Over Two Million People Take to the Streets...

Over Two Million People Take to the Streets Around the World
in Global Protest Marking the One-Year Anniversary of Iraq
War: End the Occupation

NEW YORK, NY—On Saturday, March 20, upwards of 2 million
people took to the streets around the world to protest the
one-year anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. People in more
than 60 countries throughout the world - from Japan to South
Korea to Spain to Australia to South Africa - called for an
end to the occupation, which they believe is only increasing
violence and insecurity in Iraq.

The March 20 global day of protest surpassed the expectations
of its organizers, both in terms of the number of cities and
countries that organized events and the number of people who
took to the streets. Under the banner, The World Still Says
No To War, at least 300 U.S. cities and towns held anti-war
events on Saturday, as did more than 275 other cities
throughout the world..

In the United States, notable protests included a 100,000-
person march and rally in New York City, and a similar event
in San Francisco attended by more than 50,000. In Crawford,
Texas, where President George Bush owns a ranch and often
vacations, 1,000 protesters converged to repudiate his
militaristic policies and call for a diversion of the
billions of dollars that are being spent on war to domestic
programs like schools, health clinics, and unemployment
benefits. Military families and veterans led a protest that
drew 1,500 to Fayetteville, North Carolina, outside the Fort
Bragg military base.

In Rome, one million people took to the streets, in the
largest single protest of the day. In Spain, demonstrations
took place in more than 40 cities around the country,
bringing hundreds of thousands out into the streets for the
second time since the terrorist attacks that killed more than
200 Spaniards and injured 1500. London and Tokyo held
protests drawing tens of thousands of participants.

"The unprovoked war against Iraq was a terrible tragedy for
the Iraqi people, thousands of whom were killed during the
last year, and for the close to 600 U.S. soldiers who also
lost their lives and thousands of others who’ve been
injured," said Leslie Cagan of United for Peace and Justice.
"It ’s time to hold our government accountable for the chaos
it’s created in Iraq - and for the fact that the Bush
administration lied about the Iraqi threat to convince the
American public of the need for war."

United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), which initiated the call
for a global day of protest on March 20, is a national
coalition with more than 750 groups under its umbrella. Since
its founding in October 2002, UFPJ has spurred hundreds of
protests and rallies around the country, including the two
largest demonstrations against the Iraq war.

A complete list of cities that held protest events on March
20 can be found on the United for Peace and Justice website
at http://www.unitedforpeace.org

We’re very eager to receive reportbacks about the anti-war
events in your community, so we can disseminate the
information via the news media and other means. Please visit
http://unitedforpeace.org/boards/ and post your reportback
ASAP!

We also encourage you to share news coverage from your local
papers with us — particularly news items that you think we
wouldn’t otherwise see. Email them to press@u... <
mailto:press@u...> or, if you only have access to print
copies, mail to Bill Dobbs, Media Coordinator, United for
Peace and Justice, P.O. Box 607, Times Square Station, New
York, NY 10108.