Kalamazoo Nonviolent Opponents of War (KNOW) sponsored a delegation to take part in the National March at the White House in Washington, D.C., which took place on Saturday, August 2, 2014. The purpose of the march was to condemn the Israeli massacre in Gaza and to demand US military aid to Israel is stopped.
This is my Journal from the trip.
Daniel Smith, KNOW Communications Chairperson
Friday 8/1/14
10:48 PM – on the way from Kalamazoo to the Dearborn Amtrak Station to meet the bus, which will take us to Washington, D.C. We are in a borrowed car and I’m traveling with Chalk and Michael.
We started talking about my first anti-war demonstration and ended up on a discussion of atheism, the nature of God, and time.
We waited in front of the Amtrak station – no one to be seen. It was a surreal experience eating food I had brought, on a picnic table in the bright lights of the station.
Finally a middle-aged, pleasant woman joined us. She is originally from southern Beirut. Her husband dropped her off but he isn’t going on the trip. Her health isn’t the greatest but she felt compelled to make this trip. Eventually more and more of us found each other at one end of the parking lot and we boarded the bus. Every seat was taken.
My seatmate is a young student at Wayne State University, from Dearborn. The Detroit area has seen large protests against what is happening in Gaza. They had a protest outside of the Zionists of America convention in West Bloomfield recently.
For the first time I am feeling really good about the trip, as all the loose ends getting us to this point are resolved. I had a strong feeling that I just had to take a step like this, after day after day seeing the images of the children in Gaza. Often however, the devil is in the details. But now I’m relaxed – the bus is comfortable; the seats recline a little and are cushioned. There are outlets to recharge your phone on the floor.
I’m seated near the front. The riders seem to be mostly Arabic or Muslim. Actually, it is exciting, like I’ve travelled somewhere to be immersed in another culture. It feels really good to be on our way as the bus starts up and heads out. I feel that being in the midst of a group of concerned folk of Middle Eastern descent makes the whole experience more real on a different level. The atrocities in Gaza are less of a statistic and more like something that is happening to your family.
Saturday 8/2/14
3:00 AM – OMG. I can’t sleep. I have eye covers and earplugs, a neck pillow, a back pillow, and blanket but can’t fall asleep. It’s 3:00 AM! We are in Ohio, heading toward Cleveland. Very quiet and dark on the bus, everyone is trying to get some fitful sleep. It almost does not seem real, that I am on the bus after so much anxiety about how to get to D.C. and the best way to do it, and what car to take, that now everything has fallen in place.
I meet the lead organizer, with whom I’ve been communicating via phone and email. He is a very personable young man. He said we could get a refund for one of the bus tickets we had purchased but couldn’t use. Nice.
On the interstate, trucks go by loaded with new cars. Seems to be a lot of traffic. Nice to sit up high in the bus, a little like flying.
We stop at the Oakmont Plum Plaza on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The air conditioning in the bus is a bit chilly and I’m glad to exit for a break. Some young women from the bus are wearing Free Palestine t-shirts, which are very striking with bright green letters on a black background.
The sun has come up. It’s very cloudy but some blue sky is showing through.
8:45 AM – Made it to Breezewood! A landmark of bus trips because this is where traveling protesters get breakfast to stoke up for the day, and it’s only 2 hours to D.C. from here. Inside at the restaurant one of our group, Chalk, only orders sweet potato fries because he is vegan and there aren’t too many other choices. He is actually “freegan”, which means he will eat non-vegan food if it can be rescued from a dumpster.
Outside waiting for the bus to load, I speak with two women who are Palestinian. They told about going back home to visit and now her grandma’s house is almost right next to the “separation” apartheid wall. “The checkpoints are the worst. They deliberately slow down the process on Fridays to make people stand crowded together in the hot sun and be late for prayers.”
On the road again. The bus driver is really haulin’ ass now! The scenery at this part of Pennsylvania is beautiful and the turnpike climbs and dives and twists around the lush green hills. I think the driver is trying to make up some time to make sure we arrive on time. I’m tired, and trying to get in an hour nap before D.C. would be a good idea, but I don’t want to miss the scenery.
Zipping past an SUV now, I notice it was called the Buick Enclave. Thought about at the last rest stop one of the women said a person said something rude to them as they went past on the sidewalk. I suppose because they we wearing headscarves and Free Palestine t-shirts. “Enclave” – an odd name for a car. Seems like “they” want us to live in our own fortified enclaves, so perhaps aptly named.
Noon – We are here! We unload the bus at the 16th and I Street intersection. We walk a short distance over to Lafayette Park opposite the White House. The initial impression of the crowd is a little disappointing. Shortly, more and more people file into the park, quickly turning into a large group. We walked over to the White House. There were a lot of tourists getting their pictures taken in front. Chalk stood near them with a sign that said “Stop Military Aid to Israel”. Within 60 seconds he was hassled by two officers and threatened with arrest if he didn’t move. There was a large contingent of marchers facing the White House directly behind a barrier, and chanting slogans: “1-2-3-4, stop the killing stop the war” “5-6-7-8, Israel is a terror state” “Netanyahu you can’t hide, we charge you with genocide” “Viva Viva Palestina” “Free Free Palestine” “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”.
Back at the rally, speakers included peace activist Col. Ann Wright among many others. Eventually the march started up and was to target the nearby offices of Caterpillar, Inc. for providing Israel with weaponized bulldozers, which destroy Palestinian homes, and the Washington Post newspaper to protest it’s one-sided coverage. The march sort of organically and chaotically started off. There was some confusion as to which street to take and when to go. Eventually it was communicated to the crowd to wait for the lead banner, which came through and led the march. We watched as thousands went by with signs, flags, and banners. I estimate a total of 25,000 at the march. It is hard to count because contingents kept coming in from different directions. Most remarkable to me was how many multi-generational families were marching together. That was different from any other antiwar march I had been to.
4:30 PM – Finally we relaxed in the grass at Lafayette Park as the march slowly wound down. It felt good to lie down and rest and people watch. There was a group of rabbis from some Jewish sect, which marched in the parade with signs that called for an end to the occupation and also the peaceful end to the Zionist project in Israel. Mostly there were families getting ready to go home after an afternoon of marching.
We went to a nearby restaurant with really good salads, and found out from one of our bus organizers that the March sponsors had estimated 50,000 participants.
We waited on the corner with other riders, for the bus to pick us up to go home. Everyone was very satisfied with the march and the whole experience. Someone stopped by on his bicycle, and said, “So are you guys here for the Palestine thing?” I thought it was telling that he picked Michael and I, the only people of European extraction sitting on the wall. “What I think is that Hamas needs to pick new leadership because they keep throwing the Palestinian people under the bus for their own political gain, “ he said. Michael countered that Gaza had the same problems before Hamas was elected and the problem was the siege of Gaza. I tried to explain what the siege meant to someone living in Gaza, but his eyes glazed over and he repeated his statement, finally biking off. At least it was a civil exchange.
We got a bonus as we boarded the bus. Someone left a box of chicken wings on the wall where we’d been sitting. We asked a woman if they were hers and she said yeah, she didn’t want them. So they were within the “freegan” diet and Chalk took them for later.
7:00 PM – As we settled back into our seats, I thought that it was impressive that a group of young people in their early to mid-twenties took the leap of faith to charter this bus, knowing that if people didn’t show up they would be stuck with a hefty bill they could ill afford. It’s wonderful that it all worked out. Hopefully we delivered a message to stop supporting the carnage in Gaza and the marchers are energized to keep the momentum going.
10:00 PM – The long bus ride home continues. We’re somewhere in Pennsylvania for a quick bathroom break. These breaks always stretch out for too long. I stretch my legs a bit and I’m doing OK, but this ride home is taking forever!
Sunday 8/3/14
3:30 AM – Now at a rest stop in Ohio, not too long and we’ll be back in Dearborn and driving back to Kalamazoo. Had a discussion about when justice will come for Palestinians. Seems analogous to the journey we are on.
