Workers against the war
By Andy McInerney
With millions around the world in the streets against the
U.S. war against Afghanistan, State Department spokespeople
have been working overtime to minimize the extent of the
protests. The war propagandists and their paid pundits are
intent on presenting the image that the world is behind the new
U.S. slaughter, and that protests are confined to "militant
Islamic" groups and sympathizers.
Nothing could be further from the truth. From North America
to Europe to Asia, the anti-war movement has a firm footing in
the working-class movement.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers is joining a
growing coalition that is calling for an end to Canada's
participation in the war against Afghanistan. The September 11
Peace Coalition is organizing demonstrations across Canada on
Nov. 17 calling for an end to Canadian troops' participation in
the war and against corporate globalization.
"The alternative to war is to begin rebuilding the world's
infrastructures and to provide the things that working people
need, like food, shelter, medical care, education, jobs and
justice," CUPW leader Deborah Bourque, co-chair of the
September 11 Coalition, said on Oct. 22.
The Nov. 17 demonstrations will coincide with the G-20
Finance Ministerial meetings in Ottawa. "The government must
use the upcoming meetings of the G20, IMF and World Bank in
Ottawa to assess current agreements and policies of
institutions such as the WTO, IMF and World Bank against
Canadian values of promoting peace, social justice and security
for all people," said Steven Staples of the Council for
Canadians.
Canada is not the only country where anti-globalization
forces have turned their attention to the U.S. war. In
Germany and France, the ATTAC coalition announced on
Oct. 21 that it would turn its attention and mobilizations
toward fighting the U.S. war in Afghanistan. "We oppose this
war with all our determination," ATTAC leaders Freya Pausewang
and Sven Giegold announced.
"Anyone who wants to oppose war and terrorism cannot stay
silent about poverty and humiliation," they said. "Our movement
against neoliberal globalization is now also an anti-war
movement."
ATTAC was a leading organization in the anti-globalization
protests in Genoa in July.
Greece has been the site of some of the most massive
protests in Europe against the U.S. war drive. On Oct. 25, the
General Confederation of Greek Workers (GSEE), the largest
labor federation in Greece, announced that it would mobilize
against the war. An Oct. 25 French Press Agency report
announced that the GSEE "called for workers to protest the U.S.
strikes against Afghanistan."
The GSEE is a social democratic trade union, traditionally
allied with the ruling Panhellenic Socialist Party (PASOK). The
Greek Prime Minister is also the president of PASOK, and has
supported the U.S. war. So the GSEE's call for opposition to
the war marks a clear break with its traditional political
allies.
In India, U.S. corporation Coca Cola came under
attack because of the war in Afghanistan. On Oct. 21, a unit of
the People's War Group, a Marxist insurgency in the southern
state of Andra Pradesh, caused extensive damage to a Coca Cola
plant.
"We have found a note in the Telugu language which said the
attacks were against American imperialism and the U.S. attacks
in Afghanistan," cops told AFP.
"It was very unfair for the rebels to target us," complained
Coke representatives on Oct. 25. "Contrary to some skewed
perceptions, we are not a big, bad multinational."
Wide sectors of Indian society beg to differ. In western
Mumbai, small restaurant owners announced a boycott of Coca
Cola products to protest the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan. The
boycott provoked a sharp reaction from Coke that the boycott
was an "unfair trade practice."
Reprinted from the Nov. 8, 2001, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
Subscribe wwnews-subscribe@workersworld.net
Support independent news http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php)
HOME
:: U.S. NEWS ::
WORLD NEWS ::
EDITORIALS ::
SUBSCRIBE ::
DONATE
Email
this article
Printable
page