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A Look Back on Our First Year

The weekend of March 18, 2006 marks the third anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. With continued violence in Iraq as well as the threats against Iran, U.S. military aggression is escalating and things look grim.

But this date also marks the first anniversary of the beginnings of our group, U.S. Citizens for Peace & Justice, and this is a good time to look back on what we've accomplished in the last 12 months.

Our group formed on March 19, 2005 on the occasion of the protest march for the 2nd anniversary of the invasion. About 40-50 protesters from Rome marched together with a contingent from U.S. Citizens Against War in Florence.

Since that time, our mailing list has more than quintupled, with roughly 2/3 of the registrants being U.S. Citizens and the rest from many countries around the world.

We have screened 15 documentaries in our Eyes Wide Open film series at the Linux Club of Rome. The topics have ranged from films about the war in Iraq and the manipulation/silence of the media, to include videos focusing on: Plan Colombia, electronic voting, coups d'etat in Venezuela and Haiti, Wal-Mart and The Corporation, also the conditions of people of African descent all over the world and U.S. media coverage of the crisis in the Middle East. The international nature of our group has led to interesting discussions after the films and have been an excellent opportunity to exchange ideas and further educate ourselves.

We started making ties early on with the Italian peace movement, participating in a number of vigils at Palazzo Chigi with the Italian group Ostinati per la pace/Articolo 11, including their final die-in event.

We have collected photos with the Rome coordinators of the Control Arms campaign on several occasions, including an event at Palazzo Chigi and the Beppe Grillo show.

We organized our first demonstration in front of the U.S. Embassy, with much help and support from Italian groups on September 24th, 2005, concurrent with protests taking place around the world.

We participated in the protest at the U.S. Embassy after the Fallujah video was aired on RAI NEWS 24, and subsequently helped organize a screening of the video in English and Italian at the Linux Club of Rome, followed by a discussion with the producers Ranucci and Torrealta.

Together with Romacittapertallapace, we organized a talk with writer/journalist Dave Lindorff and Italian journalist Maurizio Torrealta. At this event, we discussed the many reasons that exist to impeach president Bush.

We took advantage of Liz Carter's visit to Rome and organized for her to make a presentation on post-Katrina New Orleans, where she has volunteered following the hurricane. Without the help of our friends from Traduttori per la pace (Translators for Peace), these bi-lingual events would not have been possible.

We supported Italian groups as they protested the renewal of the Italian mission in Iraq. Most recently, together with Rome peace activists and women's groups we helped organize a protest on International Women's Day, March 8th, as part of the "Women Say No To War" campaign.

We have written 5 letters to the U.S. ambassador to Italy expressing our concerns and requesting a meeting. We are still waiting for a response. We post a weekly news/take action bulletin to help our members stay informed and to stay active electronically.

We managed to be recorded on national TV in the U.S. with our "sneak" appearance on the Today Show live in Piazza Navona chanting, "Stop the war". One of our "Impeach Bush" signs made it on the air as well.

We met Cindy Sheehan at two speaking engagements here in Rome. Once, at an event sponsored by the Provincia di Roma at which we presented her with photos of our group taking part in last year's March demonstration, and the other talk sponsored by Le Monde Diplomatique. She encouraged us to keep raising our voices.

Our web site has even been linked from some crackpot right wing sites, indicating we are indeed having an impact.

In every major demonstration, we've been joined by "tourists" from the U.S. who took time out of their holiday to join us. This includes a family from Berkeley, a couple from Massachusetts, a woman from Oregon, and a Vietnam vet and his wife who remarked:

"Was the highlight of our tour the Colosseum? No. Was it Pompeii? No. Was it the Sistine chapel? No. It was protesting the war with you."

We were also touched by several other citizens from the U.S. There was Rose who happened by one of the vigils at Palazzo Chigi and upon her return home sent us a box full of protest buttons. There were the owners of a scuba shop in California who appeared in Robert Greenwald's film Unconstitutional on the USA Patriot Act. These men refused a subpoena of their client records and took the battle to the courts, where they prevailed.

Notably, there was Robert Greenwald himself. When we requested permission to screen three of his films to our group, he not only gave permission, but also sent the DVDs at no charge and gave us permission to copy them and give them away, which we have been doing ever since.

These three "everyday heroes" were sent Italian peace flags signed by members of our group. The scuba shop owners replied:

"I can't even start to describe the joy and emotion that I got when I received your package. Not only was it phenomenally touching to know that our actions resonated so well with you and the members of your group, but how fittingly appropriate that your gift should arrive here on . . . the Fourth of July Weekend. What better way to applaud the principles of the Constitution than on the anniversary of when those principles were officially set into motion by the Declaration of Independence?"

As U.S. citizens living abroad, we are in a unique position. We have the opportunity to view our country from afar and through others' eyes. We also have the opportunity to be a part of the bridge making this an international movement.

One year ago, we were preparing for a protest against the war. We found ourselves doing the same again this year, with just as much determination and a much stronger group.

Heartfelt thanks to all who have worked so hard and given so much support to our cause.

Stephanie Westbrook

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