Church groups, others call for peace in Iraq.
By David Rogers, Staff writer
Link to article in the Press Telegram online.
LONG BEACH - To Edric Guise, the collective efforts of the local and national peace movement are now coming together. He said that was evident early Friday evening outside the Glenn M. Anderson Federal Building at Ocean Boulevard and Magnolia Avenue, where about 70 people, including several members of local antiwar groups, held a peaceful protest that called for a “Declaration of Peace” and a withdrawal of troops from Iraq.
“We view this as a first step toward growing this (movement) and stopping the war,” said Guise, who organized Friday’s protest for the First Congregational Church’s Stop-the- War Ministry Team. He said his group was formed several weeks ago after the Declaration of Peace was endorsed by the United Church of Christ, the denomination his church belongs to.
Guise’s group has met with Rep. Dana Rohrabacher and members of Reps. Juanita Millender-McDonald’s and Linda Sanchez’s staffs. The three legislators have not pledged their support for the “declaration,” but Sanchez’s staff assured the ministry that “although (Sanchez) doesn’t sign pledges, she is an advocate for peace,” Guise said.
The pledge calls for withdrawing troops from Iraq and supporting an Iraqi-led peace process, among other measures. Oakland-based Declaration of Peace launched its campaign earlier this year calling for a comprehensive plan to end the war by Sept. 21, the United Nations International Day of Peace, and for “peaceful action” across the country Sept. 21 to 28 if the deadline wasn’t met.
Several more demonstrations are scheduled to take place across the country over the next few days, including some civil disobedience actions like one planned for Monday afternoon outside the armed forces recruiting station at Hollywood Boulevard and Sycamore Avenue in Hollywood, Guise said.
Dr. Robert Kalayjian, a member of the ministry and a Long Beach Memorial Medical Center anesthesiologist, said he is one of about 25 protesters planning to risk arrest by blocking access to the center. That demonstration is planned for shortly after a nearby silent vigil organized by the American Friends Service Committee, when about 40 empty coffins will be carried, some of them draped by flags, Kalayjian said.
“It’s really important for me to take action,” Kalayjian said. “This is about not creating obituaries. This is about life, about keeping people alive.”
Pat Alviso of Military Families Speak Out Orange County & South Bay said at Friday’s protest that her Marine staff sergeant son is being sent to Iraq today for his second tour of duty there. She said her son was more optimistic about the war before he came home from it earlier this year.
“He came back saying, `I don’t see why we’re there,”’ Alviso said. “The soldiers don’t know what the mission is, and he understands now that people aren’t supporting the war.”
David Rogers can be reached at or (562) 499-1246.