U.S. Citizens for Peace & Justice - Rome Italy anti-war demonstration in Rome

Past Events


Solidarity with Bradley Manning
December 17, 2011

No to "war as usual"
March 19, 2010

Winter Soldier Europe
March 14, 2009

Palestinian Flags Flutter
Alongside Peace Banners

January 17, 2009

Close Guantanamo Now!
January 17, 1009

10-Day Vigil for Gaza
January 8-18, 2009

Supporting La'Onf
October 29, 2008

Free the Cuban 5
Sept 13, 2008

Cheney in Chains
Sept 8, 2008

No Bush, No War
June 11, 2008

May Day ILWU Solidarity Action
May 1, 2008

War Tax Day
April 15, 2008

World Social Forum Global Day of Action
Jan 26, 2008

Shut Down Guantánamo Now!
Jan 11, 2008

No U.S. Military Base in Vicenza
Dec 15, 2007

Meeting Iranian Artists
Dec 05, 2007

End the War in Iraq, No War on Iran
Oct 27, 2007

Report on Final Days of No Dal Molin Festival in Vicenza, Italy
Sept 16, 2007

Camping for Peace in Vicenza, Italy
Sept 12, 2007

Impeach Them Both +
Judiciary Fax Blast

July 23, 2007

I-M-P-E-A-C-H !
April 28, 2007

4th Anniversary of the Invasion of Iraq
March 20, 2007

No Dal Molin, Vicenza, Italy
Feb 17, 2007

Congress: Act Now to End the War
Jan 27, 2007

No Military Bases, Vicenza, Italy
Dec 2, 2006

No War, No Cluster Bombs
Sept 23, 2006

Protest Calling for Cease-fire in Lebanon
July 26, 2006

Military Spending
Bean Poll

July 18, 2006

Stop the Escalation
in the Middle East

July 17, 2006

Refusing to Kill
July 06, 2006

Shailja Patel:
Poetry in Times
of War

July 05, 2006

Troops Home Fast
July 04, 2006

Italian Vote on
Military Missions

June 27, 2006

Peace Parade
June 02, 2006

Michael Uhl of
Veterans for Peace

April 29, 2006

Eyes Wide Open
Film Series
Hidden in Plain Sight

April 26, 2006

War Tax Day
April 15, 2006

Eyes Wide Open
Film Series
Hotel Palestine: Killing the Witness

April 12, 2006

National Anti-war Protest in Rome
March 18, 2006

Soldiers Against War
March 18, 2006

Eyes Wide Open
Film Series
Aristide and the Endless Revolution

March 15, 2006

Women (and men!) Say No To War
March 8, 2006

An Eyewitness Account of Post Katrina New Orleans
March 2, 2006

Eyes Wide Open
Film Series
Life and Debt

February 09, 2006

Vote to Renew Italian Mission in Iraq
February 09, 2006

Cindy Sheehan
February 06, 2006

NBC Today
Show Blitz

February 06, 2006

Eyes Wide Open
Film Series
The Revolution Will
Not Be Televised

January 26, 2006

Cindy Sheehan
In Rome

January 18, 2006

Crimes & Lies:
with Dave Lindorff
and Maurizio Torrealta

January 13, 2006

Eyes Wide Open
Film Series
Peace Propaganda and
the Promised Land

January 12, 2006

Eyes Wide Open
Film Series
The Oil Factor

December 15, 2005

Eyes Wide Open
Film Series
Plan Colombia

December 01, 2005

Fallujah: The Hidden Massacre
November 30, 2005

Eyes Wide Open
Film Series
Wal-Mart

November 17, 2005

Protest at U.S. Embassy: White Phosphorus in Fallujah
November 14, 2005

Control Arms Petition
at Piazza Chiesa Nuova

November 12, 2005

Eyes Wide Open
Film Series
Invisible Ballots

November 10, 2005

Eyes Wide Open
Film Series
The Corporation

October 27, 2005

Movie Night:
Viva Zapatero

October 25, 2005

Eyes Wide Open
Film Series
Hidden Wars of
Desert Storm

October 13, 2005

Anti-war rally
at U.S. Embassy

Sept 24, 2005

USC4P&J Social
at the Beehive

June 22, 2005

Die-In with
Articolo 11
at Palazzo Chigi

June 21, 2005

Collecting Photos
with Control Arms

June 18, 2005

Eyes Wide Open
Film Series
Unconstitutional

June 16, 2005

Eyes Wide Open
Film Series
Outfoxed

June 09, 2005

Eyes Wide Open
Film Series
Weapons of
Mass Deception

May 19, 2005

Vigil at Palazzo Chigi with Articolo 11
May 05, 2005

Vigil at Palazzo Chigi with Articolo 11
April 28, 2005

Vigil at Palazzo Chigi with Articolo 11
April 21, 2005

International Day of Protest
March 19, 2005

 

Vigil at Palazzo Chigi with
Articolo 11 / Ostinati per la pace

April 21, 2005

Members of our group joined the Italians at their vigil outside Palazzo Chigi calling for the withdrawal of the troops and an end to the occupation. The following is Judith's account of the evening:

On Thursday, 21 April, I collected together my peace flag and two books (G. Machel’s The Impact of War on Children and UNESCO’s Women Say No to War – I wasn’t really sure what I was going to do with them but I thought they would be nice to have along) went to Piazza Colonna after having received an email about the peace vigils being held by the Ostinati per la Pace. I had visited their website during the day and saw what they were doing: curiously I had not seen the date 21 April marked so I began to wonder, as I walked over towards the meeting place, whether or not I had gotten things right (I had not been aware of their ongoing vigil, and did not know until later that they don’t really post the dates). It was exactly 7:30, and I wondered how I was going to recognize them. Then I saw a huge crowd and felt relieved: there were lots of people standing right in front of the entrance to Palazzo Chigi, and there were even lots of journalists with TV cameras... This had to be my group. “Wow, great! We’ll be on TV! What a nice large crowd to hold a vigil with,” I thought to myself in silence. “First Michael Moore notices our participation in the March 19 anti war demonstration, now we’ll be famous.” But as I got closer to the group I realized that none of them had peace flags and I didn’t think they looked like obstinate people for peace... more like a milling crowd of tourists. And in fact they were tourists, and the media event at the Palazzo was probably linked to the Prime Minister’s resignation last week, and so I sort of hung around, and looked around, and waited around, and actually fifteen minutes can seem like a very long time when you don’t know what you’re looking for. The journalists and cameras and tourists began to thin out and there were soon only a few people, lots of seagulls overhead, and quite a few carabinieri, mostly in vehicles (security for Chigi).

So I figured that I had gotten the date wrong and thought maybe it would be better to go home, and so at about 7:45 or thereabouts I began walking away from Piazza Colonna. Only fate could have been guiding my steps, for I took a side street off the Corso which I’d never used before, and – lo and behold – I saw a bunch of peace flags, rolled up on somebody’s shoulder, walking towards the place where I’d just been. A lucky encounter! it was the Ostinati! I quietly trailed them to make sure they were really going back to the Palazzo Chigi (you never know... there might be other people having a demonstration) and that’s when we all sort of converged together in “the vigil sanctuary” (as I thought of it). We were allotted a little indented space in the metal barriers across from the Palazzo. The Ostinati had signs and banners, and we had the American signs we’d carried in the 19 March demonstration, and there was a long sheet spray-painted with the major statement, namely that according to Article 11 (of the Italian Constitution), Italy repudiates war. I took a photo of that sign but then forgot all about my camera later on. And so we held a nice, chatty vigil, everybody introducing him/herself to the others... People looked at us as we taped and tied and attached, but (as often here in Rome), their interest is almost a kind of solidarity. I realized that I had seen Marco in the piazza a bit earlier, also milling about, but hadn’t known we were there for the same thing. I set the books down on my back pack and some of the Ostinati browsed through them and asked me questions (they were UN publications, some years back...). Some Italians dropped by to exchange ideas, and at one point there were about 12 of us. The night was absolutely lovely, with many people walking by and noticing the signs, and us. Somebody went for pizza and calzone, and cookies, which I thought was a very nice touch, as it was a tad bit chilly. Some Americans also stopped to ask questions and chat (I spoke with about 6 of them). One young woman, a medical student, made the comment that it was nice to see that there was no “counter-vigil”, nobody trying just to “deny” what we were doing (and how refreshing that is...) and we spoke for a while about US politics, the last election and so on, and about how violence begins to inhabit a society, and permeates into all of its politics. Mostly, I felt somehow that that one little spot was a warm center, a candle in the wind, a light in the darkness... it was hard to describe, and nobody made a big deal out of it. A few people, in a common action, for the common good, for a brief moment. But just being there was important, and good. I’m glad I went.

J. Crews

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Ongoing/Future Events


Our Eyes Wide Open Film Series is suspended; for further information click here.


Upshot of our Nov. 9th group discussion on current politics:

It wasn't the Russians that got us Trump. Or Comey. Or even the massive GOP election fraud. It was the DNC.*
*Dem National Committee

To learn how to stop the DNC from delivering us another Trump, read Autopsy: the Democratic Party in Crisis.


Photo of a school in Yemen bombed by Saudi Arabian jets supplied by the U.S. and fueled in the air by the U.S. Air Force. Tell Trump to STOP THIS CARNAGE, not fuel it! Click here.

Also participate in the CodePink email and/or phone initiative:




Click here to sign a petition, to put an end to the sanctions against Syria - their only effect is to take a terrible toll on the population, causing them to migrate! And click here to see the video by the Italian Committee to lift sanctions against Syria.



Iraq Deaths Estimator
Did someone tell you that U.S. military intervention in Iraq was over? Not true: we're at it again. This time the pretext to drop bombs is "curbing ISIS" (which was created by the U.S. in the first place, to overturn al-Malaki in Iraq and then Assad in Syria, and is now out of hand. Like what happened to "our" creature al Qaeda in Afghanistan). And the death toll continues to rise...
Write your senators and tell them: "Enough! U.S. out!! Iraq has shown it can curb ISIS by itself!"

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U.S. Citizens for Peace & Justice - Rome, Italy