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NEWS & LETTERS, May-June 2005Protests on second anniversary of Iraq warChicago--In Chicago, thousands of people demonstrated against the war and occupation of Iraq March 19. The police made everyone assemble in designated areas. While they enforced conformity at the protest, participants had diverse views with quite different demands. There were wide differences about how to end the occupation and about which parts of the resistance to support. Unfortunately it seems that ever since the first anti-war and anti-occupation demonstrations two years ago, most organizers have not emphasized the difference between the importance of supporting the people’s rightful struggle against the U.S.-led occupiers and the significance of condemning the reactionary despotic regimes, the pro-autocratic Ba'athists, fanatic Binladenists and other versions of theocratic fundamentalists. Some have even honored Bin Laden and Saddam Hussein as anti-imperialist heroes. They walked side by side with the progressive and democratic-minded leftists who condemned both the imperialist war and occupation as well as the reactionary objectives of the repressive regimes and groups in the region. It would be reasonable to believe that real aspirations for peace, independence and liberty would be based on fundamental demands in which one could tell the difference between libertarian anti-imperialism, on the one hand, and regressive anti-modernism and mere anti-Americanism on the other. Fortunately a number of progressive Iranians, along with many others, carried banners which were responsive to larger issues: No to war, No to imperialist occupation, No to theocracy, No to tyranny and Yes to freedom and independence, Yes to democracy and civil liberties. We need to cope with politics in their international entirety. --Iranian activists * * * Memphis, Tenn.--In concert with hundreds of other communities across the country on March 19, 300 Memphians marched through Midtown to let Bush and his right-wing administration know that we oppose his war that has killed hundreds of thousands of Iraqis and over 1,500 U.S. soldiers and wounded tens of thousands more. Organizers of the demonstration, including the Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, were surprised and thrilled with the turnout, as it showed so clearly that time has not meant acceptance of his policies. Demonstrators did not confine themselves to only being against the war on Iraq. People also carried signs opposing many of his policies, including on education and his attempt to destroy Social Security. On a gorgeous spring day, we marched for two and a half miles through the town, ending up at Veterans Plaza at Overton Park where we heard music, radical poetry and speakers. The most moving was a woman from Military Families Speak Out, who brought home to us the toll the war is taking on U.S. families. There were a lot of teenagers at the march and it was clear they had made their own signs. One read: "End this bullshit war now." --Terry Moon * * * Detroit--I participated in an anti-war march and rally on March 18. The march was from the Spirit of Detroit statue at the Coleman A. Young (City Hall) on Woodward to Grand Circus Park where a roll call of 150 Michigan soldiers killed in the war was read. Speakers included Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Rev. Harry Cook and Rev. Ed Rowe. Maureen Taylor (a welfare rights activist and a candidate for City Council) also spoke. Camilo Meija, a young Hispanic sergeant and conscientious objector to the Iraq war who was just released from a year in jail spoke. Bishop Gumbleton appealed for funds to aid him. The sergeant said,"I realized that I was part of a war that I believed was immoral and criminal, a war of aggression, a war of imperial domination...I decided that I could not return to Iraq. By putting my weapon down, I chose to reassert myself as a human being...behind those bars I sat a free man because I listened to...the voice of my conscience." Speakers also read representative names for the estimated 120,000 Iraqi victims of the war; including those murdered by Saddam Hussein and his regime. The message was anti-U.S., but stressed the need to bring the country to look out for the needs of common citizens and residents. They addressed also issues stemming from Detroit's budget deficit; proposed cutbacks in bus service, and drastic layoffs of city workers and teachers. Upwards of 600 people were in attendance at the church but there was little or no major press coverage. --Ray B. |
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