MOVEMENT COMING TOGETHER TO
Stop the war and change the world
Economic justice, not racism and aggression
By John Catalinotto
New York
On Sept. 26, while the Pentagon was calling up another 2,000
reservists and Pakistani fishers reported a U.S. aircraft
carrier near that country's coastline, the peace movement
within the United States was preparing for its first national
action to stop the war drive.
The movement on both sides of the world follows the
catastrophic assault on and destruction of the Twin Towers of
the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon, with the loss
of lives now estimated at over 6,000.
Anti-war activists here and abroad are horrified not only at
the carnage but at the Bush administration's use of it to
mobilize for a new round of war in Central Asia described as a
long-term, open-ended campaign by President George W. Bush
himself.
Within the U.S., peace activists, progressives, trade
unionists, community organizers and others have formed
a new anti-war coalition named A.N.S.W.E.R.--Act Now to Stop
War & End Racism. This group made a call for national and
international actions on Sept. 29.
In the U.S., major demonstrations are planned Sept. 29 in
Washington, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Chicago,
and local actions are set in many others cities for those who
cannot reach the central protests.
Before Sept. 11, the International Action Center had planned
a demonstration at the White House as part of many
anti-globalization actions. Since that time, the IAC turned its
permits over to A.N.S.W.E.R. and changed the focus of the
protest.
Workers World interviewed organizers from A.N.S.W.E.R. in
three of the cities about their assessment of the current state
of the peace movement and the sentiment among the
population.
To win the hearts and minds
In San Francisco, WW spoke with Gloria La Riva about the
goals of the coalition at a time when public opinion polls show
a majority of the U.S. population backing a war.
"There has been a wonderful feeling of unity and cooperation
among the progressive forces in this region," said La Riva.
"All the progressive organizations, those of the left,
religious and community groups, groups from the Black, Latino,
Asian and Arab communities see this demonstration as a way to
create a platform for peace.
"They know it is an opportunity to break the climate of fear
that the Bush administration and the media have imposed on the
population," she added.
"We in the peace movement are in a struggle with the Bush
administration for the hearts and minds of the population in
the United States. Bush and Company have the mainstream--that
is, the big-business--media at their beck and call. We have the
beginning of a groundswell for peace among the people," La Riva
said.
"We can see how strong this sentiment is from the statement
of the San Francisco Central Labor Council," La Riva added.
"They, of course, condemn the attack and express their
solidarity with their fellow workers who were victims, and they
ask that the perpetrators be brought to justice. But they go on
to condemn the moves toward war, to show complete solidarity
with Arab and Muslim or other Central Asian people within the
U.S., and to demand that there be no loss of civil liberties
and freedom of expression.
"They also go on to endorse the Sept. 29 demonstrations both
in Washington and here in California," she concluded.
Breaking through to the media
From the A.N.S.W.E.R. office in Washington, D.C., Dick
Becker said that already a major accomplishment of the
demonstration has been to break through to the media after
almost two weeks where only one opinion was heard. This would
not have been possible had there been no demonstration, he
said.
"The message with the strongest impact," he said, "is that
the course of the Bush administration is leading to
catastrophe. Anyone who believes a new war in the Middle East
or Asia will offer more safety and security to people living in
the U.S. is being seriously misled.
"No one can excuse what happened Sept. 11, and the horrific
casualties, Becker added. "But if the Bush war drive goes
forward, these casualties could be multiplied 10 times, 100
times, or more."
"To remove the threat, you have to address the fundamental
issues that have created the deep anger against the U.S. and
its policies, an anger now higher than ever before.
Unfortunately," Becker said, "the consequences of the anger
toward U.S. policies can come down on the people of the U.S.,
who haven't played a role in formulating these policies and in
many cases don't even know what they are.
"They may not know, for example, that U.S. sanctions on Iraq
still kill 5,000 people a month. Or that the U.S. supplies the
rockets, planes and bullets the Israelis use against the
Palestinians. But the people of the Middle East are acutely
aware of all this.
"Then there is a vast deployment of U.S. military forces,
thousands of troops, scores of warships, hundreds of warplanes,
in the Gulf region. The people there see them," Becker said,
"not as defending freedom and democracy, but as protecting the
financial interests of corporate America, particularly the oil
companies. It is an occupation force and no one wants to be
occupied."
Becker told of the breadth of support for the Sept. 29
demonstration, as shown by a news conference A.N.S.W.E.R. held
in Washington Sept. 24. Speakers included Bishop Thomas
Gumbleton of Detroit, Jessica Marques of the Mexico Solidarity
Network, Lina Fattom of the Union of Arab Student Associations,
Chuck Kaufman of the Nicaragua Network, Kathy Boylan of the
Dorothy Day Catholic Worker House and Korean-American activist
Rev. Kiyul Chung.
There was also a strong showing
of Washington-based organizers, espe cially from the Black
community. It included Vanessa Dixon of the D.C. Healthcare Now
Coalition, Rev. Graylan Hagler of the Plymouth Congre ga-
tional Church, and Eleiza Braun of the
George Washington University Action Coalition.
A time to act--and to reflect
In New York, WW spoke with International Action Center
co-director Sara Flounders. She had just finished debating on
Fox News with three pro-war people.
"I told them college youths were organizing against the
war," she said, but all three made fun of the students. "I then
said that it was past U.S. policies that had put the
population, not only of the rest of the world but of the United
States itself, at risk. The past wars had aroused enormous
anger. And a new war would do the same."
She agreed with Becker about the main argument in these
debates. "People can call for retribution but it will not begin
to solve the crisis. Revenge doesn't offer a way out, but just
opens the door to a deepening cycle of death and
destruction.
"There is something else coming out of all this horror," she
said. "Because people are frightened, because they feel
threatened, they are reflecting on these questions of U.S.
foreign policy as they never have before. They are asking
themselves why it all happened. They know there must be a
reason and they don't trust the government and its answers.
"The task of the anti-war movement," she concluded, "is to
combine strong action against the war with the clearest answers
to the questions so many people are asking."
Organizers at the International A.N.S.W.E.R. office say that
many people called in after the Fox debate to order bus tickets
to Washington, causing the group to order additional buses.
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