Hurricane Care, Not Warfare!

OAKLAND - More than 200 of people gathered at a Chevron gas station the intersection of Telegraph and Grand Avenues in Oakland today to speak out against the war in Iraq, and demand money and resources for people who's lives have been shattered by Hurricane Katrina. The crowd of people from all walks of life was energized by hip-hop and samba music, as people stepped up to the microphone, spoke out against the war and military recruitment, and called for aid for Katrina's survivors.

The rally was held at a Chevron station to highlight the organizer's demand that taxpayer dollars be spent on education, social services, and the reconstruction of New Orleans and Iraq.

After rallying, the group marched to an Armed Forces Recruiting Center, located at 2116 Broadway, to step-up their campaign against military recruitment. Although the station was already closed in anticipation of the action, marchers moved in front of the door to symbolically declare the Center "Closed for Business." Using non-permanent tempera paint, some marchers redecorated the façade of the Center, putting up a sign reading, "Shut Down by People Power." Other slogans painted on the Center include, "Stop Recruitment," "Resist the Draft," and, "Support GI Resisters."

After redecorating the Recruitment Center, marchers moved into the street; on the road they painted a cemetery, using gravestones to symbolize those killed in Iraq and in the hurricane zone.

"Its time to step up our resistance to our government's adventures in war and empire at a time when hundreds of thousands of people have lost their homes and communities," says Clare Bayard, a member of the People Power Can End the War Collective. "We're using every peaceful means available to us to spread the message that this war can be stopped with a people-powered campaign based on counter-recruitment and support for war resisters, and we are ready to continue our actions, energized and motivated after shutting down the recruitment center today."

Dr. Michael Kozart of San Francisco General Hospital, who has been volunteering with Common Ground, a community-run volunteer health clinic in New Orleans, joined in the protest. "Working as a healthcare professional in New Orleans until several days ago, I witnessed the failure of our government to meet the needs of its people," said Kozart. "We need health care, not warfare, from Algiers, Louisiana to Baghdad, Iraq."

The People Power Can End the War Collective is an Oakland-based, ad hoc group of youth, students, people of faith, veterans, military families and counter recruitment and military resistance support organizations working to build a people-powered movement to end the war and occupation in Iraq.

Endorsers of the Action include Veterans for Peace-Chapter 69, Central Committee of Conscientious Objectors, Courage to Resist, Art in Action, Naked Souls Artist Alliance, Mother Speak, Fr. Louie Vitale.

More information on CourageToResist.org
More information on the Common Ground Clinic