The "End the War, Begin the Peace" march and rally held in Portland on Sunday, March 19 exceeded all expectations. Organizers told those issuing permits we were expecting 5,000-10,000 people, yet somewhere between 15,000 and 20,000 attended.

The rally made the New York Times and allegedly had a larger crowd than Chicago, a city 5 times our size. Due to the numbers reported by the Associated Press, KOIN TV reports that our rally was the second largest in the world. We also made the front of the Oregonian.

One of the strongest things to come out of organizing the rally was to bring together the various communities struggling for social justice, veterans-labor-faith-environmental-peace and more, and send a message to the public, elected officials and the media that the movement is growing strong.

Of the 158 organizations who cosponsored or endorsed (159 actually, with a last-minute addition) roughly 50 showed up to give out information at the canopies.

The wonderful weather and positive vibes continued throughout the day.

From the rocking opening of Marilyn Keller and Tom Grant, to the spiritually uplifting Peace Singers and the rousing vibe of Suckapunch, the lively sounds of Marimba di Guatemala, the humorous intonations of the Raging Grannies, and the folk-and-roll resonance of Samusson and Tomassi, the music helped carry the day.

And the speakers--Steve DeFord speaking of the loss of his son and turning that passion to action, Alfredo Cano expressing the concerns of young people targeted by recruiters, Zaha Hassan and Steve Goldberg showing that Jews and Palestinians can agree with regards to the Israeli occupation, Jamila Wahab sharing the pain caused by the U.S. war in Afghanistan, Luis Primo calling for a change in the way we do things here following the models sweeping South America, Eman Ahmed Khamas bringing her first-hand accounts of the occupation of Iraq, Ramon Ramirez tying in social justice issues to peace issues, and the rousing crowd-pleasing warning that 9-11 is being used as an excuse to take away our civil liberties and launch illegal wars from Rev. LeRoy Haynes.

Thanks to all who helped make this rally possible and for all the great work going into it leading up to and, we hope, in the wake of its incredible success.

It was Portland's largest rally since the invasion in 2003.

--report written by dan handelman
Peace and Justice Works