ISRAEL AND THE PALESTINIANS:
FAR MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE
[Following is the talk by Activist Newsletter editor Jack A. Smith, at the Nov. 10 Israel/Palestine meeting at SUNY New Paltz, including paragraphs omitted from original draft to keep within time limits.]
Good evening. I'm going to discuss some of the geostrategic aspects of the Middle East situation.
Israel's oppression of the Palestinian people is the most daunting international issue confronting the world today, but the facts of the matter are not particularly complex.
Israel is illegally occupying Palestinian land that it invaded 43 years ago. The UN says Israel must withdraw, but it won't. Israel is supposed to be fulfilling a commitment to help pave the way for an independent, sustainable Palestinian state, but isn't.
The Tel-Aviv government treats the 4.2 million Palestinians living in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem like colonial subjects to be manipulated, deprived and punished at will.
These problems are compounded by several related factors:
First and foremost — because it influences all else — the United States exercises political and military hegemony throughout the Middle East. The reason is that the region is the repository of the world's largest reserves of petroleum and considerable natural gas, primarily in the Arabian Peninsula and the littoral states of the Persian Gulf.
Washington has ceaselessly intervened in the Middle East since collaborating with Great Britain to overthrow Iran's democratic government in 1953 after it nationalized its oil fields. Since then, in country after country, the U.S. has helped regional authoritarian governments impede social progress, destroyed left movements, and prolonged to this day the existence of undemocratic regimes.
The U.S. is Israel's political, military and economic protector, and Israel functions as Washington's pro-Western, nuclear-armed military surrogate in the region, but there's a contradiction in this relationship.
America's drive for regional domination is increasingly compromised by Israel's long subjugation of the Palestinian people. It's a major cause of anti-Americanism among the Arab masses, and for the rise of al-Qaeda for that matter. Washington seeks the creation of a weak and subordinate Palestinian state, legally independent of Israel, that will no longer be a detriment to U.S. geostrategic ambitions.
President Obama had to know from the start that the current peace talks would fail. But his goal is at least to convey the impression to the Muslim world that the U.S. wishes to alleviate the Palestinian plight, even as it rides roughshod over Muslim Iraq, Afghanistan, western Pakistan and Yemen.
Other problems include the following:
• Near paralyzing differences exist on many issues between the main ruling parties in the Israeli political system, virtually halting any progress on the Palestinian crisis.
• A debilitating split separates the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in the West Bank and the Hamas government in Gaza.
• Arab governments support the Palestinian cause, but most are now well within the U.S. sphere of influence, and are thus compromised.
These factors in combination impede a progressive resolution of the Israel-Palestine conflict. But the actions of two non-Arab Muslim countries — Sunni Turkey and Shi'ite Iran — may make a difference in future developments.
Israeli politics has moved increasingly to the right in recent decades. The ruling parties and coalitions are center right, right and far right — with the latter imbued with racism. There are no ruling leftist parties.
The current ruling coalition, led by Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu of the right-wing Likud party, governs largely from the far right. This is due to the influence of smaller extreme right coalition partners and ultra-orthodox religionists, many of whom maintain that Palestinians have no right to any land within the alleged God-delineated boundaries of Biblical Israel.
The result is the government's refusal to withdraw from the occupied lands, and to continue building settlements in the Palestinian West Bank, East Jerusalem and Syria's Golan Heights — which now accommodate about a half million Jews. It is against international laws to which the U.S. subscribes for an occupying power to resettle the territory with its own citizens.
Netanyahu even refused to order a brief moratorium on new settlements for the duration of his direct talks with PNA President Mahmoud Abbas, who then ended the talks until another suspension is declared. Just last week the government announced it would build another 1,300 new apartments for Jews in East Jerusalem, several months after revealing plans for 1,600 apartments.
Abbas said last week that if Netanyahu persists, "there are alternatives to negotiations," including seeking UN Security Council recognition of an independent Palestinian state, bypassing Israel and the U.S. The Obama Administration made it clear to Abbas his suggestion was "not helpful."
To keep the talks going, President Obama offered generous inducements to Netanyahu to extend the freeze for two more months. [Update: When the Israeli leader rejected the offer, Washington offered a second and more lucrative bribe for a three-month moratorium on building settlements, excluding East Jerusalem. This included a gift of $3 billion worth of advanced fighter planes, a promise to veto any UN Security Council resolution on the Palestine question that Tel-Aviv opposed, and a pledge not to request another halt in settlement building. Such an inducement —an act of public self-humiliation by the timorous Obama Administration — is still being "considered" by Netanyahu, who seems to play President Obama like a fiddle.]
Israel's center-right Kadima party, out of power and now headed by Tzipi Livni, a former foreign minister, is willing to form a less reactionary Likud-Kadima government, which probably would be joined by the opportunist center-right Labor party, now part of the governing Likud coalition.
Livni says that such a coalition government would accept the U.S. proposal for a temporary suspension of settlement building. She told Netanyahu that his coalition's intransigence is damaging Israel's interests and security.
Netanyahu hasn't budged so far, though it would free him from the far right fanatics practically paralyzing Israeli politics. Despite his obliging rhetoric the prime minister agrees with the far right's desire to keep as much of the Palestinian territories as possible. He also does not want to lose the leadership of the right wing to his foreign minister and rival, Avigdor Lieberman, an anti-Arab bigot with neofascist tendencies.
The U.S. subsidizes and manipulates the quasi government of the Palestine National Authority which is composed of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) coalition led by Fatah, a much weakened and far less popular organization in recent years than the resistance-minded force it was during most of the years it was led by the late Yasser Arafat. A dozen Palestinian organizations — mostly left but including Islamic Hamas — have been critical of Abbas and the PNA's relationship with Washington. They criticized the talks as a sham.
Neither Washington nor Tel-Aviv recognize or speak to the Hamas government in Gaza, including to Ismail Haniyeh who became the PNA's Prime Minister after the January 2006 democratic election for the Legislative Council, which previously was led by Fatah.
The next year, as a consequence of a virtual civil war between Fatah and Hamas, President Abbas dismissed Haniyeh as Prime Minister. The Hamas leader contested the firing as illegal and continues to function as Prime Minister in Gaza only, legally backed by the Legislative Council. The new Prime Minister Abbas named functions as such in the West Bank only, and is recognized by Obama and Netanyahu though not by the Palestinian Legislative Council.
Israel and the U.S. demonize the democratically elected Hamas government in Gaza, but it cannot be forgotten that in earlier years Israel encouraged the growth of Islamic Hamas as an alternative to the secular and then-leftist Fatah. Much to Tel-Aviv's regret, given its earlier hopes, Hamas turned out to be as dedicated to the national struggle as Fatah and the PLO.
One of the counts against Hamas is that it refuses to recognize Israel, but Hamas has let it be known it is not inflexible when it comes making a balanced and sustainable deal. Fatah, with which the U.S. and Israel are dealing through the Palestinian Authority, does not recognize Israel, either.
In reality, whether or not a political party "recognizes" a state has no legal significance. Recognition is a state to state affair, not party to state. It's fairly certain that an eventual Palestinian state would exchange mutual recognitions with Israel.
The two Palestinian factions remain far apart, but recognize the need for tactical unity. Talks between both sides began in September, broke down but resumed and made progress on three disputed questions. A tough remaining issue concerns the control of Palestinian security forces, which Fatah refuses to share with Hamas.
All the Arab countries support the Palestinians rhetorically, and some do so materially. But some also fear the impact of an independent, progressive, secular Palestinian state on their own undemocratic, conservative regimes, and would prefer a weak, dependent Palestine, as does Washington.
Only two Arab states maintain diplomatic relations with Israel — Egypt and Jordan — but most other Arab governments are no longer antagonistic and are expected to resume normal relations after a Palestinian state is organized.
Egypt is the most powerful Arab state. The authoritarian Cairo regime of President Hosni Mubarak is in Uncle Sam's pocket, extracting an annual subsidy of $1.3 billion a year. Cairo despises Hamas because it is ideologically associated with the Muslim Brotherhood, Mubarak's principal internal enemy.
The monarchy of Jordan, with its large Palestinian population, is in Uncle Sam's other pocket (collecting $540 million a year) because the Hashemite Kingdom is insecure about a possibly progressive Arab republic at its doorstep.
Syria supports the Palestinians and maintains cordial relations with both Fatah and Hamas, but it can't stand up to Washington. And Lebanon has too often been an Israeli battlefield for it to invite Tel-Aviv's ire.
Saudi Arabia and the oil-rich Arab Gulf States give a nod and some money to the Palestinian cause but genuflect to Washington's global power. The rest of the Arab countries, including former radical states such as Libya, rally for Palestinians at Arab League meetings, but do little else.
This leaves the two wild cards in the region — Turkey and Iran — both capable of complicating the U.S.-Israeli domination game in the Middle East.
Turkey, long a West-leaning NATO member and close ally of Israel and the United States, began seeking closer ties with some Arab nations a few years ago. Evidently the Ankara government has decided that circumstances dictate it is time for Turkey to assume the role of an influential Middle Eastern power, independent of Washington and Tel-Aviv.
In 2009 Prime Minister Erdogan condemned Israel's invasion of Gaza with a ferocity that made its old allies blanch. Earlier this year Turkey and Brazil unexpectedly announced they had obtained a nuclear fuel swap agreement with Iran, obviating additional U.S.-UN sanctions — an initiative Washington rejected. And then a few months ago Israeli commandoes interdicted the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, killing nine unarmed Turkish civilians. This provoked an extremely harsh outcry from the Turkish government and people.
Turkey retains diplomatic, economic and other relations with the U.S. and Israel, but its independent involvement in regional affairs, anger at Israel's treatment of the Palestinians, friendship with Iran and Syria, and willingness to confront both its old allies has generated deep suspicions in Washington and Tel-Aviv.
There have been suggestions Turkey is going to adopt the posture of a radical Islamic state, but this is incorrect. While it is true Turkey's strict secularity since its defeat in World War I has weakened in recent years, its secular tradition remains strong.
Iran has long been in U.S.-Israeli bomb sights. President Bush was planning regime change in Tehran until Iraq blew up in his face. Both Presidents Obama and Netanyahu preposterously charge that the Islamic republic seeks to construct nuclear weapons with which to threaten Israel and other countries.
Iran is surrounded by U.S.-Israeli military power, and is being strangled with sanctions. An honest appraisal shows that Tehran's military strategy is defensive, as President Obama — who retains an interest in regime change — is well aware.
Tehran is no military threat, much less the "existential" threat Tel-Aviv claims. Israel's only existential threat is if the U.S. withdraws political/military support and halts its annual $3 billion military subsidy and billions in other favors.
Israel's antagonism toward Iran is unrelated to a potential Iranian attack. It opposes Tehran because it is one of the very few governments that actively support and help finance Palestinian resistance, and because it backs the Hezbollah resistance movement in Lebanon.
America's antagonism is not based on fears of Iranian aggression or nuclear threats. Iran possesses immense oil deposits. The U.S. seeks to control the oil or at least grab priority rights before global oil shortages commence. Washington also regards the Tehran government's public opposition to U.S. imperialism as an obstacle to its long range geopolitical strategy. And if Iran ever teamed up with Turkey, Syria and even Shi'ite Iraq, that would be a game changer. These are the reasons for U.S.-Israeli threats against Iran.
The Middle East often looks static, with American power ruling the region, especially where the Palestinians are concerned. But that's deceptive. No one knows what is going to transpire in the next years. There are many possibilities for change germinating throughout the Middle East, especially as other world nations rise while the U.S. continues to engage in an historic decline.
Showing posts with label Washington. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Washington. Show all posts
Monday, November 22, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
10-05-10 One Nation Rally analysis
WHAT'S BEHIND THE ONE NATION RALLY?
By Jack A. Smith, Activist Newsletter
An enthusiastic crowd estimated at 175,000 people attended the four-hour rally in Washington Oct. 2 at Lincoln Memorial — a mass action by the labor movement and African American rights groups, supported by the Latino, environmental, LGBT and other liberal and progressive movements. The main purpose was to increase the Democratic vote next month.
The event was organized by a new coalition, One Nation Working Together, which is supported by some 400 groups, primarily led by the two labor federations, AFL-CIO and Change To Win/SEIU, and the NAACP. The rally was addressed by a couple of dozen speakers, mostly from supporting liberal advocacy organizations.
A constant theme reiterated by the union leaders who spoke was the need for jobs — the absence of which is probably one of the main reasons a number of voters who went Democratic in the presidential election may not vote in November. Among these leaders, and a sign of the strength of labor at the rally, was AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, Service Employees International Union president Mary Kay Henry, UAW president Bob King, AFT chief Randi Weingarten, NEA President Dennis Van Roakel, and CWA's Larry Cohen.
President/CEO Ben Jealous of the NAACP told the crowd — which included a large proportion of African Americans — that "We've come too far to turn back now," evoking the long struggle for equal rights. "We've got to go home and ask our friends and ask our neighbors to vote. Get up off the couch and get out and vote November 2."
Up to 2,000 chartered buses — largely financed by the unions — brought participants to the demonstration from the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states. Others arrived by car, commercial bus, railroad and planes from as far away as the West Coast.
The crowd reached its height around 2:30 p.m. when it extended from the Memorial along each side of the long Reflecting Pool to the end. The attendance was not as large as the Aug. 28 right wing "non-political" religious manifestation organized by TV personality Glen Beck, but the two events were so different in character that comparing size determines nothing.
The historic rally and its feeder marches in Washington Oct. 2 had several pluses accompanied by minuses, the most important being these two:
• The unity achieved at the rally between the working class, people of color and progressives in various social advocacy groups is very important in terms of the political struggle for needed progressive social change in the United States.
However, the rally's singular purpose was to increase the popular vote for Democratic candidates in the Nov. 2 Congressional election and local offices, not to build an independent liberal/progressive/left coalition to agitate for needed programs that go beyond the limited possibilities of the Obama Administration's center/center right political agenda.
• Rally speakers supported a number of relatively progressive policy initiatives, including a massive and comprehensive jobs program, advancement of civil rights and liberties, immigration reform, education reform, and union rights to mention a few. This was a major liberal event and were it the actual intention of the Obama Administration to fight for such initiatives it would be transformational.
However, not one of the speakers criticized the Obama Administration's failure to seriously embrace many such programs or to mount the political fight required to attain even watered down versions, blaming everything on "The Party of No." Even the Blue Dog conservative Democrats in Congress were off the hook.
Clearly, the administration's weak jobs program has fallen far short of making a significant dent in unemployment, which remains around 10% officially and 17% unofficially. Its anti-foreclosure efforts have failed. Civil liberties are being eroded because of White House decisions. Immigration reform is piecemeal. Education reform, based on President Obama's $4.35 billion "Race to the Top" initiative, is actually opposed by the two teacher unions that so strongly support the Democrats. The labor movement's main legislative goal —Employee Free Choice Act — can't even be introduced in Congress, in part because of conservative Democrat opposition.
One of the reasons the Democratic Party may lose a more than usual number of House and Senate seats in the midterm contest is that a number of 2008 Obama voters are disappointed that the Democrats didn't fight harder and compromise less for "the change they believe in." (For a full background, see the article "Democrats Face Tough Election," the first story in the Oct. 1 Activist Newsletter below.)
It appeared that President Obama's massive escalation of the Afghan war, extending the fighting into western Pakistan and Yemen, and continuing the occupation of Iraq would also be unchallenged by the speakers — despite the fact that the majority of Democratic voters are against the war — until Harry Belafonte shattered the silence.
Charging that "the wars that we wage today in far away lands are immoral, unconscionable and unwinnable," the famous musician, social activist and civil rights leader delivered a stunning denunciation of a top Obama Administration priority. The crowd seemed momentarily taken aback by this sharp criticism of Obama's wars (though the president's name was not mentioned) and the reception was somewhat muted, though at the finish, just after he said "let us put an end to war," he received prolonged applause.
Could it be that rally leaders were unaware Belafonte intended to deliver a strong antiwar message? His speech, the text of which we reproduce below this article, was the highlight of the afternoon as far the peace movement and left were concerned.
The only other reference to the military — aside from some patriotic comments to the troops — was Jesse Jackson's call to "Cut the military budget," but even Defense Secretary Gates says that. The rest of Rev. Jackson's talk was essentially "vote Democratic" in November because "The president can’t bear this cross alone."
One of the more moving presentations was by outspoken progressive Marian Wright Edelman, founder/president of the Children's Defense Fund, who sharply criticized politicians that promote "massive tax giveaways to the rich when 50% of our children are living in poverty," and called for increased education funding.
Van Jones, a well known environmental and civil rights activist and an expert on "Green Jobs," noted that “We can empower America by looking up for our sources of energy instead of looking down,” referring to wind and solar power. Rev. Al Sharpton earned applause when he declared: “We bailed out the banks. We bailed out the insurance companies. Now it’s time to bail out the American people.”
The only Congressman to speak was Chicago immigrant rights advocate Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who declared: "The Latino and immigrant struggle is a continuation of the civil rights struggle in this nation. There would be no Cesar Chavez without Dr. Martin Luther King, no Sonia Sotomayor without Thurgood Marshal and no Roberto Clemente without Jackie Robinson.”
The absence of Democratic Party leaders and office holders on the podium as endorsers or rally officials was intentional. Rally leaders did not wish to convey the impression that One Nation Working Together was simply organizing a campaign event to elect a fairly unimpressive collection of center/center right office holders and a small minority of liberals.
The Democrats are worried that independent voters, young voters and liberal supporters who voted Democratic in 2008 are not going to come out in large enough number to prevent the Republicans from making major gains in the House and Senate. A good proportion of these voters are disappointed in the Obama Administration's performance over the past two years, including some union workers who voted for the Democrats in the last election.
One Nation has positioned itself as independently promoting a relatively liberal agenda and is asking Democrats — who are told that the only obstacle to real progress is the GOP and the dreaded Tea Party — to vote in sufficient number to make it possible for the Democratic members of Congress to score major victories in the next two years. The disinclination of many of these politicians to consider aligning with center/center left progressive programs is notorious.
This event cost the union movement plenty. Most of the buses allowed union members — and in some cases the general public — to travel free. Our New York State United Teachers-sponsored bus from New Paltz cost a paltry $20 to D.C. and back for non-union riders, in return for which we received a bagged breakfast, dinner snack, a blue and orange AFT jersey proclaiming One Nation Working Together plus a $5 roundtrip metro fare to and from the Lincoln Memorial.
Charter buses began arriving in the huge parking lot of RFK Stadium starting around 9 a.m. on what turned out to be a day of blue skies, sunshine and comfortable temperatures. Up to 700 buses were said to be coming from New York State alone. According to local union sources buses brought perhaps 1,000 demonstrators from the Upper Hudson Valley cities and towns of Albany, Amsterdam, Latham, Schenectady, Saratoga and Troy and 500 from Mid-Hudson Valley communities of Kingston, New Paltz, Middletown, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Fishkill and Beacon. An unknown number took other transportation.
Thousands more probably would have attended the Washington event but there were serious bus problems in Boston, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and on Long Island. Through a mix-up, some scheduled buses never arrived to pick up passengers, and some got to the nation's capital just about in time to return home.
Many buses, including ours, arrived too late to attend the scheduled 11 a.m. antiwar feeder march from 14th St. and Constitution Ave., where there were two speaking platforms, one organized by United for Peace and Justice and the other by the United National Antiwar Conference. After a while both groups agreed to use the same stage. In addition there was a Socialist Contingent nearby. When the three groups marched together to the Memorial there were about 500-600 people, we're told.
Some Union contingents, each wearing their own colored t-shirts, marched in separate feeder marches.
A number of peace and left wing groups attended the rally but not all marched, including several socialist and communist organizations which carried their own signs in the crowd and distributed leaflets and free publications. The ANSWER antiwar coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) handed out a great many large yellow and black peace posters on sticks with a photo of Martin Luther King that predominated in a large part of the rally where we were situated, and hundreds of demonstrators took them home on buses that evening. The Party for Socialism and Liberation decided to charge a donation for their paper, Liberation, an sold 1,200 copies.
This was a positive aspect of the way the One Nation event was organized. Antiwar and socialist or communist groups were welcomed to join the rally just like every other group, to arrange feeder marches of their own, to set up tables, distribute literature, and to become one of the hundreds of endorsers if they wished.
The Communist Party USA, Democratic Socialists of America and the International Socialist Organization were among the endorsers, though most left organizations did not wish to be associated at that level. It has not always been this way in union or liberal dominated events, when the left has often been discouraged from attending or excluded. Hopefully it's a new trend. Of course, the left was not invited to speak at the main rally, and didn't expect to be.
Right wing websites and blogs howled with red-baiting denunciations about the presence of the left Oct. 2, which was actually quite small — but since they already call Obama a "socialist" and believe the Democratic Party is a front for a Bolshevik conspiracy it's not a big deal.
To sum up: The various liberal groups that gathered in Washington for the One Nation rally are a positive factor on the political landscape, mainly because of their working class, multinational and progressive orientation.
Unfortunately their heightened political consciousness remains to be developed vis-à-vis (1) the inherent political limitations of the Democratic Party to which they are presently wedded; (2) their acceptance of a restrictive, closed circuit two-party system extending from the center to the far right without a mass left entity; and (3) their adherence to "lesser evil" politics that insures that "evil" in one guise or another is the only result.
Lastly, the notion of "one nation" sounds good, even inspiring, and entirely useful in the present situation. But most of us know that in reality the U.S. remains, in effect, two nations: one representing the interests of the minority — the big corporations, big banks, big stockholders, and big money that tend to rule; and the other the interests of the great majority — the working class, middle class and lower class that tend to be ruled.
The real issue is which "nation" does one support, and out of that support help to create one real nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
By Jack A. Smith, Activist Newsletter
An enthusiastic crowd estimated at 175,000 people attended the four-hour rally in Washington Oct. 2 at Lincoln Memorial — a mass action by the labor movement and African American rights groups, supported by the Latino, environmental, LGBT and other liberal and progressive movements. The main purpose was to increase the Democratic vote next month.
The event was organized by a new coalition, One Nation Working Together, which is supported by some 400 groups, primarily led by the two labor federations, AFL-CIO and Change To Win/SEIU, and the NAACP. The rally was addressed by a couple of dozen speakers, mostly from supporting liberal advocacy organizations.
A constant theme reiterated by the union leaders who spoke was the need for jobs — the absence of which is probably one of the main reasons a number of voters who went Democratic in the presidential election may not vote in November. Among these leaders, and a sign of the strength of labor at the rally, was AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, Service Employees International Union president Mary Kay Henry, UAW president Bob King, AFT chief Randi Weingarten, NEA President Dennis Van Roakel, and CWA's Larry Cohen.
President/CEO Ben Jealous of the NAACP told the crowd — which included a large proportion of African Americans — that "We've come too far to turn back now," evoking the long struggle for equal rights. "We've got to go home and ask our friends and ask our neighbors to vote. Get up off the couch and get out and vote November 2."
Up to 2,000 chartered buses — largely financed by the unions — brought participants to the demonstration from the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwestern states. Others arrived by car, commercial bus, railroad and planes from as far away as the West Coast.
The crowd reached its height around 2:30 p.m. when it extended from the Memorial along each side of the long Reflecting Pool to the end. The attendance was not as large as the Aug. 28 right wing "non-political" religious manifestation organized by TV personality Glen Beck, but the two events were so different in character that comparing size determines nothing.
The historic rally and its feeder marches in Washington Oct. 2 had several pluses accompanied by minuses, the most important being these two:
• The unity achieved at the rally between the working class, people of color and progressives in various social advocacy groups is very important in terms of the political struggle for needed progressive social change in the United States.
However, the rally's singular purpose was to increase the popular vote for Democratic candidates in the Nov. 2 Congressional election and local offices, not to build an independent liberal/progressive/left coalition to agitate for needed programs that go beyond the limited possibilities of the Obama Administration's center/center right political agenda.
• Rally speakers supported a number of relatively progressive policy initiatives, including a massive and comprehensive jobs program, advancement of civil rights and liberties, immigration reform, education reform, and union rights to mention a few. This was a major liberal event and were it the actual intention of the Obama Administration to fight for such initiatives it would be transformational.
However, not one of the speakers criticized the Obama Administration's failure to seriously embrace many such programs or to mount the political fight required to attain even watered down versions, blaming everything on "The Party of No." Even the Blue Dog conservative Democrats in Congress were off the hook.
Clearly, the administration's weak jobs program has fallen far short of making a significant dent in unemployment, which remains around 10% officially and 17% unofficially. Its anti-foreclosure efforts have failed. Civil liberties are being eroded because of White House decisions. Immigration reform is piecemeal. Education reform, based on President Obama's $4.35 billion "Race to the Top" initiative, is actually opposed by the two teacher unions that so strongly support the Democrats. The labor movement's main legislative goal —Employee Free Choice Act — can't even be introduced in Congress, in part because of conservative Democrat opposition.
One of the reasons the Democratic Party may lose a more than usual number of House and Senate seats in the midterm contest is that a number of 2008 Obama voters are disappointed that the Democrats didn't fight harder and compromise less for "the change they believe in." (For a full background, see the article "Democrats Face Tough Election," the first story in the Oct. 1 Activist Newsletter below.)
It appeared that President Obama's massive escalation of the Afghan war, extending the fighting into western Pakistan and Yemen, and continuing the occupation of Iraq would also be unchallenged by the speakers — despite the fact that the majority of Democratic voters are against the war — until Harry Belafonte shattered the silence.
Charging that "the wars that we wage today in far away lands are immoral, unconscionable and unwinnable," the famous musician, social activist and civil rights leader delivered a stunning denunciation of a top Obama Administration priority. The crowd seemed momentarily taken aback by this sharp criticism of Obama's wars (though the president's name was not mentioned) and the reception was somewhat muted, though at the finish, just after he said "let us put an end to war," he received prolonged applause.
Could it be that rally leaders were unaware Belafonte intended to deliver a strong antiwar message? His speech, the text of which we reproduce below this article, was the highlight of the afternoon as far the peace movement and left were concerned.
The only other reference to the military — aside from some patriotic comments to the troops — was Jesse Jackson's call to "Cut the military budget," but even Defense Secretary Gates says that. The rest of Rev. Jackson's talk was essentially "vote Democratic" in November because "The president can’t bear this cross alone."
One of the more moving presentations was by outspoken progressive Marian Wright Edelman, founder/president of the Children's Defense Fund, who sharply criticized politicians that promote "massive tax giveaways to the rich when 50% of our children are living in poverty," and called for increased education funding.
Van Jones, a well known environmental and civil rights activist and an expert on "Green Jobs," noted that “We can empower America by looking up for our sources of energy instead of looking down,” referring to wind and solar power. Rev. Al Sharpton earned applause when he declared: “We bailed out the banks. We bailed out the insurance companies. Now it’s time to bail out the American people.”
The only Congressman to speak was Chicago immigrant rights advocate Democratic Rep. Luis Gutierrez, who declared: "The Latino and immigrant struggle is a continuation of the civil rights struggle in this nation. There would be no Cesar Chavez without Dr. Martin Luther King, no Sonia Sotomayor without Thurgood Marshal and no Roberto Clemente without Jackie Robinson.”
The absence of Democratic Party leaders and office holders on the podium as endorsers or rally officials was intentional. Rally leaders did not wish to convey the impression that One Nation Working Together was simply organizing a campaign event to elect a fairly unimpressive collection of center/center right office holders and a small minority of liberals.
The Democrats are worried that independent voters, young voters and liberal supporters who voted Democratic in 2008 are not going to come out in large enough number to prevent the Republicans from making major gains in the House and Senate. A good proportion of these voters are disappointed in the Obama Administration's performance over the past two years, including some union workers who voted for the Democrats in the last election.
One Nation has positioned itself as independently promoting a relatively liberal agenda and is asking Democrats — who are told that the only obstacle to real progress is the GOP and the dreaded Tea Party — to vote in sufficient number to make it possible for the Democratic members of Congress to score major victories in the next two years. The disinclination of many of these politicians to consider aligning with center/center left progressive programs is notorious.
This event cost the union movement plenty. Most of the buses allowed union members — and in some cases the general public — to travel free. Our New York State United Teachers-sponsored bus from New Paltz cost a paltry $20 to D.C. and back for non-union riders, in return for which we received a bagged breakfast, dinner snack, a blue and orange AFT jersey proclaiming One Nation Working Together plus a $5 roundtrip metro fare to and from the Lincoln Memorial.
Charter buses began arriving in the huge parking lot of RFK Stadium starting around 9 a.m. on what turned out to be a day of blue skies, sunshine and comfortable temperatures. Up to 700 buses were said to be coming from New York State alone. According to local union sources buses brought perhaps 1,000 demonstrators from the Upper Hudson Valley cities and towns of Albany, Amsterdam, Latham, Schenectady, Saratoga and Troy and 500 from Mid-Hudson Valley communities of Kingston, New Paltz, Middletown, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie, Fishkill and Beacon. An unknown number took other transportation.
Thousands more probably would have attended the Washington event but there were serious bus problems in Boston, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and on Long Island. Through a mix-up, some scheduled buses never arrived to pick up passengers, and some got to the nation's capital just about in time to return home.
Many buses, including ours, arrived too late to attend the scheduled 11 a.m. antiwar feeder march from 14th St. and Constitution Ave., where there were two speaking platforms, one organized by United for Peace and Justice and the other by the United National Antiwar Conference. After a while both groups agreed to use the same stage. In addition there was a Socialist Contingent nearby. When the three groups marched together to the Memorial there were about 500-600 people, we're told.
Some Union contingents, each wearing their own colored t-shirts, marched in separate feeder marches.
A number of peace and left wing groups attended the rally but not all marched, including several socialist and communist organizations which carried their own signs in the crowd and distributed leaflets and free publications. The ANSWER antiwar coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) handed out a great many large yellow and black peace posters on sticks with a photo of Martin Luther King that predominated in a large part of the rally where we were situated, and hundreds of demonstrators took them home on buses that evening. The Party for Socialism and Liberation decided to charge a donation for their paper, Liberation, an sold 1,200 copies.
This was a positive aspect of the way the One Nation event was organized. Antiwar and socialist or communist groups were welcomed to join the rally just like every other group, to arrange feeder marches of their own, to set up tables, distribute literature, and to become one of the hundreds of endorsers if they wished.
The Communist Party USA, Democratic Socialists of America and the International Socialist Organization were among the endorsers, though most left organizations did not wish to be associated at that level. It has not always been this way in union or liberal dominated events, when the left has often been discouraged from attending or excluded. Hopefully it's a new trend. Of course, the left was not invited to speak at the main rally, and didn't expect to be.
Right wing websites and blogs howled with red-baiting denunciations about the presence of the left Oct. 2, which was actually quite small — but since they already call Obama a "socialist" and believe the Democratic Party is a front for a Bolshevik conspiracy it's not a big deal.
To sum up: The various liberal groups that gathered in Washington for the One Nation rally are a positive factor on the political landscape, mainly because of their working class, multinational and progressive orientation.
Unfortunately their heightened political consciousness remains to be developed vis-à-vis (1) the inherent political limitations of the Democratic Party to which they are presently wedded; (2) their acceptance of a restrictive, closed circuit two-party system extending from the center to the far right without a mass left entity; and (3) their adherence to "lesser evil" politics that insures that "evil" in one guise or another is the only result.
Lastly, the notion of "one nation" sounds good, even inspiring, and entirely useful in the present situation. But most of us know that in reality the U.S. remains, in effect, two nations: one representing the interests of the minority — the big corporations, big banks, big stockholders, and big money that tend to rule; and the other the interests of the great majority — the working class, middle class and lower class that tend to be ruled.
The real issue is which "nation" does one support, and out of that support help to create one real nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
10-05-10 BELAFONTE'S SPEECH
HARRY BELAFONTE'S SPEECH IN D.C.
OCT. 2 AT THE 'ONE NATION' RALLY
Text transcribed by Democracy Now!
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of this Memorial and declared that this nation should come together and embrace its greater ideals. He said that we should rally together and overcome injustice and racism, and that all citizens should not only have the right to vote, but that we should exercise that right and make America whole.
That is part of why we are here today. But we’re also here to tend other grievances. Martin Luther King Jr., in his “I Have a Dream” speech 47 years ago, said that America would soon come to realize that the war we were in at that time, that this nation waged in Vietnam, was not only unconscionable, but unwinnable. Fifty-eight thousand Americans died in that cruel adventure, and over two million Vietnamese and Cambodians perished. Now today, almost a half -century later, as we gather at this place where Dr. King prayed for the soul of this great nation, tens of thousands of citizens from all walks of life have come here today to rekindle his dream and once again hope that all America will soon come to the realization that the wars that we wage today in far away lands are immoral, unconscionable and unwinnable.
The Central Intelligence Agency, in its official report, tells us that the enemy we pursue in Afghanistan and in Pakistan, the al-Qaeda, they number less than 50—I say 50—people. Do we really think that sending 100,000 young American men and women to kill innocent civilians, women and children, and antagonizing the tens of millions of people in the whole region somehow makes us secure? Does this make any sense?
The President’s decision to escalate the war in that region alone costs the nation $33 billion [extra a year]. That sum of money could not only create 600,000 jobs here in America, but would even leave us a few billion to start rebuilding our schools, our roads, our hospitals and affordable housing. It could also help to rebuild the lives of the thousands of our returning wounded veterans.
Dr. King loved this nation. He saw, as all of us here today see, that this great nation should not be allowed to perish. Martin’s vision was also the vision of Abraham Lincoln, who understood the evil of slavery and, in abolishing that evil, saved America. Although slavery may have be have been abolished, the crippling poison of racism still persists, and the struggle still continues. We have the largest prison population in the world. And as we industrialize these prison systems, we rob hundreds of thousands of workers of the jobs that they need and the wages that are rightfully theirs.
The plight of women is no better. Their oppression refuses to yield, as rape and domestic violence and sex slaves and teenage pregnancy abounds.
But perhaps the greatest threat of all is the undermining of our Constitution and the systematic attack against the inalienable rights of the citizens of this nation, rights that are guaranteed by our Constitution. At the vanguard of this insidious attack is the Tea Party. This band of misguided citizens is moving perilously close to achieving villainous ends.
This gathering here today is America’s wake-up call. The giant called democracy is at last stirring again. Citizens are coming together to say freedom does not sleep. It may have been fueled and lulled for the moment into a lethargy, but it’s fully awake now. And we the people are its engine. We must awaken the apathetic, the cynical, the many angry doubters, who see their future as the perpetual hopelessness, and show them that our greatest weapon is the vote. And it is the answer to much that nags in us.
On November 2nd, in the millions, we must overburden our voting booths by voting against those who would see the nation become a totalitarian state. Americans know that Dr. King’s dream is not dead. Let us vote on November 2nd for jobs, for jobs, for jobs, for peace, for justice, for human rights, for our children and the future of America. And let us put an end to war. Peace is necessary. For justice, it is necessary. For hope, it is necessary, for our future.
OCT. 2 AT THE 'ONE NATION' RALLY
Text transcribed by Democracy Now!
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of this Memorial and declared that this nation should come together and embrace its greater ideals. He said that we should rally together and overcome injustice and racism, and that all citizens should not only have the right to vote, but that we should exercise that right and make America whole.
That is part of why we are here today. But we’re also here to tend other grievances. Martin Luther King Jr., in his “I Have a Dream” speech 47 years ago, said that America would soon come to realize that the war we were in at that time, that this nation waged in Vietnam, was not only unconscionable, but unwinnable. Fifty-eight thousand Americans died in that cruel adventure, and over two million Vietnamese and Cambodians perished. Now today, almost a half -century later, as we gather at this place where Dr. King prayed for the soul of this great nation, tens of thousands of citizens from all walks of life have come here today to rekindle his dream and once again hope that all America will soon come to the realization that the wars that we wage today in far away lands are immoral, unconscionable and unwinnable.
The Central Intelligence Agency, in its official report, tells us that the enemy we pursue in Afghanistan and in Pakistan, the al-Qaeda, they number less than 50—I say 50—people. Do we really think that sending 100,000 young American men and women to kill innocent civilians, women and children, and antagonizing the tens of millions of people in the whole region somehow makes us secure? Does this make any sense?
The President’s decision to escalate the war in that region alone costs the nation $33 billion [extra a year]. That sum of money could not only create 600,000 jobs here in America, but would even leave us a few billion to start rebuilding our schools, our roads, our hospitals and affordable housing. It could also help to rebuild the lives of the thousands of our returning wounded veterans.
Dr. King loved this nation. He saw, as all of us here today see, that this great nation should not be allowed to perish. Martin’s vision was also the vision of Abraham Lincoln, who understood the evil of slavery and, in abolishing that evil, saved America. Although slavery may have be have been abolished, the crippling poison of racism still persists, and the struggle still continues. We have the largest prison population in the world. And as we industrialize these prison systems, we rob hundreds of thousands of workers of the jobs that they need and the wages that are rightfully theirs.
The plight of women is no better. Their oppression refuses to yield, as rape and domestic violence and sex slaves and teenage pregnancy abounds.
But perhaps the greatest threat of all is the undermining of our Constitution and the systematic attack against the inalienable rights of the citizens of this nation, rights that are guaranteed by our Constitution. At the vanguard of this insidious attack is the Tea Party. This band of misguided citizens is moving perilously close to achieving villainous ends.
This gathering here today is America’s wake-up call. The giant called democracy is at last stirring again. Citizens are coming together to say freedom does not sleep. It may have been fueled and lulled for the moment into a lethargy, but it’s fully awake now. And we the people are its engine. We must awaken the apathetic, the cynical, the many angry doubters, who see their future as the perpetual hopelessness, and show them that our greatest weapon is the vote. And it is the answer to much that nags in us.
On November 2nd, in the millions, we must overburden our voting booths by voting against those who would see the nation become a totalitarian state. Americans know that Dr. King’s dream is not dead. Let us vote on November 2nd for jobs, for jobs, for jobs, for peace, for justice, for human rights, for our children and the future of America. And let us put an end to war. Peace is necessary. For justice, it is necessary. For hope, it is necessary, for our future.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
3-25-07 Peace Rally articles
Coverage of March 20 Peace Actions
1. Peace Rallies Tell Obama, End the Afghan War
2. Raging Grannies sing Bail Out The People.
3 ANSWER Coalition Slapped With Government Fines
————————————————————————
PEACE RALLIES TELL OBAMA:
END THE AFGHAN WAR!
By Jack A. Smith
Peace demonstrators marched and rallied against the Bush-Obama wars in Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities March 20 on the seventh anniversary of the unjust, illegal invasion and continuing occupation of Iraq.
The protest mainly called for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from the Afghan war that President Barack Obama has widened since taking office last year by more than doubling the number of American soldiers and marines.
The ANSWER Coalition, which organized the biggest rallies, estimated that 10,000 demonstrators marched for peace in the nation's capital, 5,000 in San Francisco, and 3,000 in Los Angeles. Eight people were arrested at the Washington protest.
The demonstrations were smaller than in the years when President George W. Bush occupied the White House. But it showed that a determined sector of the U.S. peace movement remained a vital oppositional force to America's aggressive wars despite the defection of many Democratic peace voters since President Obama took office.
The Hudson Valley Activist Newsletter and Peace and Social Progress Now arranged for 72 activists to travel to the Washington protest last Saturday on chartered buses picking up passengers in Kingston, New Paltz and Spring Valley, N.Y.
As with the national movement this number was smaller than in the Bush years due to the reluctance of many Obama supporters to take a public stand for peace, though larger than the number who traveled with us on the sixth anniversary. The Albany peace movement to our north also sent a bus. Speaking from the Hudson Valley region was Joe Lombardo of Bethlehem (N.Y.) Neighbors for Peace, representing the National Assembly, a co-sponsor of the day's events.
ANSWER's Washington action — which was multinational in composition with a large youth component — was co-sponsored by several score peace, justice, veterans and left groups. "Buses to the Washington protest came from at least 50 cities in 20 states," a spokesperson for the organization reported. "Demonstrators rallied and marched shoulder to shoulder to demand 'U.S. Out of Iraq and Afghanistan Now,' 'Free Palestine,' 'Reparations for Haiti' and 'No Sanctions Against Iran.'" (See links to photos and video below.)
The action began on a beautiful first day of spring with a lively hour and a half rally in Lafayette Park, directly across the street from the White House. Some 25 people, representing various causes touching upon the wars, spoke for 2 or 3 minutes each, often with rapid-fire deliveries. President Obama was criticized frequently for his continuation and expansion of Bush's wars.
Despite many stirring speeches, two groups that appeared on the platform were exceptional crowd-pleasers. One was the well known "Raging Grannies," composed of several older women singing songs of peace and justice. They offered a rousing version of Bail Out the People (see below for text).
The other group was composed of as many representatives as could fit on the stage of a bus full of New York City high school students, who raised the money to charter the vehicle on their own. They were from the public Facing History School in Manhattan. During the march they carried a 20-foot banner with the words: "Facing History School Demands: Money for Jobs and Education, Not for War and Occupation." (Link to photo of students below.)
Brian Becker, ANSWER's national coordinator, told the crowd. "A huge part of the antiwar movement has been focused on the Bush Administration and its policies in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush is gone. Millions of people thought his exit would mean an end to these wars. Instead, after one year of real-life experience, they're far from ending."
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, a leader of the campaign to impeach President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney when they were in office, called for Congressional hearings to investigate U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said the Bush Administration's unjust wars "are supreme international crimes and we must hold them responsible.... Unless we stop these wars now our country will remain a menace to the entire planet."
Ralph Nader addressed, among other topics, the fact that "Bush and Cheney are still at large and must be brought to justice." The Obama Administration will not allow an inquiry into the illegal wars or the torture programs, but throughout the peace movement there is the conviction that unless war criminals are identified and discredited the precedent established by Bush and Cheney will be replicated in future.
Cindy Sheehan, who recently set up a peace camp near the Washington Monument, gestured across the street from the platform to ask the crowd, "Is the honeymoon over with that war criminal in the White House?" Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of Partnership for Civil Justice discussed the harassment of ANSWER by the D.C. government (see article below).
Washington's Rev. Gaylord Hagler noted that as a candidate Sen. Obama promised "change" to the voters but "he is going to keep the Bush wars." He called for an immediate end to the Iraq and Afghan wars. Former U.S. Army Col. Ann Wright, who resigned to protest the Iraq war and has practically become a fulltime peace activist, received heavy applause.
Other speakers included representatives from the Muslim Solidarity Committee, Students for a Democratic Society, the Black Is Back Coalition, Alliance for Global Justice, CodePink, National Lawyer's Guild, U.S. Labor Against the War, Voters for Peace, Veterans for Peace, March Forward, Latinos USA, World Can't Wait, and National Council of Arab-Americans.
The march after the rally lasted about two hours, following a route with more passersby watching from the sidewalks than usual, including many tourists. Marchers were often 40 across jammed closely together on the wide streets. Various slogans decorated at least 2,000 signs bobbing up and down during the march through Washington's business district, the most prominent being ANSWER's yellow and black "We Need Jobs and Schools, NOT WAR," which predominated.
For much of the march there were loud drums and music vying with bullhorns and chanting. One chant from the large and quite vocal group marching behind the banner of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which is part of the ANSWER Coalition, went like this: "Black, Latino, Arab, Asian and white/ No more, No more this racist war/Defend our civil rights."
To quote an ANSWER statement, "the militant march led by veterans, active-duty service members and military families made its way through the streets of D.C. carrying coffins draped in Afghan, Iraqi, Pakistani, Somali, Yemeni, Haitian and U.S. flags, among those of other countries, as a symbol of the human cost of war and occupation. Coffins were dropped off along the way at Halliburton, the Washington Post, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and other institutions connected to the war profiteering, propaganda, and human suffering. The final coffin drop-off was at the White House — the decision-making center of U.S. imperialism."
The eight arrests took place when the coffins were placed on the sidewalk by the White House fence and the demonstrators refused to keep moving when authorities said to do so. According to a press report, as she was hauled away by U.S. Park Police, Cindy Sheehan shouted, "Arrest that war criminal," referring to the president. They were held in jail for two days, quite unnecessarily, for crossing a police line, an offense that doesn't even call for jail time. They are to appear in court June 9 and may be fined.
The 55 people in our bus headed for home somewhat after 5 p.m., getting back around midnight. The remainder of our people left at 7 p.m. in another bus shared with peace people heading for Pittsfield, Mass., after dropping them off in New Paltz, N.Y.
It is customary in our peace buses (this was our 24th bus organizing trip to distant demonstrations) to conduct a bus-wide discussion about the day's events and politics, at least until arriving at the highway restaurant for dinner an hour and a half away
We had a good discussion. There were a lot of new faces, including over a dozen college students and three younger children. Nearly 20 of our college and older passengers had never been to a big Washington rally before, and about 10 evidently had never attended any peace rally.
The matter of the smaller size of the demonstration came up a few times. This writer touched upon the 12 big Washington peace protests ANSWER organized since a week before Bush's invasion of Afghanistan. At least eight of them were over 100,000 people, including 200,000 in October 2002 and 500,000 in January 2003. The last 100,000 event was Sept. 15, 2007, when the march concluded with a dramatic "die-in" of 5,000 people surrounding the Capitol. Almost 200 people were arrested when police prevented them taking an antiwar message to Congress.
The next year was 2008 when so many peace activists thought that the wars would end when they elected a Democratic-controlled Congress and White House. The mass base of the U.S. peace movement — which is composed of Democratic voters — began dissipating as peace people started devoting their time to the elections. The base virtually disappeared after Obama was elected, and it's not back yet, even as the wars multiply.
Along with it went a number of peace groups and coalitions, including the biggest national coalition — United for Peace and Justice, which may still exist in name but has largely been inactive for two years except as a website. UFPJ, too, seemed to think replacing Bush with a Democrat would solve the problem of war.
The left wing of the peace movement remained firm, as do the pacifist and direct action wings. Also, some Democratic voters are returning to the peace struggle now that the wars are expanding, the Pentagon/national security budgets are higher, and the Obama Administration's foreign/military policy remains that of extending hegemony and retaining world dominance. These constituencies now constitute the activist base of the movement — and they pulled off a fine rally and march in Washington last weekend, as we understand they did in Los Angeles and San Francisco as well.
So we're smaller now — it's happened before — and we will have to struggle harder for peace. After all, lives and national independence are being destroyed in our name in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Yemen. Washington's empire of military bases circling the globe and the Pentagon's weaponry could devastate the world. We have to keep marching, rallying, meeting, educating, and taking direct action when appropriate because it is essential not only to denounce the warmakers but to rebuild the mass movement strong enough to stop the wars.
• Photos of Washington rally, which can be viewed as a slide show: http://www.flickr.com/photos/48631321@N07/4454652059/in/set-72157623547774567/
• For a photo of the Facing History students, http://picasaweb.google.com/sutco28/AntiWarDC#5451244001735075026
• A video of Cindy Sheehan's arrest we made by Hans Fraude, 14, who was accompanied on our bus by his dad, Harald. It's at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a90GOGWmvvA
————————————
"BAIL OUT THE PEOPLE"
Performed by The Raging Grannies in Washington
March 20 to the tune of "Roll Out the Barrel."
Follow the money, to see why we go off to war,
Follow the money, it’s not freedom we’re fighting for,
Follow the money, it leads to those corporate whores,
They’ve gone and bombed the Iraqis
So Halliburton can get more.
Pfizer and Wal-Mart, Bechtel and Citigroup, too,
Reap all the profits and don’t give a fig about you!
While folks go hungry in [Miami] and New Orleans,
They’re at home counting their money
To support their war machine.
Follow the money – it all leads to corporate greed.
The poor and the homeless, when will they get what they need?
Big money interests dictate our nation’s war plans.
It’s time now to take back our country
And give folks a helping hand.
Foreclosures are rising and more folks are now unemployed.
What ever happened to the land of the free we enjoyed?
It’s time for the people to rise up and now take a stand!
Let’s get out and bail out the people,
Then we’ll shout it: “Yes, we can!”
Bail out the people and give them the money they need.
To hell with the bankers who suffer from terminal greed.
We’ve got to stop them, and all those who profit from war.
Yes, we will follow the money!
Let’s buy peace instead of war!
———————————
ANSWER SLAPPED WITH GOVERNMENT FINES
ANSWER has been the target of government harassment because of its rallies in Washington, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Volunteers in the two California cities have been arrested, charged with felonies, and released on $20,000 bail each for putting up posters. And draconian fines have been leveled in the District of Columbia for postering.
Two days before the Washington peace rally and march, ANSWER organized a press conference as part of its fight back against big fines it has been ordered to pay in the nation's capital. The group issued this statement March 18:
The ANSWER Coalition has been hit with $7,500 worth of fines for 50 antiwar posters that were put up in the past two weeks. This is on top of nearly $70,000 in fines that have already been imposed on the coalition for the same offense.
This is an effort to suppress grassroots organizing. It's an unprecedented targeting of a political organization for engaging in free-speech activities. The ANSWER Coalition conforms to the regulations and rules for postering, and after each event we send out teams of volunteers to canvass the city and take down posters, regardless of whether we posted them.
These most recent fines also come directly after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has ruled in our favor that we have the right to proceed in our efforts to challenge D.C.’s regulations as unconstitutional. Mara Verheyden-Hilliard and Carl Messineo from the Partnership for Civil Justice sent a cease and desist letter yesterday to the Department of Public Works.
The letter states: “In part to demonstrate that your agency’s massive targeting of ANSWER is nothing less than an attack on the substance of its political speech, ANSWER has complied with every provision of the District’s unconstitutional regulations, even under protest and even while challenging the illegality of the regulations in Court. Yet DPW continues to issue draconian fines without a shred of basis. This conduct is a shameful abuse of authority.”
Other speakers at the press conference include Mahdi Bray, Executive Director, Muslim American Society Freedom; Brian Becker, National Coordinator, ANSWER Coalition; Cindy Sheehan; James Circello, Iraq War veteran and member of March Forward; Mike Ferner, President of Veterans for Peace; Geoff Millard, Chair, National Directors of the Iraq Veterans Against the War; Cynthia McKinney; Eugene Puryear, Youth and Student ANSWER; Mounzer Sleiman, Vice Chair of National Council of Arab Americans; Debra Sweet, National Coordinator of World Can't Wait; Representative, Military Families Speak Out.
1. Peace Rallies Tell Obama, End the Afghan War
2. Raging Grannies sing Bail Out The People.
3 ANSWER Coalition Slapped With Government Fines
————————————————————————
PEACE RALLIES TELL OBAMA:
END THE AFGHAN WAR!
By Jack A. Smith
Peace demonstrators marched and rallied against the Bush-Obama wars in Washington, San Francisco, Los Angeles and other cities March 20 on the seventh anniversary of the unjust, illegal invasion and continuing occupation of Iraq.
The protest mainly called for the withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from the Afghan war that President Barack Obama has widened since taking office last year by more than doubling the number of American soldiers and marines.
The ANSWER Coalition, which organized the biggest rallies, estimated that 10,000 demonstrators marched for peace in the nation's capital, 5,000 in San Francisco, and 3,000 in Los Angeles. Eight people were arrested at the Washington protest.
The demonstrations were smaller than in the years when President George W. Bush occupied the White House. But it showed that a determined sector of the U.S. peace movement remained a vital oppositional force to America's aggressive wars despite the defection of many Democratic peace voters since President Obama took office.
The Hudson Valley Activist Newsletter and Peace and Social Progress Now arranged for 72 activists to travel to the Washington protest last Saturday on chartered buses picking up passengers in Kingston, New Paltz and Spring Valley, N.Y.
As with the national movement this number was smaller than in the Bush years due to the reluctance of many Obama supporters to take a public stand for peace, though larger than the number who traveled with us on the sixth anniversary. The Albany peace movement to our north also sent a bus. Speaking from the Hudson Valley region was Joe Lombardo of Bethlehem (N.Y.) Neighbors for Peace, representing the National Assembly, a co-sponsor of the day's events.
ANSWER's Washington action — which was multinational in composition with a large youth component — was co-sponsored by several score peace, justice, veterans and left groups. "Buses to the Washington protest came from at least 50 cities in 20 states," a spokesperson for the organization reported. "Demonstrators rallied and marched shoulder to shoulder to demand 'U.S. Out of Iraq and Afghanistan Now,' 'Free Palestine,' 'Reparations for Haiti' and 'No Sanctions Against Iran.'" (See links to photos and video below.)
The action began on a beautiful first day of spring with a lively hour and a half rally in Lafayette Park, directly across the street from the White House. Some 25 people, representing various causes touching upon the wars, spoke for 2 or 3 minutes each, often with rapid-fire deliveries. President Obama was criticized frequently for his continuation and expansion of Bush's wars.
Despite many stirring speeches, two groups that appeared on the platform were exceptional crowd-pleasers. One was the well known "Raging Grannies," composed of several older women singing songs of peace and justice. They offered a rousing version of Bail Out the People (see below for text).
The other group was composed of as many representatives as could fit on the stage of a bus full of New York City high school students, who raised the money to charter the vehicle on their own. They were from the public Facing History School in Manhattan. During the march they carried a 20-foot banner with the words: "Facing History School Demands: Money for Jobs and Education, Not for War and Occupation." (Link to photo of students below.)
Brian Becker, ANSWER's national coordinator, told the crowd. "A huge part of the antiwar movement has been focused on the Bush Administration and its policies in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bush is gone. Millions of people thought his exit would mean an end to these wars. Instead, after one year of real-life experience, they're far from ending."
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, a leader of the campaign to impeach President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney when they were in office, called for Congressional hearings to investigate U.S. war crimes in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said the Bush Administration's unjust wars "are supreme international crimes and we must hold them responsible.... Unless we stop these wars now our country will remain a menace to the entire planet."
Ralph Nader addressed, among other topics, the fact that "Bush and Cheney are still at large and must be brought to justice." The Obama Administration will not allow an inquiry into the illegal wars or the torture programs, but throughout the peace movement there is the conviction that unless war criminals are identified and discredited the precedent established by Bush and Cheney will be replicated in future.
Cindy Sheehan, who recently set up a peace camp near the Washington Monument, gestured across the street from the platform to ask the crowd, "Is the honeymoon over with that war criminal in the White House?" Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of Partnership for Civil Justice discussed the harassment of ANSWER by the D.C. government (see article below).
Washington's Rev. Gaylord Hagler noted that as a candidate Sen. Obama promised "change" to the voters but "he is going to keep the Bush wars." He called for an immediate end to the Iraq and Afghan wars. Former U.S. Army Col. Ann Wright, who resigned to protest the Iraq war and has practically become a fulltime peace activist, received heavy applause.
Other speakers included representatives from the Muslim Solidarity Committee, Students for a Democratic Society, the Black Is Back Coalition, Alliance for Global Justice, CodePink, National Lawyer's Guild, U.S. Labor Against the War, Voters for Peace, Veterans for Peace, March Forward, Latinos USA, World Can't Wait, and National Council of Arab-Americans.
The march after the rally lasted about two hours, following a route with more passersby watching from the sidewalks than usual, including many tourists. Marchers were often 40 across jammed closely together on the wide streets. Various slogans decorated at least 2,000 signs bobbing up and down during the march through Washington's business district, the most prominent being ANSWER's yellow and black "We Need Jobs and Schools, NOT WAR," which predominated.
For much of the march there were loud drums and music vying with bullhorns and chanting. One chant from the large and quite vocal group marching behind the banner of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which is part of the ANSWER Coalition, went like this: "Black, Latino, Arab, Asian and white/ No more, No more this racist war/Defend our civil rights."
To quote an ANSWER statement, "the militant march led by veterans, active-duty service members and military families made its way through the streets of D.C. carrying coffins draped in Afghan, Iraqi, Pakistani, Somali, Yemeni, Haitian and U.S. flags, among those of other countries, as a symbol of the human cost of war and occupation. Coffins were dropped off along the way at Halliburton, the Washington Post, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and other institutions connected to the war profiteering, propaganda, and human suffering. The final coffin drop-off was at the White House — the decision-making center of U.S. imperialism."
The eight arrests took place when the coffins were placed on the sidewalk by the White House fence and the demonstrators refused to keep moving when authorities said to do so. According to a press report, as she was hauled away by U.S. Park Police, Cindy Sheehan shouted, "Arrest that war criminal," referring to the president. They were held in jail for two days, quite unnecessarily, for crossing a police line, an offense that doesn't even call for jail time. They are to appear in court June 9 and may be fined.
The 55 people in our bus headed for home somewhat after 5 p.m., getting back around midnight. The remainder of our people left at 7 p.m. in another bus shared with peace people heading for Pittsfield, Mass., after dropping them off in New Paltz, N.Y.
It is customary in our peace buses (this was our 24th bus organizing trip to distant demonstrations) to conduct a bus-wide discussion about the day's events and politics, at least until arriving at the highway restaurant for dinner an hour and a half away
We had a good discussion. There were a lot of new faces, including over a dozen college students and three younger children. Nearly 20 of our college and older passengers had never been to a big Washington rally before, and about 10 evidently had never attended any peace rally.
The matter of the smaller size of the demonstration came up a few times. This writer touched upon the 12 big Washington peace protests ANSWER organized since a week before Bush's invasion of Afghanistan. At least eight of them were over 100,000 people, including 200,000 in October 2002 and 500,000 in January 2003. The last 100,000 event was Sept. 15, 2007, when the march concluded with a dramatic "die-in" of 5,000 people surrounding the Capitol. Almost 200 people were arrested when police prevented them taking an antiwar message to Congress.
The next year was 2008 when so many peace activists thought that the wars would end when they elected a Democratic-controlled Congress and White House. The mass base of the U.S. peace movement — which is composed of Democratic voters — began dissipating as peace people started devoting their time to the elections. The base virtually disappeared after Obama was elected, and it's not back yet, even as the wars multiply.
Along with it went a number of peace groups and coalitions, including the biggest national coalition — United for Peace and Justice, which may still exist in name but has largely been inactive for two years except as a website. UFPJ, too, seemed to think replacing Bush with a Democrat would solve the problem of war.
The left wing of the peace movement remained firm, as do the pacifist and direct action wings. Also, some Democratic voters are returning to the peace struggle now that the wars are expanding, the Pentagon/national security budgets are higher, and the Obama Administration's foreign/military policy remains that of extending hegemony and retaining world dominance. These constituencies now constitute the activist base of the movement — and they pulled off a fine rally and march in Washington last weekend, as we understand they did in Los Angeles and San Francisco as well.
So we're smaller now — it's happened before — and we will have to struggle harder for peace. After all, lives and national independence are being destroyed in our name in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Yemen. Washington's empire of military bases circling the globe and the Pentagon's weaponry could devastate the world. We have to keep marching, rallying, meeting, educating, and taking direct action when appropriate because it is essential not only to denounce the warmakers but to rebuild the mass movement strong enough to stop the wars.
• Photos of Washington rally, which can be viewed as a slide show: http://www.flickr.com/photos/48631321@N07/4454652059/in/set-72157623547774567/
• For a photo of the Facing History students, http://picasaweb.google.com/sutco28/AntiWarDC#5451244001735075026
• A video of Cindy Sheehan's arrest we made by Hans Fraude, 14, who was accompanied on our bus by his dad, Harald. It's at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a90GOGWmvvA
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"BAIL OUT THE PEOPLE"
Performed by The Raging Grannies in Washington
March 20 to the tune of "Roll Out the Barrel."
Follow the money, to see why we go off to war,
Follow the money, it’s not freedom we’re fighting for,
Follow the money, it leads to those corporate whores,
They’ve gone and bombed the Iraqis
So Halliburton can get more.
Pfizer and Wal-Mart, Bechtel and Citigroup, too,
Reap all the profits and don’t give a fig about you!
While folks go hungry in [Miami] and New Orleans,
They’re at home counting their money
To support their war machine.
Follow the money – it all leads to corporate greed.
The poor and the homeless, when will they get what they need?
Big money interests dictate our nation’s war plans.
It’s time now to take back our country
And give folks a helping hand.
Foreclosures are rising and more folks are now unemployed.
What ever happened to the land of the free we enjoyed?
It’s time for the people to rise up and now take a stand!
Let’s get out and bail out the people,
Then we’ll shout it: “Yes, we can!”
Bail out the people and give them the money they need.
To hell with the bankers who suffer from terminal greed.
We’ve got to stop them, and all those who profit from war.
Yes, we will follow the money!
Let’s buy peace instead of war!
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ANSWER SLAPPED WITH GOVERNMENT FINES
ANSWER has been the target of government harassment because of its rallies in Washington, San Francisco and Los Angeles. Volunteers in the two California cities have been arrested, charged with felonies, and released on $20,000 bail each for putting up posters. And draconian fines have been leveled in the District of Columbia for postering.
Two days before the Washington peace rally and march, ANSWER organized a press conference as part of its fight back against big fines it has been ordered to pay in the nation's capital. The group issued this statement March 18:
The ANSWER Coalition has been hit with $7,500 worth of fines for 50 antiwar posters that were put up in the past two weeks. This is on top of nearly $70,000 in fines that have already been imposed on the coalition for the same offense.
This is an effort to suppress grassroots organizing. It's an unprecedented targeting of a political organization for engaging in free-speech activities. The ANSWER Coalition conforms to the regulations and rules for postering, and after each event we send out teams of volunteers to canvass the city and take down posters, regardless of whether we posted them.
These most recent fines also come directly after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit has ruled in our favor that we have the right to proceed in our efforts to challenge D.C.’s regulations as unconstitutional. Mara Verheyden-Hilliard and Carl Messineo from the Partnership for Civil Justice sent a cease and desist letter yesterday to the Department of Public Works.
The letter states: “In part to demonstrate that your agency’s massive targeting of ANSWER is nothing less than an attack on the substance of its political speech, ANSWER has complied with every provision of the District’s unconstitutional regulations, even under protest and even while challenging the illegality of the regulations in Court. Yet DPW continues to issue draconian fines without a shred of basis. This conduct is a shameful abuse of authority.”
Other speakers at the press conference include Mahdi Bray, Executive Director, Muslim American Society Freedom; Brian Becker, National Coordinator, ANSWER Coalition; Cindy Sheehan; James Circello, Iraq War veteran and member of March Forward; Mike Ferner, President of Veterans for Peace; Geoff Millard, Chair, National Directors of the Iraq Veterans Against the War; Cynthia McKinney; Eugene Puryear, Youth and Student ANSWER; Mounzer Sleiman, Vice Chair of National Council of Arab Americans; Debra Sweet, National Coordinator of World Can't Wait; Representative, Military Families Speak Out.
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