5,000 Shoes Thrown at Bush in SF

Hundreds Tell Obama, "No War!" & Pledge Action
By David Solnit

San Francisco, CA--For three days over the inauguration weekend and on inauguration morning hundreds of Bay Area residents and visitors threw 5,000 shoes at former President Bush and signed a No War Message to Obama, pledging to take action to end the war and "end the mind-set that got us into war."

Iraqi Journalist Muntader al-Zaidi threw his second shoe at Bush while saying, "This is for the widows and orphans and all those killed in Iraq." We symbolically joined him as Bush left office. We also threw shoes for the widows, families, and US service men and women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. We threw shoes for those who are hurting while billions are wasted for war instead of bailing out those of us lacking food, housing, health care, and education.

The idea for the carnival-style shoe- throwing and no war-pledging booth came out of discussion of key questions facing those who wish to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the underlying policies of empire:
How do we work to build public pressure and people power to end war under the new Obama Administration, which both has raised the expectation of stopping the war and has majority public support.
How do we think beyond familiar forms of protest and take action, educate and organize in a way that opens up, and does not turn off Obama supporters?
What are the specific benchmarks that we need to project about what ending the war really means?

The public shoe-throwing and no war-pledge booth was hugely successful engaging and educating thousands, many who passionately threw shoes. Below are some amazing YouTube video, photos and press coverage. Below that is the "No War" pledge that people signed.

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VIDEO/PHOTOS/MEDIA
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YouTube Video
"If the Shoe Fits"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdvdXWr0lPE

Inauguration: THROW A SHOE AT BUSH DAY SF 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=azt5uIoEGII&e

Jeff Paterson Photo Essay on Indybay
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2009/01/20/18564901.php

100 Shoe Thrower Portraits slideshow
http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/srediruname=SSolnit&target=ALBUM&id=52939...

SF Bay Gaurdian
http://www.sfbg.com/blogs/politics/2009/01/throw_shoes_at_bush_send_mess...

SFGate.com/SF Chronicle photos/video
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article f=/g/a/2009/01/19/bush_shoe_011809mjm.DTL&o=

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Hundreds of people signed a public pledge that read:
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President Obama,

We take it seriously when on election night you said, "This victory alone is not the change we seek; it is only the chance for us to make that change." We publicly commit that that "we the people" will organize ourselves and our communities to take action to make those changes. We agree with your statement, "I don't want to just end the war, but I want to end the mind-set that got us into war in the first place."

We urge you to join us in working for these five essential changes to end the war and to begin to "end the mindset that got us into war:"

1) ALL TROOPS HOME FROM IRAQ NOW!
Including "non-combat" troops, private contractors (i.e. Blackwater), and close all US military bases in Iraq.

2) HELP REBUILD IRAQ
Give reparations for the human and structural damages Iraq has suffered, and stop the corporate pillaging of Iraq so that their people can control their own lives and future.

3) NO ESCALATIONS, NO NEW WARS
* No escalation of war in Afghanistan; troops should be withdrawn.
* Stop attacks inside Pakistan. Don't attack Iran.
* Cut military aid to governments that violate human rights or international law, such as Israel in what Amnesty International calls an "unlawful attack on Gaza."
* Close Guantanamo and all secret prisons

4) FROM GLOBAL MILITARY INTERVENTION TO REAL SECURITY AT HOME
* Close all 800 foreign US military bases.
* Reduce military budget and troops; Stop wasting hundreds of billions needed for health care, housing, education, and green energy/jobs.

5) SUPPORT VETERANS
* Amnesty for all GI resisters who refuse illegal war.

* Full benefits, adequate health care (including mental health), and other supports for returning servicemen and women.

a better world is possible.

Sincerely,

Concerned People in the United States

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Direct Action to Stop the War:
www.ActAgainstWar.net
Courage to Resist:
www.CourageToResist.org
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