By John Reuwer, World BEYOND War, September 8, 2025
World BEYOND War took part in a rally of more than 5,000 people on September 6, organized by Free DC, calling for the end of military occupation in Washington DC. Over 2000 federal troops from multiple state national guards have been occupying the city for the past few weeks. Board member John Reuwer saw the collective wisdom of many people mainfest through their creative art. He shares a few of his favorite banners and signs for the day.
This was the overall message:
We agree with this sentiment:
Which makes a point similar to this. We think right makes a peaceful might rather than might makes right:
Every soldier would do well to ask themselves this:
To ensure they do not end up like this:
Is democracy dependent on war? These folks don’t think so. In fact, current events suggest democracy is threatened by military occupation:
Observing the law is a far safer defense of democracy than militarism. While the United Nations sadly did not outlaw all war, they did try to limit offensive wars (apparently not realizing humans have trouble telling the difference between offense and defense). One of the ways was to rule that if you win a war and take territory, you have to give it back, leading to this person’s point of law:
The sheer waste of money used to round up the homeless, and working immigrants could provide lots of services to create a pleasant and peaceful atmosphere in the city:
My favorite of the day is this adaptation of a Banksy work in Palestine that I have seen. While the organizers here substituted a sub sandwich for the artist’s original flowers (that I believe he substituted for a molotov cocktail or a rock in the hand of the resister), the point is made beautifully, that nonviolent resistance is powerful. Freedom does not rise from the barrel of a gun, but from the refusal to be anything but free. Human determination is infinitely creative once the decision is made not to return evil for evil:
