- 30 May 2003 14:04
#206879
ANSWER CONFERENCE: ACTIVISTS MOVE FROM ANTI-WAR TO ANTI-IMPERIALIST
By Deirdre Griswold
New York
May 21, 2003--Over the last year hundreds of thousands of people in this country have protested the horrors of war in Iraq and Palestine. Now, at a conference held the weekend of May 17-18 in New York, many of them showed they have moved ahead in their thinking. They are not satisfied with just protesting the violence. They want to act in solidarity with the struggles of peoples around the world who are resisting U.S. imperialism and the corporations and banks it serves.
The National Conference Against War, Colonial Occupation and Imperialism was organized by the ANSWER coalition, which formed right after 9/11 to push back the wave of racism and war frenzy generated and manipulated by the Bush administration. Close to 800 people came from all over the U.S. and as far away as Japan to attend the conference at the landmark Washington Irving High School in Manhattan.
They applauded a wide array of speakers representing popular movements around the world as well as union and community activists from the U.S. They also participated in two dozen well-attended workshops and discussion groups.
At the end, they ratified a plan of action that will bring many thousands into the streets again over the next few months. ANSWER also intends to provide speakers and literature to organizing centers around the country in a concerted educational campaign to lay bare the relationship that the cutbacks, layoffs and racist, sexist and homophobic repression at home have to the vast plan for military expansion being pushed by the Pentagon and the Bush administration.
FOCUS ON TARGETS OF U.S. MILITARY
The talks and workshops on imperialist military expansion put special emphasis on those countries under the greatest threat today: Iraq, North Korea, Cuba, Palestine, the Philippines, Venezuela, Colombia and the Balkans. While they are very different societies, they have this in common: U.S. troops are already there or are poised on their borders.
Larry Holmes of the International Action Center and Carl Messineo of the Partnership for Civil Justice kicked off the conference with presentations that stressed the global character of this movement--which succeeded in coordinating simultaneous demonstrations around the world that mobilized millions--and the big, big task ahead. "We're not going to win with one demo," said Holmes. "We are in a long struggle to bring down the empire and prevent the U.S. from establishing a military dictatorship over the world."
Their words were reinforced by the many solidarity statements that had come in from organizations on every continent, including one from the United American Indians of New England that spoke of "knowing first hand what it is like to be on the receiving end of a relentless campaign of war and terror." It expressed hope that "this movement will lead to a new understanding amongst all of us of each other's struggles and of what it will take to build a new and just society right here in the belly of the beast."
The first plenary session centered on a slide presentation on Geopolitics and the Strategy of Imperialism in the Middle East by ANSWER Steering Committee member Elias Rashmawi of the Free Palestine Alliance. His detailed charts showed why U.S. imperialist strategists view the area as essential for world domination because of its strategic position, encompassing major waterways and access to three continents, as well as its rich repository of oil, the essential commodity for modern industry.
Iraq Sanctions Challenge coordinator Sara Flounders boiled down ANSWER's position on Iraq to the simple demands, "No occupation, no colonialism." She showed how the Rumsfeld doctrine for a quick takeover of Iraq wasn't going according to plan but was being resisted every step of the way by the people.
Gloria La Riva of the International Action Center brought up the threats against Cuba that grow more serious every day. Conference participants that evening joined a picket supporting Cuba at its Mission to the United Nations and planned more solidarity actions for when they returned home.
Joe Navidad, a Filipino representing Bayan USA, told of his country's fight to end direct U.S. colonial rule from 1899 to 1946, and the continued need for solidarity with the people's struggle as U.S. troops once again are carrying out operations in the Philippines.
Guest speakers included Guillermo Guevara, a member of the Venezuelan National Assembly and founder of the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon. Charles Barron, an elected member of the New York City Council who has shook up that body with his militant politics, reminded the conference of the struggle that continues in Zimbabwe, where white settlers whose loyalties are still with Britain are trying to keep their monopoly on the best farm land.
These are merely some of the many well-informed speakers who brought the struggles of the oppressed peoples of the world into a once-elegant girls' high school near Manhattan's Union Square. Each in their own way, they drew the lessons that these are not isolated struggles but are a response to the rampages of a profit-hungry global system that can expand only through war and repression.
THE STRUGGLES AT HOME
And this was just one side of the equation. Equally important were the talks and discussion on how imperialism has impacted workers here, and why it's crucial that the anti-war movement not be "single issue" but address capitalist exploi tation and the inequity here in the U.S. that places added burdens on millions of people because of their color, national origin, gender and/or sexual expression.
IAC leaders Ramsey Clark, Brian Becker and Teresa Gutierrez were joined by Ismail Kamal of the Muslim Students Association, Macrina Cardenas of the Mexico Solidarity Network and others in mapping out "Where is the movement going?," the provocative topic of the second plenary.
A workshop on Queers for Peace and Justice talked about how to do anti- war organizing at the Pride marches. Another explored the mechanisms of the Inter national Monetary Fund and World Bank. Labor activists discussed how to defend unions and workers' rights in this period of repression, especially against immigrants. Brenda Stokely of New York Labor Against the War talked of the struggle to move the unions to the left and overcome the tradition of "business unionism."
Another workshop explored what can be done to reach the youth who are prey to military recruiting because of the lack of jobs and education.
People packed into the workshop on the Patriot Act to hear attorneys and others talk about the assault on civil liberties and immigrant rights. Lynne Stewart, herself fighting prosecution for having legally defended Muslim leaders, Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of PCJ, and Jim Lafferty of the L.A. Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild gave advice on how to challenge the unconstitutional tactics of the Ashcroft Justice Department and support those who are targeted for repression.
Building anti-racist solidarity and the struggle for reparations attracted unionists and community activists. Monica Moorehead, a managing editor of Workers World newspaper and coordinator of Millions for Mumia, showed how taking on these questions is central to building a strong, united anti-war movement.
Health care workers are facing a crisis in this country and also are sickened by the immense suffering inflicted by the U.S. on the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan. One workshop was devoted to doctors and nurses who have been in the forefront of the anti-war struggle.
Members of Youth & Student ANSWER played a big role in pulling the conference together and defining its agenda, from the opening talk by Caneisha Mills, chair of the first plenary, to presentations on "Where is the movement going?" by Peta Lindsay and Sarah Sloan, "Who profits from war?" by Natividad Carrera, and "The Strategy and Tactics of Empire" by Leilani Dowell.
The Action Plan adopted by the conference pinpointed two important dates: July 4, when Bush will be in Philadelphia to, ironically, open the National Constitution Center, and Sept. 27, an Internationally Coordinated Day of Action against Occupation and Empire and in Solidarity with Those Who Resist. In Philadelphia, ANSWER will be joining with local organizations that have issued a call for thousands to come and protest U.S. wars at home and abroad.
The details on these actions as they unfold will be available at www.internationalanswer.org .
By Deirdre Griswold
New York
May 21, 2003--Over the last year hundreds of thousands of people in this country have protested the horrors of war in Iraq and Palestine. Now, at a conference held the weekend of May 17-18 in New York, many of them showed they have moved ahead in their thinking. They are not satisfied with just protesting the violence. They want to act in solidarity with the struggles of peoples around the world who are resisting U.S. imperialism and the corporations and banks it serves.
The National Conference Against War, Colonial Occupation and Imperialism was organized by the ANSWER coalition, which formed right after 9/11 to push back the wave of racism and war frenzy generated and manipulated by the Bush administration. Close to 800 people came from all over the U.S. and as far away as Japan to attend the conference at the landmark Washington Irving High School in Manhattan.
They applauded a wide array of speakers representing popular movements around the world as well as union and community activists from the U.S. They also participated in two dozen well-attended workshops and discussion groups.
At the end, they ratified a plan of action that will bring many thousands into the streets again over the next few months. ANSWER also intends to provide speakers and literature to organizing centers around the country in a concerted educational campaign to lay bare the relationship that the cutbacks, layoffs and racist, sexist and homophobic repression at home have to the vast plan for military expansion being pushed by the Pentagon and the Bush administration.
FOCUS ON TARGETS OF U.S. MILITARY
The talks and workshops on imperialist military expansion put special emphasis on those countries under the greatest threat today: Iraq, North Korea, Cuba, Palestine, the Philippines, Venezuela, Colombia and the Balkans. While they are very different societies, they have this in common: U.S. troops are already there or are poised on their borders.
Larry Holmes of the International Action Center and Carl Messineo of the Partnership for Civil Justice kicked off the conference with presentations that stressed the global character of this movement--which succeeded in coordinating simultaneous demonstrations around the world that mobilized millions--and the big, big task ahead. "We're not going to win with one demo," said Holmes. "We are in a long struggle to bring down the empire and prevent the U.S. from establishing a military dictatorship over the world."
Their words were reinforced by the many solidarity statements that had come in from organizations on every continent, including one from the United American Indians of New England that spoke of "knowing first hand what it is like to be on the receiving end of a relentless campaign of war and terror." It expressed hope that "this movement will lead to a new understanding amongst all of us of each other's struggles and of what it will take to build a new and just society right here in the belly of the beast."
The first plenary session centered on a slide presentation on Geopolitics and the Strategy of Imperialism in the Middle East by ANSWER Steering Committee member Elias Rashmawi of the Free Palestine Alliance. His detailed charts showed why U.S. imperialist strategists view the area as essential for world domination because of its strategic position, encompassing major waterways and access to three continents, as well as its rich repository of oil, the essential commodity for modern industry.
Iraq Sanctions Challenge coordinator Sara Flounders boiled down ANSWER's position on Iraq to the simple demands, "No occupation, no colonialism." She showed how the Rumsfeld doctrine for a quick takeover of Iraq wasn't going according to plan but was being resisted every step of the way by the people.
Gloria La Riva of the International Action Center brought up the threats against Cuba that grow more serious every day. Conference participants that evening joined a picket supporting Cuba at its Mission to the United Nations and planned more solidarity actions for when they returned home.
Joe Navidad, a Filipino representing Bayan USA, told of his country's fight to end direct U.S. colonial rule from 1899 to 1946, and the continued need for solidarity with the people's struggle as U.S. troops once again are carrying out operations in the Philippines.
Guest speakers included Guillermo Guevara, a member of the Venezuelan National Assembly and founder of the Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Amazon. Charles Barron, an elected member of the New York City Council who has shook up that body with his militant politics, reminded the conference of the struggle that continues in Zimbabwe, where white settlers whose loyalties are still with Britain are trying to keep their monopoly on the best farm land.
These are merely some of the many well-informed speakers who brought the struggles of the oppressed peoples of the world into a once-elegant girls' high school near Manhattan's Union Square. Each in their own way, they drew the lessons that these are not isolated struggles but are a response to the rampages of a profit-hungry global system that can expand only through war and repression.
THE STRUGGLES AT HOME
And this was just one side of the equation. Equally important were the talks and discussion on how imperialism has impacted workers here, and why it's crucial that the anti-war movement not be "single issue" but address capitalist exploi tation and the inequity here in the U.S. that places added burdens on millions of people because of their color, national origin, gender and/or sexual expression.
IAC leaders Ramsey Clark, Brian Becker and Teresa Gutierrez were joined by Ismail Kamal of the Muslim Students Association, Macrina Cardenas of the Mexico Solidarity Network and others in mapping out "Where is the movement going?," the provocative topic of the second plenary.
A workshop on Queers for Peace and Justice talked about how to do anti- war organizing at the Pride marches. Another explored the mechanisms of the Inter national Monetary Fund and World Bank. Labor activists discussed how to defend unions and workers' rights in this period of repression, especially against immigrants. Brenda Stokely of New York Labor Against the War talked of the struggle to move the unions to the left and overcome the tradition of "business unionism."
Another workshop explored what can be done to reach the youth who are prey to military recruiting because of the lack of jobs and education.
People packed into the workshop on the Patriot Act to hear attorneys and others talk about the assault on civil liberties and immigrant rights. Lynne Stewart, herself fighting prosecution for having legally defended Muslim leaders, Mara Verheyden-Hilliard of PCJ, and Jim Lafferty of the L.A. Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild gave advice on how to challenge the unconstitutional tactics of the Ashcroft Justice Department and support those who are targeted for repression.
Building anti-racist solidarity and the struggle for reparations attracted unionists and community activists. Monica Moorehead, a managing editor of Workers World newspaper and coordinator of Millions for Mumia, showed how taking on these questions is central to building a strong, united anti-war movement.
Health care workers are facing a crisis in this country and also are sickened by the immense suffering inflicted by the U.S. on the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan. One workshop was devoted to doctors and nurses who have been in the forefront of the anti-war struggle.
Members of Youth & Student ANSWER played a big role in pulling the conference together and defining its agenda, from the opening talk by Caneisha Mills, chair of the first plenary, to presentations on "Where is the movement going?" by Peta Lindsay and Sarah Sloan, "Who profits from war?" by Natividad Carrera, and "The Strategy and Tactics of Empire" by Leilani Dowell.
The Action Plan adopted by the conference pinpointed two important dates: July 4, when Bush will be in Philadelphia to, ironically, open the National Constitution Center, and Sept. 27, an Internationally Coordinated Day of Action against Occupation and Empire and in Solidarity with Those Who Resist. In Philadelphia, ANSWER will be joining with local organizations that have issued a call for thousands to come and protest U.S. wars at home and abroad.
The details on these actions as they unfold will be available at www.internationalanswer.org .
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