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SUNNY Temp: 56 °F Wind: N at 4 mph Tuesday, February 25, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend February 14, 2003 With a large banner bearing the phrase �NO DEATH FOR $!� hanging nearby, two Ashland-area women perch on a platform in a Lithia Park tree Thursday. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Tree-sitters go hungry to oppose conflict with Iraq A pine tree in Ashland’s Lithia Park is now home to two women with strong views on going to war By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune ASHLAND — Two women climbed some 80 feet up a pine tree in Lithia Park early Thursday to launch a hunger strike demonstrating their opposition to a possible U.S.-led war against Iraq. Perched on a plywood platform held up by a web of ropes, the women, who would not give their names but said they were from the Ashland area, announced they intended to stay aloft indefinitely. "We’re here on a hunger strike to show solidarity with the women and children in Iraq," one said. "They are the ones who will really suffer in the war." The protesters and their supporters strung up a 25-foot-long banner near the tree reading "NO DEATH FOR $!" Another smaller banner declaring "NO WAR" hung from the small platform near the park’s lower duck pond. The two, who said they would only drink water during their tree-sit, said they represent a growing global anti-war movement. "We don’t have to take it any more," one shouted. "We are in solidarity with everyone who is trying to stop the war machine." Their protests drew a handful of supporters late Thursday morning, but they are counting on more support in war protests today and Saturday in Ashland and Medford. A rally is set at noon today at the Ashland plaza, a gathering war opponents described in a press release as "a motley crew of grannies and anarchists, bicyclists, treehuggers and DJs and agitators, singers and cooks and unionists." That loose-knit group is calling for a general strike opposing war with Iraq. "Spend the morning making love and spend the afternoon making peace," the press release suggested. Saturday’s event begins with a peace march at 8 a.m. at the Ashland Plaza. It will head north on Highway 99 to the Veterans Memorial Park in Medford, where a short rally will begin at noon. No one attempted to remove the tree sitters in Lithia Park on Thursday, although city employee Aldena Adame arrived with a truck and ladder late Thursday morning to cut down the large banner. The banner, which was given to the protest supporters, posed a safety hazard, Adame said. After cutting down the rope, she returned to the ground and shook hands with protest supporters who thanked her for returning the banner. "I’m just doing my job," she told a reporter, adding she had no comment on a possible war with Iraq or the protesters. But Ashland resident Gerald Cavanaugh, 73, and his wife, Ragan, who dropped by the park to show support for the two tree sitters, didn’t mind commenting. A bumper sticker on their van reads, "Who Would Jesus Bomb?" "I’m opposed to this war because this is a big adventure for Bush — Iraq is no threat," said Gerald Cavanaugh, a retired history professor who taught at the University of California at Berkeley. He adamantly disagrees with the Bush administration that there is a connection between Iraq and the terrorist attack on Sept. 11, 2001. "Anything we can do to prevent a major war we must do," he said. "About 90 percent of the casualties will be non-combatants — women and children. "We don’t have to do this," he added of going to war. "What is this bum (Saddam) going to do with missiles if he does have any? He shoots one, and he is obliterated." Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy webmaster feedback A D V E R T I S E R S