|
| |
Voices of Memphis raised against war
Memphis, Tenn.-Another in a series of peace rallies was held here on Oct.
27, with about 50 people attending. Several local musical groups and a poet
performed. A speaker from the Muslim Society criticized the media for
broadcasting anti-Muslim prejudice equating all Muslims with terrorists. He
spoke about the wave of harassment of Muslims and Arabs after Sept. 11,
saying, "We are shocked too. We feel twice the anger-we as Americans have
been attacked [by the terrorists] and our religion's name has been used in
vain. There is a backlash against us. There are about 5,000 Muslims in
Memphis, from all walks of life."
Scott Banbury of the Green Party protested the indiscriminate bombing of
people in Afghanistan. "For years," he said, "oil companies have
been
lobbying the U.S. to install a stable government there so that they could
build a pipeline through Afghanistan to the Arabian Sea, to deliver oil to
Southeast Asia. The women's movement and environmentalists have been
boycotting Unocal for years because of its dealings with the Taliban, which
oppresses women. Why now, after ignoring them for so long, does the U.S.
government suddenly claim to care about women in Afghanistan?"
Most of the participants were young. One student told me, "I don't think
this violence is going to get us anywhere. It's not addressing the root
problems of terrorism. It's more to make people feel better than to address
the systemic problems. If justice is what Bush is going for, why wasn't it
good enough for the Taliban to hand over bin Laden to a third party? Who
defines terrorism? The U.S. That's problematic at best."
-Franklin Dmitryev
Return to top
|
