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PEACE NOT WAR

NEW YORK after 9.11

2002/VHS/Color/19mins/Produced by: Video Juku

On September 11, 2001, some moments after the attack, I happened to be standing by the World Trade Center. During the following month, I continued to take the video of grassroots-New Yorkers converging to the Union Square to express their grief and anger which gradually emerged as one powerful voice against any violent response. This video is the documentary of grassroots-people.

This is Union Square in Manhattan, New York City. After the terrorists' attack on September eleventh, people posted signs of their missing loved ones here.

People opposed to the war took to the streets. News of this grass roots activism spread through the independent media network and the internet. The headline "Union Square Memorial Shut Down" appeared on the front page of the independent news. The City removed the memorials at night, fearing they would become a symbol of the antiwar movement.

Following are some impression of Japanese viewers of the video

◆I was empowered by the New Yorker’s powerful anti-war spirit and action♦I felt a difference between American protest rallies and those in Japan. In the former, there is nothing hesitant. They are powerful and compelling◆I was moved by their silent anger and sorrow◆The Japanese Mass Media reported repeatedly what I didn’t want to hear. That is, that the Bush's support rating soared to 86%, and that anyone who voiced his/her opposition to war policies were being censored or ostracized. However, this video had captured the American I had wanted to meet. I recommend that the video be shown, especially to the youth.