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What kind of 'anti-war movement'? Responses in New York New York City-Thousands of New Yorkers have risen up from their grief and fear to demand that Bush not take revenge on innocent people in our name. Just a few days after the World Trade Center massacre, people began to gather spontaneously in parks to commemorate the victims and condemn the calls for war and racist attacks. Soon, several teach-ins and meetings were being held each day. On Sept. 21, a vigil in Union Square was followed by a march to Times Square, drawing 4,000 people, a surprise to everyone. The event, spearheaded by the Direct Action Network, "broke the ice," as one participant said. Planned as a "mellow vigil," there was no permit for the march, so it proceeded on the sidewalks on both sides of the street. The two sides sang back and forth to each other, filling the streets with sound. Passers-by and people in the stores and windows of buildings indicated their support. The march was joined by people from an Islamic group, who were put in the lead. Participants said afterward that the march gave us back a sense of community and gave us our voices to protest against war-mongering and racism against Arab-Americans. The police, meanwhile, tried to break up the march, and detained a part of it, cramped it behind barricades, for about an hour. New York City police were assisted by state troopers, New Jersey police and university security forces. Two large coalitions have formed to carry on demonstrations, teach-ins, and organizing in communities, schools and religious establishments. Hundreds are attending each coalition meeting, ranging from leftists to pacifists to civil libertarians. The problem with the meetings is that in the rush to plan activities, there has been little discussion about what exactly we are against, and none about what we are for. The principles of the coalition initiated by a meeting at Brecht Forum include: mourn the victims and condemn the attacks; oppose anti-Islam, anti-Arab, anti-immigrant and all racial and religious discrimination; no support for war; preserve civil liberties; and for global justice. Some people at each coalition's meetings blame the U.S. for the attacks without even condemning them, and discussion of terrorism itself has been nil. Much more discussion and debate is needed. -NY N&LC Local member Meetings in Memphis Memphis, Tenn.-On Sept. 11 there was already an "Encampment" set up in the heart of Midtown in front of the Quaker meeting house, to raise awareness about the damage done by the sanctions against and bombing of Iraq. It was soon transformed into one against violence against all peoples, as well as what to do against a possible racist backlash against the sizable Middle Eastern and East Asian population here. That evening 30 gathered on the porch, joining the Quakers in a candlelight vigil for the victims and for ending violence everywhere, By Thursday, word was out that there would be a meeting at the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center and 40 people came together and decided to call ourselves Voices for Peace (VFP). Our first action was at the Cooper/Young street festival. Several youth passed out white ribbons on a card reading: "Wearing this ribbon shows that you are a voice for peace. Explain that there are alternatives to war and violence. We can break the cycle and have no more victims." While Bush's drumbeat for war seems overwhelming, the reaction to our peace ribbon was completely positive. The desire for peace and wariness about rushing to war, were also seen at the University of Memphis where Palestinian and Muslim students took the lead in organizing a forum urging students to "show your support for freedom, peace, humanity and democracy..." It had 10 co-sponsors, including the Black, Jewish, Arab, and Christian Student Associations. Speakers included Dr. Bayakly, head of a local mosque; Calvin Allen, the Associate Director of the International Programs at Memphis; Erica Chung, President of the International Student Organization; the head of the Indian Student Association; and myself for News and Letters Committees. On Sept. 21 VFP met again and broke down into seven working committees, including ones on the media, racism, and children. Missing in VFP meetings is place for discussion, even though it is clear there are many different ideas about the meaning of Sept. 11 as well as what is the best way to respond. Topics we plan to take up in the future include educating ourselves on the Muslim religion and the history of Afghanistan, and analyses of Sept. 11 issued by Left and progressive Christian organizations. -Terry Moon Chicago Contradictions Chicago-The effort to oppose Bush's drive to war seemed to get off to a good start in Chicago on Sept. 18, when 400 attended a meeting at the University of Illinois. The event was called by the Direct Action Network. The small group formats and report-backs allowed for a lot of discussion. The general sense was that people didn't want a typical anti-war coalition but a "movement for human dignity" that opposed Bush's drive for war, the Sept. 11 bombings, and all efforts to take us backward on racism, sexism, and civil rights. However, at the end of the meeting-after half had already left-a member of the International Socialist Organization proposed that the group constitute itself as an "anti-war coalition" and meet the next Saturday to make plans for a city-wide action. The meeting the next Saturday, attended by 200 and dominated by members of vanguardist leftist groups, had a very different tenor than the Sept. 19 event. DAN proposed an agenda starting with a discussion of "principles of unity." Before there could be any discussion of this, however, many insisted that the group first set a date for a demonstration. When the meeting finally got around to discussing "principles of unity," it settled on three slogans: oppose Bush's drive to war; oppose racist attacks; and oppose attacks on civil liberties. A member of News and Letters Committees then took the floor to say that there is one "principle" we must include or else whatever we do will come to naught: namely we have to "unequivocally condemn the Sept. 11 attacks." This was voted down-on the grounds that such a statement would "dilute" the group's anti-imperialist message! Even more incredibly, another motion saying "we mourn the victims of the Sept. 11 disaster" was also voted down, though at least a third there voted for it (the majority of the youth, independent women, students, and people of color voted for both motions). Many of the younger anti-globalization activists did not take the floor, even though the vanguardists were hijacking their efforts right before their eyes. In the end, an "anti-war" coalition was created that couldn't even bring itself to condemn the bombings or even extend sympathy to the dead! The demonstration held the next Monday, Sept. 24, was hardly inspiring. Only 250 were there, and virtually no passers-by joined the demonstration. The limitations of this effort to narrow the opposition to Bush's drive to war to a handful of slogans against U.S. imperialism was not lost on the Tribune and Sun Times, which ran articles trying to ridicule the demonstration for not mentioning the need to solidarize with the victims of the Sept. 11 disaster. Despite this unfortunate turn of events, many activists and thinkers in the Chicago area are now discussing taking actions to ensure that opposition to Bush's drive to war will not be separated from a movement for human dignity. -Anti-war activist Los Angeles mobilizes Los Angeles-On Sept. 22, 400 anti-war activists gathered at the West Los Angeles Federal Building to protest Bush's ultimatum for military mobilization and the threat of prolonged war. There were signs like "War is Not the Answer" and "War = Terrorism x 100." Reactions by people in passing autos varied. Many were curious and many more people acknowledged support for the protesters than against. For each automobile that flew an American flag, 10 to 15 did not. As much as the protesters detested the terrorist attacks, they see the Bush administration's military response as ineffective in stopping terrorism, as creating a climate for future terrorist acts, as killing and maiming of thousands of innocent civilians, and risking the lives of many U.S. military personnel. -Basho Bay Area battles racism Oakland, Cal.-On Sept. 12, 700 Bay Area residents gathered at Snow Park in answer to a call for solidarity with Arab-Americans and Muslims following numerous assaults, death threats and actual murders in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks. Organizers, mostly Black, Asian and Latino youth, emphasized that it was important that people of color show up. A woman from the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee read a statement expressing shock and anger at the brutality of the attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C. Abdul Rahman Zahzah of Students for Justice in Palestine told of Arab American and Muslim students at Cal-Berkeley being subjected to threatening phone calls and verbal assaults. Bay Area African American activist Van Jones said, "We have a special responsibility to oppose any and all acts of scapegoating and hatred and discrimination against our Arab sisters and brothers. I say this because we have all taken a turn at being the darkie they love to hate." He concluded, "We've got something stronger than bombs...We have solidarity. That idea of revolutionary change-is stronger than bombs." Lisa Nakamura, whose parents and grandparents had been interned in a U.S. concentration camp during World War II, expressed her solidarity with those communities under racist attack. The following night her organization, Yonsei Network, sponsored a peace gathering at Japantown in San Francisco to urge the Japanese-American community to stand in unity with the Arab, Muslim and South Asian communities. The following night the Snow Park rally organizers and 60 attendees, most
of whom were barely out of their teens, met to form the 9.11 Solidarity Committee. A man from Afghanistan argued that we should solidarize with
Arabs and non-Arabs alike, since non-Arab nations such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran are as likely to be U.S. military targets as any Arab In the next few days new alliances and coalitions formed. Cal-Berkeley's Stop the War Coalition held the biggest campus rally on National Student Day of Action, Sept. 20. More than 3,000 jammed Sproul Plaza to cheer on speakers who called for an end to U.S. military violence in the Third World, an end to racial scapegoating, and defense of civil liberties. -David Mizuno'Oto Oxford peace rally Oxford, England-At dusk on Sept. 22, hundreds of people gathered at Carfax
Tower, for a torchlit peace procession. We were there to mourn and commemorate those who died in the terrorist attack on the U.S.; to oppose
the drive for war in reaction to that attack; and to bring together Christians, Muslims and Jews as well as non-religious people in a united It was impressive to see so many people coming together at short notice, and it clearly showed that there is a substantial body of public opinion that does not want our own government, or the U.S., to have carte blanche for military actions in the name of a "war against terrorism." The gathering split up so that people could go to the mosque, the synagogue, the cathedral, and the Friends meeting house. A spokesman for the mosque condemned militant fundamentalism and expressed sympathy for all the victims in the U.S. Support for this event was very broad and it did not bear the imprint of any particular organization-either religious or political. -Richard Bunting |
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