SILENT PEACE WALK. On Saturday morning, September 23, nearly 100 Santa Cruz peacemakers of varied cultures, ages, faiths, and peace affiliations, walked one hour together in silent solidarity for peace. Dressed in black or white, they carried flowers for remembrance, colorful peace flags, and earth flags. Their moving silence was accentuated by the occasional sound of Buddhist meditation bells. Specially adapted prayer flags memorialized the dead, with photos added of US soldiers lost, plus long lists of Iraqi civilian deaths in Arabic script. Participants wore stickers saying “I signed the Declaration of Peace” and explanatory flyers were distributed to passersby along the way. After moving through downtown along Pacific Avenue sidewalks, the procession culminated in a short, but powerful ceremony. In one large circle was unfurled the full length of a paper scroll 3 feet wide by over 140 feet long…a sea of names in Arabic script representing over 43,000 Iraqi civilians killed in the war (the most conservative estimate at that time). Deaths of US and Coalition forces were simultaneously remembered in Iraq Memorial kiosks presenting over 2000 names with color photographs, ages, hometowns, nationalities, etc. A simple altar honored sandy empty boots, surrounded with flowers and other peace offerings.

This action was sponsored by the Santa Cruz Buddhist Peace Fellowship on behalf of The Declaration of Peace, with the vision of embodying the peace that we all long for, while opening our hearts to remembering that each and every war death has a name, a face, a home, a story.

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—written by Annie Kelley of the Santa Cruz Buddhist Peace Fellowship. Annie has been involved in interfaith peace work for many years, through song and ceremony. She dove headlong into the realm of political activism by flying coast-to-coast one year ago in order to participate in the huge 3-day anti-war mobilization and civil disobedience sponsored by United for Peace and Justice in Washington DC.