Thousands demand: 'Free Palestine, no war on Iraq'
By Brenda Sandburg
and Saul Kanowitz
San Francisco
Resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the Bush
administration's plans to attack Iraq, 6,000 people marched
through the streets of San Francisco on Sept. 28. Amid a sea of
Palestinian flags, they chanted "Free, free Palestine," and
"Self-determination, not U.S. domination."
The San Francisco demonstration--and a corresponding protest
the following day in Chicago--was held on the second
anniversary of the Al-Aqsa Intifada and the 20th anniversary of
the Sabra and Shatila massacre. In 1982, the Lebanese Phalange
movement, with the complicity of Ariel Sharon's Israeli
military, murdered more than 2,000 Palestinians.
This Sept. 28, buses, carpools and vans came from across the
state to join the march, including six buses from Los Angeles.
Palestinians, anti-war activists, trade unionists and students
showed their determined support for the Palestinian people.
The action was also part of a growing campaign around the
country to stop the Bush administration from launching another
war against Iraq. Many speakers called for people to get
involved to help build a gigantic anti-war protest Oct. 26.
Those speaking at the rallies represented many struggles,
including that of the International Longshore and Warehouse
Union, which was locked out by the shipping companies the day
before. Representatives from the Colombian and Filipino
liberation struggles also spoke at the event, which was
sponsored by the Justice in Palestine Coalition.
Rally co-chairs were Eyad Kishawi of the Free Palestine
Alliance, Richard Becker of the International ANSWER coalition,
and Leila Qutami of the General Union of Palestinian
Students.
Michel Shehadeh of the Free Palestine Alliance said
Palestinian people are being murdered on a daily basis by the
Israel army's killing machine. "But the Israeli government is
losing because the Palestinian people have decided it is better
to die than capitulate to Zionist oppression and we will stand
by them.
"Sharon said Palestinians will be defeated in 100 days and
it's been 720 days today. They will continue if it takes
another 100 years," Shehadeh said.
Richard Becker, West Coast director of the International
Action Center and a member of ANSWER's national steering
committee, said the struggles in both Palestine and Iraq are
against colonialism. He said the United States tells the Iraqis
they have to allow 50,000 troops to occupy their country to
enforce inspections.
"No sovereign country is going to accept that or could
accept it," Becker said. "That is why we should not raise the
slogan, 'Inspections, not war.' That's like saying 'Sanc tions,
not war' during the 1991 Gulf War. Our slogan should be, 'No
war against Iraq.'"
Only the intervention of the people in the political process
can stop the war, Becker said. "Fidel Castro said that every
social system thinks itself eternal until history teaches it
otherwise. Our job is to build the movement that teaches it
otherwise."
ILWU Local 10 official Jack Heyman called for support of the
ILWU in its "life and death struggle against the employers and
the U.S. government." Heyman noted that Local 10 had passed a
resolution that calls for Israel to withdraw from the West Bank
and Gaza and for the right of self-determination for the
Palestinian people. He said the ILWU Local 10 Executive Board
also took the position that the labor movement should oppose
the war against Iraq.
Alexander Cockburn, a journalist with CounterPunch, said the
Bush administration's desire for war is all about oil. "If they
have a U.S. puppet in Iraq like they do in Saudi Arabia they
will control enough oil that they can set prices," Cockburn
said. "We say no to world domination by a bully, braggart, mad
country out of control."
Other speakers at the opening and closing rallies included
Kathy Kelly, Voices in the Wilderness; Nancy Hormachea,
International Solidarity Movement; Dina Adeeb, Arab Women's
Solidarity Association; Leilani Dowell, Committee for a New
Colombia; Hatem Bazian, Al Qalam Institute; Deej Gold, Queers
Undermining Israeli Terror (QUIT); MC Ettinger, Jews for a Free
Palestine; and Bob Mandel, Mobilization to Free Mumia.
Reprinted from the Oct. 10, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
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