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

End the War in Iraq!
No Military Action Against Iran!

As the October 27 mass demonstrations calling for an end to the occupation of Iraq and opposing military action against Iran were getting underway in 11 cities across the U.S, a solidarity protest was unfolding on the tourist-filled Piazza Navona in Rome, Italy.

Organized by U.S. Citizens for Peace & Justice - Rome and joined by Italian activists and groups such as Un ponte per... and Mondo senza guerre, the protest called attention to the enormous human costs of the ongoing tragedy in Iraq. Under the banner reading "OVER ONE MILLION CIVILIAN VICTIMS IN IRAQ," hung hundreds of white "remembrance ribbons" with names of Iraqis who have been killed. The ribbons represented only a fraction of the victims -- if we had made ribbons for all the victims, it would have stretched for 20 kilometers! -- but it was a way to keep the name of an innocent Iraqi alive. Tourists from all parts of the world as well as Italians stopped to add a ribbon to the display.

Carrying our signs and wearing stickers that said "No War on Iran!" we also attracted a steady stream of people to sign the two petitions opposing military action against Iran (dontattackiran.org and peace-action.org). Before even setting up, the signs had caught the eye of Ali, a young Iranian artist selling watercolors on the square, who thanked us and later came by to join us and sign the petitions.

We quickly ran out of the 300 flyers with more data on the costs of the occupation to the Iraqi people: the 2.2 million internally displaced, the 2.2 million who have fled the country -- including over 36% of the doctors in the population -- and the 80% of all citizens without effective sanitation.

As night began to fall, we placed candles on the ground to spell out "Peace Now", which attracted more people to come over and look at the ribbons. A young Italian girl of about 10 asked her father what we were doing. We explained to her the significance of the ribbons. She looked up at us and said, "O, che peccato." (Oh, what a pity.)

A pity indeed. A tragic, sickening, heart-wrenching, shameful pity perpetrated on the people of Iraq by a criminal administration aided by a complicit Congress.

Meanwhile in the United States, over 100,000 participated in marches, rallies, protests and mass die-ins, many led by veterans and military families. And in a poll on the organizers' web site asking people what they felt should be the next step in the anti-war movement, the response overwhelmingly favored mass civil disobedience.

In France, the group Americans Against War also held a solidarity protest in Paris. This came on the heels just the day before their protest against Donald Rumsfeld who was visiting the French capital. AAW also played a small but fundamental role in charges being filed against the former Defense Secretary while in Paris.

In London, some 500 delegates from over 100 groups in the U.K. attended the Stop the War Coalition annual conference, deciding on a day of action against an attack on Iran for November 24, 2007.

Elsewhere in Italy on that same day, an assembly was held just outside of Rome in the small industrial town of Colleferro, which made headlines recently when a young man was killed in an explosion in a weapons factory. Local activists have been calling for the reconversion of the weapons industry, which is killing people both in the town and in countries around the world. [see our statement to the assembly]

And, finally, 2000 people marched in Vicenza, Italy, where the initial phase of construction on the new U.S. military base began last week as equipment was moved into the proposed site in the wee hours of the morning. Families, children, militants, students and the elderly marched side by side in a demonstration that the people have not given up and are working to prepare the 3-day mobilization in December.

As it turned out, Saturday October 27 was an international day of action bringing people together, some in coordinated actions, others in parallel initiatives, but all with common goals and intent on making a difference.

Stephanie Westbrook

For reports, photos and videos of October 27 demonstrations, see oct27.org and afterdowningstreet.org.

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Our flyer in English

Volantino in italiano

No War on Iran sign

End the War in Iraq
No Attacks on Iran stickers

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


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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!"

Copyright © 2007 Stephanie Westbrook
U.S. Citizens for Peace & Justice - Rome, Italy