November 14, 2004

War protest draws protesters
Emotions run gamut in Kingston


By Greg Cannon
Times Herald-Record
gcannon@th-record.com

Kingston – The political divide in the Hudson Valley yesterday was three lanes of stop-and-go traffic where Albany Avenue runs into the heart of this old city, the first capital of New York.
On one side were a couple hundred war protesters, inspired by the attack last week by U.S.-led forces on the Iraqi city of Fallujah to attend a hastily organized rally.

Opposite them, a handful of war-protester protesters planted Israeli and U.S. flags and made up for their small numbers with lung-rattling shouts and serious charges.

"Communists!" they yelled. Some called people whores and traitors. "Why do you hate your country?" others cried.

Standing across the street with an American Legion cap on his head and an American flag in his hands, Charley Serra could only laugh at the challenge to his patriotism.

"You have to laugh," he said. "Otherwise, you'll cry."

Serra is from Central Valley. He's part of the Orange County Democratic Alliance, one of the groups sponsoring the anti-war rally, and he served in the Army during the Korean war. He's been against the war in Iraq all along.
"We had no business going in there," he said.

As he spoke, a young woman nearby skipped the laughter and responded in kind to the group across the street with a few choice words. Serra blushed.

"Those are the kids," he said. "They'll tell you where it's at."

And in between it all, the traffic.

Some drivers honked their horns and flashed peace sings out their windows.

From up high on monster-truck tires, a pretty blond girl, seated in the middle of the pickup's cab, subtracted her index finger to offer a very different sign to the war protesters.

Jack Smith, Rally Organizer Fred Nagel, Dutchess Greens
Joel Tyner

But for those and a few other exceptions, it was hard to tell what, if any, effect the dueling messages had on passers-by.

Back on the sidewalk, some protesters grew frustrated at the ability of a small group of counter-demonstrators to co-opt their rally.

They urged people away from the curbside shouting match and back toward the center of a small park. There, underdressed students jumped up and down and danced to fight off the cold as Jack Smith of the Hudson Valley Activist Network talked about the need to revive a dormant anti-war movement in the wake of President Bush's re-election.

One man in the crowd turned to his friend. "The problem with all these things I go to," he said, "is they're preaching to the choir."

Across the street, Roger Bannon, visiting from Florida, was singing a very different tune. He wondered aloud why the left marches against U.S. action and not against brutal tyrants like Saddam Hussein.

"That's why I'm here," he said.

Between the two sides, the lights turned to green and the traffic moved on.

A couple of young women protesting the war dodged traffic and approached Bannon and the others. They wanted to talk.

Wanting to avoid any trouble, the police sent them back to their side of the road.

Pro-War Demonstrators

 

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