Palestinians hold a day of remembrance
By G. Dunkel
New York
On a barge moored to the Hudson River front in midtown
Manhattan, Al-Awda of New York/New Jersey--the Palestinian
Right of Return Coalition--held a "Day of Remembrance and
Learning" on Sept. 23.
The smoke from the fires still smoldering at the World Trade
Center drifted faintly by the barge. A young Palestinian
American woman spoke of the tragedy at the World Trade
Center.
She connected this tragedy with the U.S.-funded and
U.S-supplied massacre of 3,000 people by the Israelis, carried
out 19 years ago in September in the Sabra and Shatila refugee
camps.
Larry Holmes, co-director of the International Action Center
(IAC), pointed out that "the U.S. government, for all its fancy
proclamations, needs racism to prosecute this coming war
because racism allows them to dehumanize and demonize Arabs and
Muslims."
Susan Ross, a member of the Free Mumia Coalition, raised his
case and his support for the struggle of the Palestinian
people.
Amer Jubran, a member of Al-Awda who is facing trumped-up
charges in Brook line, Mass., for an anti-Zionist pro test,
brought up "the decades of unresolved conflict--political,
economic and social repression--which are a direct threat to
our lives and liberty. They have left 1.2 billion people in
fear for their lives and livelihood.
"The 53 years of U.S.-financed Israeli oppression are a good
example, but not the only one, of the tensions these conflicts
create." (See www.iacboston.org for details on Jubran's
story.)
Jubran went on to say "Even if the U.S. threatened to
devastate the whole world, these conflicts could not be
resolved without justice."
Samia Halaby, the coordinator of Al-Awda here, gave a brief
overview of Palestinian history and showed how the Anti-Racism
Conference in Durban marked the growing support Palestine had
throughout the world, a growing unity based on working-class
solidarity. She ended with the chant, "The people, united, will
stop the war."
IAC co-director Sara Flounders remind ed the audience that
we not only had to listen and learn, but decide what to do.
"The policies of this government put us and the whole world in
danger." She urged people to attend the major anti-war march
Sept. 29 in Washington, D.C., and all the other protests coming
up Oct. 7 and Oct. 12-13.
Among the other speakers were: Ashanti, a former Black
Panther; Mimi Rosenberg, a fired WBAI producer; and Eric Tong,
representing the Oct. 7 coalition.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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