People rallied on Saturday morning at a busy downtown intersection in New Haven, CT to say NO New U.S. War on Iraq, bringing the anti-war message to people going to local restaurants and an arts and music festival.
“We’ve been organizing against these wars since 2003, when the US invaded Iraq. i wanted to say – no one here supports the war in Iraq. If you ask people that are homeless, if you ask people that can’t get an education, you ask veterans what they think of a war in Iraq and US occupation, they say no more. We need money for jobs and education!” said ANSWER organizer Deb Malatesta.
Mark Colville of the Amistad Catholic Worker addressed the crowd and spoke of the cost of war on local communities: “Here in New Haven, they’re telling us that there’s no money to house the homeless. There’s no money even to repair the shelters and get the bedbugs out of the shelters. And yet every time they need another two billion, three billion dollars to go and invade and occupy another country, the money’s there.” New Haven’s emergency shelter closes for the summer even though people are regularly turned away from open shelters due to a lack of beds. Residents have recently been retaliated against targeted for complaining about dismal conditions inside the shelters.
