Worldwide protests tell Bush:
'STOP WAR, END RACISM'
By Greg Butterfield
President George W. Bush's proclamation of a protracted "war
against terrorism" sparked protests throughout the world during
the last two weeks of September. Millions, both inside and
outside the U.S., decried Bush's attempt to use the Sept. 11
attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon as the pretext
for a new war of aggression in Afghanistan and the Middle
East.
In Central Asia, the Middle East, the
Indian subcontinent and Indonesia, militant
demonstrations of tens of thousands have targeted U.S.
government sites, Big Oil and Wall Street business interests.
People in these countries have been frequent targets of U.S.
economic strangulation and Pentagon terrorism.
Seeking to bully U.S. client regimes in the area, Bush
declared before Congress Sept. 20: "Every nation in every
region now has a decision to make: Either you are with us, or
you are with the terrorists. From this day forward, any nation
that continues to harbor or support terrorism will be regarded
by the United States as a hostile regime."
Washington has consistently labeled as "terrorist" any
country or movement resisting U.S. economic and military
domination, from the Palestinian liberation movement to
socialist Cuba to the revolutionary forces in Colombia.
Revolutionary and progressive organizations in Nepal,
Bangladesh and Pakistan protested after the
governments there agreed to let their airspace be used for
U.S.-launched attacks.
"The U.S. has itself indulged in killing the people of poor
countries, labeling them as 'terrorist,'" said Nepal Communist
Party (Maoist) leader Kirshna Bahadur Mahara. In India,
the Communist Party (Marxist-Leninist)-Liberation called for a
week of protests against Bush in Delhi and other cities.
President Fidel Castro of Cuba said Bush's war plan,
called "Infinite Justice," could turn into an "infinite killing
of innocent people."
In the U.S., where many workers are still grieving the loss
of loved ones, anti-war sentiment has taken more moderate
forms, including vigils, rallies and teach-ins.
But in the hundreds of cities and towns where anti-war
actions have been held-from New York and Washington to Los
Angeles and San Francisco-organizers have been encouraged by
strong turnouts and sympathetic responses from the public.
"There is a strong anti-war sentiment just under the
surface," said Larry Holmes, a co-director of the International
Action Center (IAC) and an organizer of the Sept. 29
International A.N.S.W.E.R. rally in Washington. "Our job is to
provide a way for workers and poor people here in the U.S. to
grieve for the Sept. 11 victims while also standing up to the
racist attacks and Bush's war drive."
A.N.S.W.E.R. stands for "Act Now to Stop War & End
Racism." Groups throughout Europe plan actions to coincide with
International A.N.S.W.E.R.'s demonstrations on Sept. 29.
Targeted groups rally
The media and government's unceasing barrage of chauvinist
propaganda has led to hundreds of racist attacks on immigrants
from the Middle East and South Asia.
On Sept. 19, over 200 representatives of Arab, Muslim and
South Asian groups rallied in Washington, D.C. They
gathered at the memorial to the 120,000 Japanese-Americans
forced into internment camps after the 1941 attack on Pearl
Harbor.
"A turban does not signify a terrorist," said one
participant, Tejpal Singh Chawla of the Sikh Mediawatch and
Research Task Force. A Sikh immigrant from Punjab, India, had
been killed by a racist gunman Sept. 15. At least three other
immigrants have died in racist attacks.
Defending Muslims and immigrants was a big priority for
anti-war activities in New York. There, at the epicenter
of the Sept. 11 tragedy, Union Square Park in lower Manhattan
and its memorial for World Trade Center victims became home
base for progressive and anti-war forces.
Grief and mourning turned to action Sept. 21. Earlier in the
week community groups and progressive organizations met at the
embattled Charras Community Center and called for a march from
Union Square to Times Square to protest Bush's war plans.
Over 2,500 people marched on the sidewalks, chanting: "Bush
says war, New York says no!" Hundreds of police used horses and
clubs to block the peaceful, mostly young marchers from
entering the area around the Times Square Recruiting
Station-the traditional site of anti-war rallies. Five people
were arrested.
Workers World's G. Dunkel reported: "The slogans were
varied, but all opposed the war. The IAC's chants of 'No more
victims, no more violence, no more war' and 'No to war and
racism' were popular. Another was, 'Stop the war, stop the
attack, that won't bring our loved ones back.' Banners read 'No
racist war for oil profits' and 'Don't use my grief as an
excuse for more grief.'"
Dunkel added: "What was particularly noticeable was the
support and encouragement the march got from passers by and
people in bars, restaurants and coffee shops.
Counter-protesters were few and far between."
Anti-war activities continued over the next two days, with a
Sept. 22 rally at Union Square and a teach-in Sept. 23
sponsored by Al-Awda, the Palestinian Right of Return
Coalition.
'End sanctions'
In Los Angeles, hundreds gathered on Sept. 22 and
Sept. 24 in Pershing Square to denounce the war drive,
including Mexican and Chicano community groups. Many passing
motorists waved or honked their horns in support.
Like many foes of war, Pawel Chmielewski said U.S. policies
were at the root of the Sept. 11 attacks. "We need to normalize
our relations and end sanctions against Iraq and the
Palestinians," he told the Los Angeles Daily News.
In San Diego, some 500 people turned out Sept. 22 for
a "very powerful demonstration of opposition to Bush's war
drive," said WW correspondent Bob McCubbin. The diverse crowd
"lined both sides of Broadway in the heart of the downtown
area, holding signs, banners and flags opposing war and
racism," he explained.
Speakers included a high school student from Afghanistan, an
Armenian activist who participated in the first Iraq Sanctions
Challenge, and a representative of the International Action
Center. Gloria Verdieu, a leader of the San Diego Free Mumia
Coalition, read from death-row political prisoner Mumia
Abu-Jamal's commentary on the Sept. 11 attacks.
A spirited march through the Gaslamp District followed.
Hundreds of flyers were distributed.
Northeast Ohio was the site of several anti-war/anti-racism
activities. On Sept. 18, 30 people rallied in Akron at
an action called by the Radical Action Network. In
Cleveland, the Interreligious Task Force held a silent
vigil Sept. 21, and the People's Fightback Center brought out
100 people, including students, for a loud Sept. 22
protest.
"This threat to go to war will do nothing to ease the
suffering that thousands of people are facing right now," said
organizer Martha Grevatt. "They need jobs. They need
assistance. They need support," she told the local Channel 5
News.
On Sept. 24 in Boston, the Women's Fightback Network
of the IAC held a Women's Speak-out that drew hundreds of
listeners in the downtown area. Some passersby stopped to thank
the speakers for their statements and to express their own
solidarity with struggling people around the world. IAC members
also participated in the weekly Vigil for the Iraqi People.
Boston was a major hub of nationwide campus actions Sept.
20. During the day, 650 students and workers rallied at Harvard
University. Hundreds more gathered at Boston College, Boston
University, Brandeis University, Emerson College, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, Northeastern and other area campuses.
That evening, groups from all the campuses sponsored a united
march.
Over 130 campuses nationwide participated in the National
Day of Student Action. "Here in Oberlin College, a
school of 3,000 in the middle of rural Ohio, the new
coalition-the Campaign Against Racism and War-had a march and
rally against the racist attacks, the war, and the attacks on
civil liberties," reported Ted Virdone, a member of Socialist
Alternative. "We drew 500 people, which is more than I have
ever seen come out at my school."
Over 3,000 students answered the call at the University of
California in Berkeley. WW correspondent Bill Hackwell
reported, "Activists flooded Sproul Plaza, a symbol of anti-war
protest from the free speech movement that began there in the
early 1960s against the Vietnam War." Later they marched
through the streets. "For many students in the march, it was
their first political protest," Hackwell added.
WW received reports from the State University of New York at
New Paltz and Bard College in New York's Mid-Hudson
region; Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown University; Virginia
Tech in Blacksburg, Va.; the University of
Wisconsin-Madison; and several campuses in
Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn.
Buffalo, N.Y., activists reported numerous anti-war
activities, the largest being a Peace and Unity Rally at the
University of Buffalo on Sept. 21. A speak-out in front of the
student union drew 100 people, including representatives of the
Organization of Arab Students, the Muslim Student Association,
the Asian Student Union, Environmental Network, Lackawanna High
School International Youth and Student Organization, U.S.
Marxist-Leninist Organization, Workers World Party and the
IAC.
And on Sept. 22 students from Goucher College, Johns Hopkins
University and Towson University joined with Baltimore
community groups for a march and rally against war and racism.
Two thousand marched against war in Seattle that
day.
Canada, Europe respond
The Bush administration called on its fellow imperialist
governments in Canada and Europe to join the planned war-under
Washington's command, of course. Attacks on Muslims and
immigrants have escalated in those countries, and activists
have responded with strong protests.
In Montreal, over 1,000 people demonstrated Sept. 23.
Jaggi Singh, a leader of the movement against capitalist
globalization, reported: "The protest, called by the Emergency
Coalition Against War Hysteria and Racism, was organized within
one week, and only publicized for a few days. It is part of
ongoing anti-war events that have emerged here since Sept.
11."
The demonstration gathered at Concordia University. Speakers
represented the local Afghan community, opponents of Iraq
sanctions and the South Asian Women's Community Center.
"The speakers voiced clear opposition to war and racism, and
some spoke of the context of U.S. imperialism in the world,"
Singh said. After a march to the U.S. consulate, Palestinian
and Jewish activists spoke.
On Sept. 22, several thousand rallied in the German
cities of Berlin, Cologne, Bremen and Kassel, carrying banners
reading "Enough deaths" and "No retaliation," the Reuters news
service reported. Another rally in Berlin by the Afghan
community demanded "No bombs on Afghanistan." Representatives
of the German peace movement met in Kassel and called for a
national demonstration in Berlin on Oct. 13.
Thousands more demonstrated Sept. 22 in Britain.
Prime Minister Tony Blair has been a major backer of Bush's
"anti-terrorist" campaign. In London about 5,000 people
gathered near Blair's official residence at 10 Downing St. Many
carried signs reading: "Stand shoulder to shoulder for peace
and justice. No more violence."
The protests, also held in Manchester and in Glasgow,
Scotland, were called by the Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament. Thirty protesters also gathered outside the U.S.
Air Force base in Lakenheath, Suffolk.
At the Glasgow rally, Scottish Socialist Party leader Tommy
Sheridan said, "I appeal to everyone to become involved in a
broad-based anti-war movement, a broad-based movement for peace
and for equality throughout the world."
In Italy some 7,000 people demonstrated in Florence
Sept. 23 along with smaller demonstrations in other cities. The
entire week up to Sept. 29 has been designated as a week of
actions to stop the war, with a national protest set for Sept.
27 in Naples. A NATO summit that had been earlier scheduled for
that day has been moved to Brussels.
Groups that had united around the Genoa Social Forum for
anti-globalization protests last July are supporting the
anti-war actions. The Refoundation Communist Party has called
another national action for Sept. 29 in Rome.
In Liege, Belgium, on Sept. 22, some 2,000 mostly
young people protested against the war.
With reports from Bill Hackwell in Berkeley, Calif.; Bob
McCubbin in San Diego; G. Dunkel in New York; Workers World
bureaus in Boston, Buffalo, N.Y., Cleveland, Mid-Hudson, N.Y.,
and Seattle; J. Gilbert in Florence; the web site of the
Belgian Workers' Party; the German daily newspaper Junge Welt;
and the "Studentsnowar" email list.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011
Email: ww@workers.org
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