[Seattle-editorial] article on why SNOW and Peace Keepers SUCK for main feature

[sheelanagig at juno.com]

summary -
It feels like the peace keepers and SNOW see their role as one of
censorship and control. Protesters shall not be angry. Protesters shall
not raise their voices. Protesters shall not veer off the police approved
march route. Protesters shall OBEY!


article -
SNOW Coalition and Peace Keepers in Seattle: The Guardian Angel Syndrome
By Kirsten Angerberg (www.kirstenanderberg.com)

“I am very upset by this war,” “Could you maybe stop this war?” “War is
bad, please stop, you guys,” “Peace, please…”*  The polite “protests” the
SNOW Coalition puts on are becoming laughable. One teen asked me why
protests look like the audience of an old 70’s band reunion. Good
question.

The idea of the SNOW Coalition was a good one, it seemed. Basically, it
was suburban home owners, banding together in their own neighborhoods to
show that even capitalist, heterosexual couples with cars and houses
oppose the war, not just those radical anarchists and fringe
elements…They felt their middle-classness would add legitimacy to the
anti-war movement, I  believe. But over time, I have come to dread the
SNOW Coalition (and them, me, I’m sure) and the “Peace Keepers,” as their
memberships overlap, due to their paternalistic tone which is annoying
and disrespectful. They remind me of the Guardian Angels, and the way
they are laughed at, and seen as pompous, self-appointed,
self-aggrandizing mini-cops.

At the Federal Building on March 22, 2003, one cop quipped some smart
assed remark about how protesters were idiots, and I turned, looked him
dead in the eye and said “How do you live with yourself?” He and I were
staring in each others’ eyes and saying nothing for quite a while, when
all of a sudden a peace keeper put herself in between me and the cop, so
all of a sudden her back was to me, and she was literally saying to the
cop, “Nice weather we are having today officer, isn’t it?” THAT WAS
WEIRD! 

Another odd incident I remember was in March 2003, some white boy, about
18 years old, was shadowing me. I asked what he was doing. He said peace
keepers told him to “keep an eye on” me. I said “Keep an eye on me for
what?” He did not answer. This kid kept asking me, “are you alright?”
when I would yell something about a cop breaking a law in front of me, to
highlight it for the media or public, etc. I kept asking the kid, “are
you alright?” I am still unclear as to what THAT was all about. We still
get a laugh off that line in my house…someone will do something,
anything, and one of us will say “are you alright?” It is annoying in NO
time.  
 
Then there is that weird Mar 22 , 2003 protest event, that was hosted by
Not In Our Name, a more radical anti-war element than SNOW. It was the
first week of the war. Some SNOW members publicly told people to stay
away from protests that day. Then police rioted on hundreds of unarmed
people (myself and son included) on First Avenue. When I finally got
myself and my kid out of the containment/riot area, I got to the plaza
above and there were SNOW members and peace keepers doing NOTHING VISIBLE
OR EFFECTIVE TO STOP THE RIOT A BLOCK AWAY. The peace keepers said “we
know it is happening, geez, it sounds bad down there.” I began to not
like SNOW and peace keepers over time.

It feels like the peace keepers and SNOW see their role as one of
censorship and control. Protesters shall not be angry. Protesters shall
not raise their voices. Protesters shall not veer off the police approved
march route. Protesters shall obey all orders from police. Protesters
shall stay silent about police abuse. Protesters shall damage no
property. Protesters shall not really PROTEST…Protesters shall be polite
on a dog’s leash, with SNOW and peace keepers holding the chains, with
our lips attached to cops’ asses at all times. Apparently, from my
experience, protesters shall not look into the eyes of a cop…or else they
will be forced to intervene…to protect…THE COP? OR ME? Good question.

As time goes on, I have come to view SNOW and the peace keepers as
mini-cops. They try to play patsy (against the will of many of us)
between cops and protesters. Cops say do not block traffic, protesters
start to block traffic, and all of a sudden peace keepers intervene
instructing everyone not to block traffic. They seem a police dream team,
really. The cops using a protester element, to boss protesters around, is
brilliant, if protesters are dumb enough to go for it.

The final straw for me came on 4/23/04. I showed up at the really lame
“protest” at Westlake against Caterpillar bulldozers being used as
weapons of murder in Israel, and tried to take pictures of the 4 bike
cops against the wall watching us. And 3 of the cops sped away on their
bikes as if a camera was like the light of day to a vampire. Officer
Larame broke the law right there, and I announced it loudly to everyone.
All of a sudden, some 50-something guy with a long ponytail and anti-war
buttons on, came up to me saying I was just trying to cause trouble and
calling me an “instigator.” Yes. It is true. I am an instigator of police
accountability. Shame on me. I guess I am an instigational reporter.

I looked around at the “protest” of middle-class white people mostly
older than me, paternalistically telling me how to think and act and
wondered why I should give a shit what they think. They do not care about
supporting direct action. They do not support police accountability for
all constructive purposes. They do not support anarchists, or radicals,
or even just “angry” people, is the way it appears. And, um, I think this
war crap is valid stuff of anger, sorry. Just saying “war is bad, now
stop you guys” is NOT WORKING. THE WAR RAGES ON, DRAGGING MORE INTO ITS
BLACK HOLE DAILY.

Most of my friends started out supporting the SNOW Coalition and the
peace keepers. Most of my friends have now left the SNOW Coalition due to
its exclusionist tactics and police ass-kissing, to be blunt.
Paternalistic enforcement of “polite protest” is getting obnoxious as
this war rages on. The question has become – WHO ARE SNOW AND THE PEACE
KEEPERS PROTECTING? POLICE OR PROTESTERS? IT IS NOT CLEAR.

*(I got these “slogans” from a cartoon at www.theaword.net)


________________________________________________________________
The best thing to hit the Internet in years - Juno SpeedBand!
Surf the Web up to FIVE TIMES FASTER!
Only $14.95/ month - visit www.juno.com to sign up today!