Peace Show highlights opposition to airborne destruction
'The Air Show glorifies weapons of destruction'
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
Grant Segall
Plain Dealer Reporter
As warplanes roared overhead, a crowd of Clevelanders sang, played, munched and cheered for peace.
"The Air Show glorifies weapons of destruction," Brian Stefan of Cleveland said Monday during the sixth annual Cleveland Peace Show, held at Willard Park, in the shadow of the yearly Cleveland National Air Show. "It's masking what these planes really do. They kill people."
Stefan gathered signatures for petitions to limit the Air Show to civilian planes, the attractions of the show's 1929 roots in the National Air Races.
"Celebrate flight, not war," said Stefan. The peace show's crowds have grown yearly, and so has public opposition to the U.S. occupation of Iraq.
Yet, after more than four years, the war goes on. Activist Jim Miller of Cleveland Heights said it's hard to stop.
"You're trying to move the mountain of the whole American power structure," Miller said.
The show included the touring exhibit Eyes Wide Open, with a pair of combat boots for each Ohioan killed in Iraq. The exhibit also included civilian shoes with the names, ages and occupations of just a fraction of the Iraqis killed - estimated from 71,000 on up.
The show was organized by Cleveland Peace Action and many other anti-war groups. Volunteers led peace-minded games like Unity Bingo, with each square representing a different country. Cleveland Catholic Workers dished out free food.
Many visitors took in both the peace show and the air show.
"I understand about peace, but we still can celebrate," said Vivian Bohles of Cleveland.
David Kinzel of Westlake is a pacifist who likes flight. "I see it more as the result of good technology," said Kinzel, "not to kill people, just to give us something to enjoy."
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:
gsegall@plaind.com, 216-999-4187
