San Francisco, CA – In what was the largest anti-war protest in over a year, thousands of people rallied and marched from San Francisco’s Civic Center to downtown and back again. Growing disillusionment with the war escalation in Afghanistan and economic crisis brought out a diverse crowd with the common demand of “End the war now!”

There was a contingent of students from a local high school whose teachers had been laid off. A local resident who was watching the march criticized the 23,000 layoff warning notices sent out to California teachers, saying, “In China teachers are like gold. Here they are being laid off. It’s terrible!”

A number of labor unions had contingents and the march gave vocal support to the Hotel Employee and Restaurant Employee union’s picket line at a Hilton Hotel.

There were many peace, international solidarity and anti-intervention groups, such as the Friends of the Filipino People, whose signs read, “U.S. out of the Philippines!” A large number of churches were represented. Vietnam War critic Daniel Ellsberg spoke and local politicians such as San Francisco supervisor Eric Mar joined the march.

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