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For Immediate Release
October 19, 2001
Contact: Tim Vining,
(412) 361-3022
Pittsburgh Anti-War Coalition to March Against
the War
Saturday, October 20th, 4:00 p.m.
The newly formed
“Pittsburgh Anti-War Coalition” is having a rally and march
against the war on Saturday,
October 20, 2001. The participants will gather at 4:00
p.m. at Freedom Corner, Centre Ave.
and Crawford Street. Following
a period of brief comments and music, they will march to the
Federal
Building downtown. Comprised of students
from local colleges, workers from labor unions, religious groups, social action
committees, and residents of Pittsburgh,
the coalition is marching against the war, against racist attacks, and in defense
of democratic rights.
The group remains appalled and saddened
by the tragic events of September 11th, yet it does not believe that war is
the answer. Fearing that our government's response is causing further civilian
deaths and is escalating the situation, the coalition has unified to oppose
the current bombing, the new presence of ground troops in Afghanistan,
and to condemn further acts of war. “The
U.S.
military response that threatens the lives of so many innocent civilians will
only serve to further escalate the violence of terrorism and fuel anti-American
sentiment throughout the world. We can deny the terrorists their victory by
refusing to submit to a world of vengeance created in their image,” according
to Tim Vining, Executive Director of the
Thomas
Merton Center.
"The scales of Justice cannot be balanced with the dead," added
Carnegie Mellon
University sophomore Stuart Anderson.
"Violence is the choice of the defeated -- let
us have the strength to say we don't need violence to be powerful."
Endorsing organizations include:
The Thomas
Merton
Center l Rosenberg
Foundation for Public Safety l Students
for Peaceful Action (Carnegie Mellon University) l
Students for Peaceful Action (Chatham College) l
Students in Solidarity (University of Pittsburgh) l
Pittsburgh Area Pax Christi l Association
of Pittsburgh Priests l Haiti Solidarity
Committee l Pittsburgh Cuba Coalition
l Solidarity (Pittsburgh Chapter) l International Socialist Organization (ISO)
l W. PA Committee to Free Mumia Abu-Jamal
For more information, call the
Thomas
Merton Center
at 412-361-3022 or visit their website at www.thomasmertoncenter.org
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