(C) Common Dreams
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VAST CROWDS HOLD RALLIES IN EUROPE AGAINST U.S. ARMS [1]
['James M. Markham', 'Special To The New York Times']
Date: 1983-10-23
Petra Kelly, a Green Party member of Parliament, was heartily applauded when she publicly chided Mr. Brandt for not going far enough. ''It is absurd when Brandt says no to the new missiles but yes to NATO,'' she said.
Heinrich B"oll, the Nobel Prize-winning novelist and an antimissile activist, cautioned against hostility toward American soldiers, diplomats and journalists in West Germany. ''The best allies of the German peace movement are in the United States of America,'' said Mr. B"oll, comparing this solidarity to sharp criticisms of the movement voiced in neighboring France.
A novelty at the Bonn rally was an appearance by Heino Falcke, a Protestant pastor from Erfurt in East Germany, who warned that if new missiles were stationed in West Germany, ''then we will also get more missiles, more weapons and less freedom.''
As in Hamburg, West Berlin, Stuttgart and Neu-Ulm, the mass demonstration in Bonn unfolded in discipline and harmony, with 50 special trains and 824 buses bringing mainly youthful protesters to the capital from nearby cities. German rock groups and the American singer Arlo Guthrie, who sang ''Blowin' in the Wind,'' enlivened the main rally, where banners and placards attacked American arms policies.
''Better neutral than dead,'' said one placard. ''We don't want to be defended to death!'' said another. Bomb at German Installation
The only violence of the day was reported from Bad Ems, 50 miles southeast of here, where a bomb was thrown through an open window of a West German military intelligence school at 3:45 A.M., causing extensive damage to an unfinished section but harming no one.
By way of comparison, New York police estimates said that more than 500,000 people took part in a march through midtown and a rally in Central Park to protest nuclear arms on June 12, 1982. The events were peaceful, but two days later 1,566 people were arrested for blocking the entrances to the United Nations missions of five countries that possess nuclear arms. Most of those arrested were given summonses for disorderly conduct.
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[1] Url:
https://www.nytimes.com/1983/10/23/world/vast-crowds-hold-rallies-in-europe-against-us-arms.html
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