Posted on 01/17/2004 9:30:18 AM PST by tgslTakoma
Call for world anti-war day
'Troops out of Iraq now--with no conditions'
By John Catalinotto
The ANSWER anti-war coalition, which called and organized many of the largest anti-war actions in 2002 and 2003, joined Arab and Muslim groups in the United States on Jan. 2 to announce plans for demonstrations on March 20, 2004, the first anniversary of the start of Washington's second war against Iraq.
The groups' statement emphasized the main demand of these protests: "End the Occupation--Bring the Troops Home NOW!" and said protests are already planned in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and other U.S. cities.
On Nov. 16, the European Social Forum had already endorsed March 20 as an international day of action. Marches and rallies have been called in many European cities, and the World Social Forum meeting in Mumbai, India, Jan. 16-21 will discuss expanding the action worldwide.
Signers of the Jan. 2 statement include the Arab Muslim American Federation, the Free Palestine Alliance, the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation and the Muslim Student Association. The call was joined by Al-Awda--the Palestine Right to Return Coaliton--the National Lawyers Guild, and 500 other organizations and individuals in the first four days after it was published.
Explaining the nature of the protest, the statement raised and explained the following points:
"We will demonstrate on March 20 to support the right of the Iraqi people to self-determination without condition. ...
"We will also demonstrate on March 20 in solidarity with the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination, including the right to return to their homes and land."
Brian Becker, a spokesperson for ANSWER, told Workers World that "The issue of a political program for March 20, as expressed in the statement, is of paramount importance. It is essential to demand that the U.S. troops leave immediately with no conditions and to support the right of the Iraqi and Palestinian people to resist as they embrace the fundamental right to self-determination. This would include opposing any internationalization of the occupation through the United Nations or any other bodies."
Becker noted that the "anti-war movement is at a crossroads. There is a growing hostility and disgust for the Bush administration's domestic and foreign policy, and understandably so, but there is a tendency that seeks to direct the movement's energy to supporting Howard Dean or some other Democratic Party candidate in the upcoming national elections.
"While Bush's policies are criminal, it would be an error for the progressive anti-war movement to become a tail to the Democratic Party, which shares Bush's imperialist objectives regarding the occupation of Iraq, Palestine and everywhere else. The ANSWER statement makes it clear that its goal is to make the international March 20 action one of solidarity with all those who resist U.S. hegemony, domination and invasion," Becker concluded.
The statement addresses domestic issues, too. "We will demonstrate on March 20 to overturn the 'USA Patriot' Act, and to end the repression directed at Arab American, South Asian, Muslim and immigrant communities. We will defend the right to free speech and oppose Bush's and Ashcroft's war on the Bill of Rights. ...
"We will demonstrate on March 20 to call for money for jobs, housing, health care and education, not for war and occupation. ...
"We will demonstrate on March 20 to demand an end to the Bush administration's 'Endless War' plans for global dom ination. We stand for an end to U.S. intervention, occupation and threats against Korea, Colombia, Afghanistan, Cuba, Iran, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, Syria, the Philippines, Haiti and everywhere."
While the statement obviously opposes the Bush administration, it notes that the Democratic Party "agrees with Bush about maintaining U.S. troops in Iraq and supports continued aid to Israel as it wages war against the Palestinian people."
The National Council of Arab Americans (NCAA), an all-inclusive pan-Arab American national council that was founded on Nov. 29, 2003, in Washington, D.C., also issued a statement on Dec. 24 calling for the March 20 demonstrations.
In New York City, the plan is to assemble at 12 noon at Times Square and march to the United Nations. Call (212) 633-6646 for details about upcoming citywide planning meetings and for more information. New York ANSWER is also participating on Jan. 15 with community and Black civil rights groups in a demonstration at Madison Square Garden protesting the holding of the Republican National Convention in the city next summer.
In San Francisco, demonstrators will gather at 11 a.m. at Dolores Park (18th and Dolores streets) with a march to the Civic Center. Call (415) 821-6545 for more information.
In Los Angeles, the demonstration will assemble at 12 noon at Hollywood and Vine. Call (213) 487-2368 for more information.
Additional information can be found at
internationalanswer.org.
Reprinted from the Jan. 15, 2004, issue of Workers World newspaper
A.K.A. "World Commie Liberal D*ck Head Day"
Just like they did when Saddam's Butcher Shop was in business, right?
It hangs between his "McGovern for President" campaign button and his portrait of Karl Marx, right?
Tho' I think we should do a MOAF instead of a MOAB this time.
"Mother of all Fingers" ;-)
All in good fun, of course.
Yet, how can we explain irony or hypocrisy to anti-war revolutionaries? I mean, hello? Marxism? Revolution? Revolution IS war? ...Anybody in there? Oh well.
With Dennis charging the terrorist sympathisers ten bucks a pop.
Ah, but they're convinced they already do live under an iron-fisted tyranny since we won't let their Marxist bulls**t rantings go unchallenged anymore.
Didn't you know we eeeeevul Right-wingers have already consigned millions of them to slave labor camps above the Arctic Circle? Hell, somebody's gotta work them billions of square miles of oilfields we're using to destroy the environment just so's we can get our cheap gasoline. If you can call $1.71/gal. cheap -- must be a pretty inefficient system.
"Mother of all Fingers" ;-)
Nah, that's the kind of thing that the muttonheads at DUh do. And what message does it convey? "I'm too damn dumb to argue my case, and even if I had an IQ higher than the average chicken, my cause is so bogus that I couldn't defend it anyway - so I'll just flip you off instead."
I'll stick with my "tell it like it is" G-rated MOABs.
:-)
Their war against America will never be over. And that is the war they are fighting.
Every time they come to town, we are waiting for them. With usually less than a hundred of us, armed with only our flags, our hard-hitting signs, costumes, bullhorns and PA systems, and a whole lotta heart - we manage to take the wind out of many a "peacenik's" sails.
They made a huge mistake when they started over-reporting at their first "mass rallies" that they had five hundred thousand of participants. At the last rally they had on October 25th, they reported one hundred thousand participants. (In actuality they had closer to 5-10,000 - as anyone can see from the Protest Warrior's video.) But because of their own earlier gross over-inflation of attendance numbers, their last rally looks like an absolute flop. By their own reports they lost 80% of their protesters in less than 6 months!
And because they are hemmorhaging supporters, with only the hard core commies left, they are getting more angry and desperate and more of their communist party rhetoric is slipping out - further alienating the mildly liberal folks who had earlier given them a facade of being mainstream. A few more "mass rallies" and we should have a front row seat for the total meltdown of International ANSWER/WWP's Brian Becker - all ably and loyally covered by the fair folks at CSPAN and CNN.
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