she has a brother-in-law on the front lines.
"I have to stand behind him and you should too," she shouted.
Ryan of Edgewater shot back that she too has a brother in the Navy.
"He's been in the Navy for 23 years, and he doesn't agree with this war," Ryan shouted at Mueller, who was in the backseat of a car waiting at the red light. "If you are so gung ho – enlist."
Another protester, Ron Cahen, president of the Halifax Area Democratic Club, joined the fray, pressing close to the car. Cahen too began shouting and some of the car's occupants climbed out, threatening a fight.
Tension, heightened by the urgency of raindrops, led to a few shoves, but the moment ended with the car passengers returning to their vehicle and driving away.
"She was questioning our patriotism," Cahen said later. "They egged me on saying all kinds of nasty things. I lost it."
He lost it earlier too, in a shouting match with a man carrying a derisive sign labeling the protesters as "Deluded Dysfunctional Neo-hippies for peace." The man with the sign would only say he was from Volusia County and was "for America" and "for war, if necessary."
The protest, organized by Halifax Citizens Against the War, led by Ryan and others, is just a hint of what may lie ahead. The group, which has been rallying weekly, plans an emergency response to the war at 5 p.m. today outside Daytona Beach City Hall at the intersection of Ridgewood and Orange avenues.
Nationally and in England, some anti-war groups and peace activists also are preparing protests, from solemn vigils to loud marches to nonviolent direct action and civil disobedience.
A group called the Military Globalization Project has announced plans to infiltrate Vandenburg Air Force base in California. A Web site for United for Peace & Justice calls for organizing emergency protests from San Francisco to Washington D.C. to mid-town Manhattan advocating "filling the jails (with protesters) until they answer the people's call for peace and justice."
Ryan and June Short, also of Edgewater, said they have no plans for disruption.
"I think there is going to be a lot of civil disobedience throughout the world," Short said. But, she added, "you can't meet violence with violence."
Rather, they said they would continue vigils and protests every week.
"A lot of people say 'what's the use' once the war starts," said Ryan. But she said the reason to continue is clear: to keep people focused on Iraq, its innocent citizens and reconstruction. "People don't even realize we are still in Afghanistan."
Patricia Tugas, a peace activist in Ormond Beach who attended Wednesday's rally, said: "We support our troops. We're just against government policy."