A Day Late, but Not a Marcher Short, in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 16 — Some people were concerned that the protest here today would be forgotten, coming as it did the day after millions of people attended peace rallies around the world.

They need not have worried. The demonstrations on Saturday were like a big pregame pep rally for peace activists from the San Francisco Bay Area.

At least 150,000 people marched through the city's financial district, chanted antiwar slogans and listened to John Lennon's "Imagine" sung in Arabic. The afternoon of dissent was the largest antiwar demonstration in San Francisco since the protests against possible military action in Iraq began last fall.

"We are here to stop this war," the actor Danny Glover shouted from a stage at Civic Center Plaza.

Another speaker, Rabbi Stephen Pearce of Temple Emanu-El in San Francisco, said the protesters were delivering an important message to President Bush and Congress.

"We will not send our sons and daughters to war," Rabbi Pearce said. "We will not turn our sons and daughters into mortar."

By late in the afternoon, when the demonstration was coming to an end, the police estimated the crowd at 150,000 to 200,000. At the same time, organizers, who had volunteers atop buildings videotaping marchers on Market Street, suggested that the number was closer to 250,000.

The crowds gathering at a staging area near the waterfront grew so large so quickly that some people began walking toward Civic Center Plaza more than an hour before the scheduled start. There was simply no more room at the staging area.

"It is was so wonderful to see the turnout in Europe and New York," said Miriam Hutchins, 59, a teacher from Petaluma, Calif. Ms. Hutchins said she had marched with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Detroit in 1963 and had attended Vietnam War protests in Berkeley, Calif.

"This voice is coming from the planet," Ms. Hutchins said. "It started in Melbourne and is growing around the globe. Now it is San Francisco's turn."

Originally scheduled for Saturday, the rally was put off until today to avoid conflicting with a Chinese New Year celebration. While the change did not dampen enthusiasm, it did create some confusion.

Mike Lamson of Alameda, Calif., and other protesters showed up downtown on Saturday expecting a peace rally, not a New Year's parade. Mr. Lamson, 33, said he and his wife, Nicole, and daughter, Sarah, spent a day sightseeing while waiting for the march today.

"I am honestly not sure how much it does to stop a war, but at the very least it makes you feel like you are speaking your voice," he said.

The police said the demonstration was mostly peaceful until a group of about 500 people broke off late in the day, setting several fires and vandalizing at least one store. Several arrests were made, the police said, but no details were available.

For some people here, the biggest worry was not over rowdy peace advocates but terrorism. Mr. Lamson said he had a few anxious minutes on the subway as it sped through a tunnel beneath the San Francisco Bay. Since the code orange terror alert, security has been heightened at bridges and tunnels.

But the fear of terrorism, Mr. Lamson said, made getting to the protest all the more important.

"That is one of the most convincing arguments of the antiwar movement," he said. "An attack on Iraq will stimulate terrorism against the United States."

Joan Buell, 77, of Cupertino, Calif., also had terrorism on her mind. She said she was moved by "genuine fear" to attend this, her first peace rally. Though she questioned how much protests influenced decisions in Washington, she said she could no longer sit quietly on the sidelines.

"I am scared, and I'm not kidding," Ms. Buell said of a possible war with Iraq. "I think the consequence is going to be World War III, and I am very depressed about it."

Michael N. Nagler, the founder and former chairman of the Peace and Conflict Studies Department at the University of California, said the protest could have significance, not in changing Mr. Bush's mind but in reaching out to potential terrorists.

"This is going to penetrate the consciousness of some of the people who hate us and make it harder to stereotype us," Professor Nagler said. "A key element in nonviolent struggles is risk. When you are willing to take a risk it has a strong emotional impact on the other party."