Brooklyn Parents For Peace
41 Schermerhorn Street PMB 106
Brooklyn NY 11201
Contact: Carolyn Eisenberg
Phone: 718-624-5921
Email: press@brooklynpeace.org
HUNDREDS GATHER OUTSIDE SCHUMER’S HOME IN PEACE PROTEST
Candlelight Vigil to Mourn the Dead in Iraq
Sep 25, 2006, Brooklyn, NY –- Several hundred New Yorkers gathered at Grand Army Plaza and then walked through crowded Brooklyn streets to protest the war in Iraq and their disappointment with New York Senator Charles Schumer, a supporter of the Bush policy. The solemn procession was led by a lone drummer and flutist and coffins draped with the American flag to symbolize the thousands who have died in an unnecessary war, initiated by the White House and backed by Senators Schumer and Clinton.
The participants carried signs, each of which had the name of a U.S. soldier or an Iraqi civilian killed in the war printed on it. As the walk proceeded, other residents applauded or joined the route. Some wondered: “Why does Schumer accept the use of cluster bombs?” “Does he speak for Brooklyn?”
The Peace Walk and Vigil was organized by Brooklyn Parents For Peace, a local peace and justice organization whose members include parents, neighbors and educators who are alarmed by the growing militarism of American society and the misguided, violent response to the attacks on September 11.
The event was also sponsored by United For Peace And Justice, a broad-based coalition of peace organizations, located across the United States. The Brooklyn protest was one of many events, occurring around the country, directed at Senators and Congressional Representatives who still stand with the White House.
The walk ended in a candlelight vigil in front of the Park Slope residence of New York Senator Charles E. Schumer. As hundreds looked on, Carolyn Eisenberg, co-founder of Brooklyn Parents For Peace, delivered a strong and impassioned speech, mourning the needless dead and Senator Schumer’s failure to stand for peace and diplomacy. Pointing out that “the war in Iraq is not simply a ‘Bush’ war. It is a Congressional war” as well, she reminded the assembly that thousands had gathered at the same spot on March 16, 2003, several days before the invasion of Iraq, imploring the Senator to speak out against the war: “Along with other politicians – Democrat and Republicans – you did not speak out. And everything that we feared has now happened and worse: 2700 Americans dead. 20,000 wounded, tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians killed, a country disintegrating before our eyes, their electricity, water transportation, medical systems in ruins. People terrified to leave their homes. And still the occupation continues. And still you support it.”
After the speech, in a dramatic and sober demonstration of mourning, over 100 names of New York soldiers and Iraqi civilians who have died in the war were read aloud. Heads and eyes were turned upward, to the building across the street, as if to ask if the Senator was listening.
###
Digital photos available on request.