An up-close look at ANSWER coalition
By John Catalinotto
Since September 2001, the International ANSWER
coalition has played a leading role in the anti-war movement in
the United States and has aroused the interest of
anti-imperialist activists worldwide in its actions and the
groups that formed it.
ANSWER's story begins just after Sept. 11, 2001, as the Bush
administration began exploiting the attacks on the World Trade
Center and the Pentagon to mobilize for endless war. Brian
Becker, who is on ANSWER's steering committee from the
International Action Center, told Workers World, "Before 9/11,
a large number of organizations had planned to demonstrate on
Sept. 29 in Washington against the World Bank and International
Monetary Fund."
But Sept. 11 and the Bush administration's chauvinist
offensive stunned many of these organizations and several
withdrew from the Sept. 29 protests. The groups that decided
that it was crucial to proceed but to re-orient and transform
the demonstrations by focusing on an anti-war platform joined
together to establish the steering committee of the ANSWER
Coalition. The acronym reflected the new focus: Act Now to Stop
War & End Racism, Becker explained.
They were the Free Palestine Alliance, International Action
Center, IFCO Pastors for Peace, Kensington Welfare Rights
Union, Korea Truth Commission, Nicara gua Network, Partnership
for Civil Justice, Middle East Children's Alliance and the
Mexico Solidarity Network of U.S./ Canada. Some months later
the Bayan USA/ International and the Muslim Student Association
of U.S./Canada also joined the ANSWER steering committee.
Some 25,000 demonstrated on Sept. 29 in Washington, another
15,000 in San Francisco. ANSWER was born in this political
confrontation with pro-war jingoism and racist attacks on
Muslims inside the U.S.
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of the for Civil Justice says that
although ANSWER is known for its opposition to war, "from the
beginning it has also been a social justice movement and will
continue to mobilize on social justice issues."
The PCJ carries out public-interest litigation "on behalf of
persons and groups that have been discriminated against because
of race, gender and political action. It defends the First
Amendment rights of political activists and also struggles for
economic justice," Verheydn-Hilliard said.
"We see ANSWER as a coalition of groups and people who have
a fundamental commitment to confront and change the criminal
conduct of the U.S. government," she continued. "They come from
different backgrounds but they support each other's struggles
and join together in common opposition to U.S. crimes."
Palestine liberation
Seven months after the Sept. 29 pro tests, ANSWER held the
largest demonstration in U.S. history in support of the
Palestinian people. More than 100,000 demonstrated in
Washington, D.C., on April 20, 2002. The demonstration also
resulted in a united front between ANSWER and various peace
groups. The demonstration was first called to protest the
ongoing occupation of Afghanistan and plans to attack Iraq. But
world events intervened and changed the focus.
When, on March 29 of last year, the Israeli army reinvaded
the West Bank and moved with murderous force against the town
of Jenin, solidarity with Palestine became the major issue of
the ANSWER protest. Mosques organized hundreds of buses to go
to Washington for that protest. Some 30,000 to 40,000 people
from the Arab and Muslim communities came out in the face of
repression to join together with others in what was a truly
historic breakthrough event in solidarity with Palestine.
Elias Rashmawi says his Free Palestine Alliance-U.S. is "a
national organization that holds paramount the indivisibility
of Palestine as land, people, history and future. The FPA-U.S.
regards Palestine as an inseparable part of the Arab world, and
considers the struggle against imperialism and colonialism in
all of their political and ideological manifestations as a
primary task for the Palestinian people and all those
struggling for, or supporting, liberation.
"The FPA-U.S. regards the struggle against Zionism as
fundamental, and rejects the notion that Palestinians should
accept partial 'rights' or semi-servitude to appease
'international' political expediency or liberal constructs," he
adds.
"The FPA-U.S. regards ANSWER as home," Rashmawi stressed.
"It is on the basis of international solidarity and the clarity
that ANSWER has on issues of self-determination and support for
liberation that our participation in ANSWER is not only
natural, but is also a must."
Over the summer, as the Bush administration's plans to
invade Iraq became apparent, ANSWER focused on mobilizing to
"stop the war before it starts."
On Oct. 26, 2002, some 200,000 people surrounded the White
House, and another 150,000 marched in San Francisco, called out
by ANSWER with the endorsement of other anti-war forces. The
New York Times, whose first article tried to underplay and
undercount the protests, was forced to recant a few days later.
It was a first admission in the ruling-class controlled media
that mass opposition to the war existed.
When the number of demonstrators soared to nearly 500,000 at
the next ANSWER protest on Jan. 18 in Wash ington--with
hundreds of thousands more demonstrating that day in San
Francisco--the corporate media finally gave wide publicity to
the fact that an awesome anti-war movement had suddenly arisen
to confront Bush's planned war against Iraq.
Solidarity and immigrant organizations
Each of ANSWER's core organizations helped its outreach.
Some are organizations in solidarity with struggles abroad,
often with strong support from immigrants inside the U.S.
Chuck Kaufman of the Nicaragua Network notes that his group
"will celebrate its 25th year of solidarity with the people of
Nicaragua next February." Earlier, the Nicaragua Network had
worked to defend the gains of the Sandinista revolution through
information and education in the U.S., people-to-people
exchanges, and material support for projects in Nicaragua.
"Local committees in the U.S., numbering about 200, rely on
the Nicaragua Network for information and organizing tools,"
says Kaufman. "We work in many broad coalitions on issues that
affect Nicaragua, such as anti-war, anti-corporate
globalization, anti-militarization. The ANSWER coalition has
proven to be one of the most effective coalitions for
mobilizing and educating people about the issues of most
concern to us."
Tom Hansen of the Mexico Solidarity Network says it "is a
national coalition of grassroots organizations struggling for
workers' rights, indigenous rights, economic justice and human
rights on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border. Currently the
neoliberal economic model the U.S. rulers promote threatens
peoples of both countries. These programs include the Free
Trade Area of the Americas, NAFTA and militarization."
IFCO Pastors for Peace has taken a leading role in promoting
solidarity with Cuba. The Korea Truth Commission has organized
tribunals exposing U.S. war crimes during the 1950-1953 war
against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
A leader in the anti-war movement
ANSWER continued its strong role in the anti-war movement,
participating in the worldwide mass actions in February and
again pulling out 100,000 people in Washington on March 15 in a
last attempt to stop the war. Even after the U.S. military
conquered Baghdad on April 9, ANSWER responded with another
demonstration in D.C. of tens of thousands of people who
marched under the banner: "Occupation is not liberation."
Despite the proclamations in the media that the war was over,
more than 2 million people in 60 countries answered the call
and came into the streets on April 12. It was a remarkable
reflection that the anti-war movement was transforming itself
again, this time into an authentic anti-imperialist force.
Perhaps ANSWER's biggest constit uency was people who came
directly from high schools and campuses to the protest marches.
ANSWER's National Youth and Student Coordinator Peta Lindsay
says that also the "organizers in the Washing ton office were
all under 25. And from around the country they organized buses
from their colleges and even their high schools to bring people
to the protests."
Student activism may have dropped off as summer approaches,
she said, "but we expect them back in the fall. These youths
are in the struggle against the war for the long run."
ANSWER protests were still strong on April 12 in Washington,
San Francisco and also Los Angeles, which had become another
center of anti-war activity.
Joe Navidad of Los Angeles represents Bayan/U.S. in ANSWER.
His group is a chapter of the Bayan organization in the
Philippines. "In the U.S.," Navidad says, "it is the campaign
center of different Filipino organizations fighting for freedom
and democracy in the Philippines. One of its major tasks is to
end U.S. intervention in the Philippines, which has stepped up
as Washington uses the so-called war on terror to expand its
military."
Navidad emphasized that "Bayan also opposed the U.S. war on
Iraq and opposes the occupation of Iraq and supports
Palestinian self-determination."
Brian Becker concludes, "ANSWER represents the most vibrant
anti-imperialist wing of the peace movement in the U.S.
Building such a movement inside the U.S. is key. The Bush
administration intends to wage endless war targeting North
Korea, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Zimbabwe, Cuba and any
government that seeks to maintain independence from U.S.
domination." He pointed out that in the last two weeks ANSWER
has swung into action against Bush's new attacks on Cuba.
"ANSWER has already collected 5,500 signatures on a
statement in solidarity with Cuba. At the May 17-18 national
conference in New York, hundreds of ANSWER organizers will
develop our action plan for the coming months. We are intent on
forging a new world movement to stop the war makers."
Reprinted from the May 22, 2003, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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