RedCeltic
12th June 2002, 06:13
Activists share lessons, forge bold plans
By Gery Armsby
New York
A standing-room-only crowd of more than 600 people attended a June 1 anti-war conference sponsored by the International ANSWER Coalition at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology. The gathering provided activists with education, information and resources on the current U.S. war drive. They also deliberated over anti-war strategy and produced bold plans for actions in opposition to U.S. repression and war stretching into the early months of 2003.
Highlights included a moving series of presentations conveying the inspirational struggle of the Palestinian people under U.S.-backed Israeli occupation and a call to action in response to recently announced changes that grant the FBI new, Cointelpro-like powers.
ANSWER, which stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, was also a main organizer of the largest-ever U.S. demonstrations in support of the Palestinian cause in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco on April 20.
Participation at the conference was very broad. It included people of many different experiences, geographic regions, nationalities, genders and abilities; those new to the anti-war struggle as well as seasoned activists; elders and youths, gay and straight.
Jennifer Wager of IFCO/Pastors for Peace welcomed the crowd and chaired an opening panel that launched the day-long program of talks, workshops, educational presentations and activist strategy sessions by emphasizing popular struggles around the world targeted by U.S. military, economic and political aggression.
Challenge to new FBI powers
International Action Center Co-Director Larry Holmes introduced components of an action plan proposed to the conference by the ANSWER steering committee, including a call for a march on the FBI and Justice Department headquarters in Washington on June 29 and a campaign to hold independent hearings on U.S.-backed Israeli war crimes in Palestine.
"John Ashcroft announced a few days ago that he was removing the so-called restrictions put on the FBI during the mid-70s when there was an exposure of the Counter-Intelligence Program that came to be known as Cointelpro," Holmes reported.
"We've got to remind people what Cointelpro was about. It wasn't just about spying. It was a war on the Black movement, the Puerto Rican movement, the Native peoples' movement, the radical movement, the anti-war movement, the solidarity movement ... it involved not only infiltration and surveillance, but frame-ups, assassinations, murders."
Holmes then implored the crowd; "We have to respond to this as a movement."
Representatives from the Partnership for Civil Justice Legal Defense and Education Fund presented further analysis of the newly expanded FBI powers.
Attorney Carl Messineo explained that the FBI refers benignly to its activities as surfing the Web while "what they really are talking about is a massive data mining operation involving huge, Borg-like computers" capable of compiling and maintaining detailed dossiers on anyone.
"On June 29," PCJ attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard promised, "we will stand in front of the FBI, which is conveniently across the street from the Justice Department in Washington, DC, and we will tell them, hell no to Cointelpro."
Monica Moorehead, a national coordinator of Millions for Mumia who spoke at a morning workshop addressing the Patriot Act and civil rights, welcomed the ANSWER proposals.
Moorehead expressed her impression that "the action plan and momentum for June 29 coming out of this conference will have a significant effect, especially given recent announcements concerning the FBI's unrestricted powers. That demonstration in Washington can serve both as a response to these developments and help elevate the plight of political prisoners who are also victims of the In-Justice Department."
Labor against the war
Two co-conveners of New York City Labor Against the War (NYCLAW) addressed the conference.
Mailhandlers Local 300 President Larry Adams explained, "Like you, NYCLAW sees 9/11 as a pretext to unfold an overall global agenda of pillage and plunder of the world that's particularly aimed at destroying the national liberation movements of oppressed peoples all over the world and to promote reaction in this country."
Brenda Stokely, president of AFSCME District Council 1707, pointed to the importance of the gathering "because it is essential in any movement for freedom and justice to build a principled united front against this government and against all of those that are bent on continuing to exploit and oppress people throughout the world as well as in this country."
Adams also helped lead a workshop where labor activists strategized about how to increase labor participation in anti-war activities.
Other workshops covered topics such as corporate globalization and U.S. economic intervention, international movements opposed to U.S. military intervention, and building grassroots opposition to the war on campuses and in communities. A workshop on U.S. strategy in the Middle East drew over 120 people to hear experts and discuss in depth the latest developments in Palestine, Iraq and Sudan. A presentation on Afghanistan by Workers World editor Deirdre Griswold sparked a lively discussion about the history of that country.
Eyewitness Palestine
Conference participants were shown a short video of the recent ANSWER coalition delegation to occupied Palestine. The dramatic footage illustrated the daily crisis for Palestinian people living under the Israeli-imposed apartheid system of racist violence, discrimination, restrictions and checkpoints.
Delegation members described the coalition's plans for organizing Independent Commission of Inquiry hearings to investigate U.S.-backed Israeli war crimes in Palestine, including evidence they gathered while in Gaza and the West Bank.
Elias Rashmawi of the Free Palestine Alliance, himself a Palestinian, followed their presentations with an eloquent appeal to the activists to consider the meaning of Palestine's--or any oppressed nation's--struggle for self-determination.
He told the rapt audience, "To understand Palestine you can hit the books and read the details of history, which is important, extremely important. But let me break it down for you. There is a Palestine that has a people that fight and struggle to maintain their humanity. And this Palestine is one that you can imagine best as you can imagine your own life."
An afternoon session was dedicated to strategizing in smaller groups about how to continue building the anti-war movement. Activists used these sessions to share lessons from recent organizing efforts. They discussed action proposals, including an international day of protests Oct. 19 and a march on Washington on the Gulf War's 12th anniversary, Jan. 18, 2003.
Sixty people joined a concurrent session to plan for the independent hearings on war crimes against Palestine.
A final session, chaired by International Action Center Co-Director Brian Becker, was dedicated to summing up the day's work and hearing from international guests from Palestine, Haiti, Venezuela and the Philippines as well as representatives from an array of progressive struggles.
Noted author Leslie Feinberg drew connections between the fight for lesbian, gay, bi and trans liberation and the need for strong resistance to the Bush administration's war drive.
Why they came
WW spoke with many activists who attended the conference.
Janyce, 20, an activist from Los Angeles, said, "This was awesome. It makes me want to go home and work twice as hard and start an ANSWER chapter in Riverside [Calif.]." Janyce had organized for the April 20 demonstration in San Francisco, filling a 50-passenger bus in the space of two days.
Schuyler, a high-school sophomore from New Jersey, took time off from his studies and part-time job to attend the conference. He said, "I really learned a lot, especially about Cuba, and I really appreciated the African American union leader, Brenda Stokely, who was very inspiring in her presentation linking the war against Afghan istan with poverty and social issues here at home."
Jamal, 27, learned about the conference at the April 20 demonstration in Washington. He volunteered to help with conference security. "There was a group of 10 to12 Zionists counter-demonstrating outside," Jamal said. "We talked to our people and asked them to ignore them. It was a weak showing of their side and their ignorance.
"I thought the conference itself was extremely positive. We covered a lot of the issues that are going on around the world, in the Middle East, Latin America and Asia, and even here in the U.S.," Jamal concluded.
Judi Cheng, a Workers World Party member who staffed an ANSWER outreach table, remarked: "Everyone got a lot out of it and left with a better sense of what direction the progressive movement has to take in the coming months."
'An outstanding step'
Several ANSWER steering committee members also shared their impressions and reflections on the conference.
Elias Rashmawi told WW, "The conference, in my opinion, was an outstanding step toward cementing international solidarity and principled positions for an anti-imperialist force, including forces for social justice and self-determination, on the road to transforming the peace and justice movement in the United States to reflect the conditions of people victimized by globalization in the U.S. and everywhere else.
"We, the Palestinian people, salute the International Action Center for anchoring the ANSWER coalition, as it convened perhaps one of the most crucial and significant gatherings to propel the struggle of the Palestinian people forward.
"We are also gratified and humbled by the principled positions of the constituent member organizations of the ANSWER coalition, for their historic stand and solidarity with the Palestinian cause during both the April 20 mobilization and the conference of June 1."
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard found the large attendance to be "evidence of a very powerful movement of people in the U. S. who are forming together to fight the tide of government repression.
"The conference was significant in the breadth and diversity of people who attended and who are actively engaged in mounting an aggressive challenge to any attempts by Ashcroft and FBI Director Mueller to silence or quiet growing dissent against the Bush administration's corporate global war drive."
"I was struck by the high numbers of relatively new, relatively young activists at this kind of a gathering," said Sarah Sloan, a youth organizer for the International Action Center. "And it was great how much people appreciated the anti-imperialist message that resounded throughout the conference."
"The fact that 600 people from all over the country would come together to plan the next nine months of anti-war activities astounded me," said Chuck Kaufman, co-director of Nicaragua Network. "The level of enthusiasm and support for the program proposed by the ANSWER steering committee indicates that we have a strong anti-war, anti-racist coalition made up of many diverse forces and that we will continue to grow."
By Gery Armsby
New York
A standing-room-only crowd of more than 600 people attended a June 1 anti-war conference sponsored by the International ANSWER Coalition at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology. The gathering provided activists with education, information and resources on the current U.S. war drive. They also deliberated over anti-war strategy and produced bold plans for actions in opposition to U.S. repression and war stretching into the early months of 2003.
Highlights included a moving series of presentations conveying the inspirational struggle of the Palestinian people under U.S.-backed Israeli occupation and a call to action in response to recently announced changes that grant the FBI new, Cointelpro-like powers.
ANSWER, which stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, was also a main organizer of the largest-ever U.S. demonstrations in support of the Palestinian cause in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco on April 20.
Participation at the conference was very broad. It included people of many different experiences, geographic regions, nationalities, genders and abilities; those new to the anti-war struggle as well as seasoned activists; elders and youths, gay and straight.
Jennifer Wager of IFCO/Pastors for Peace welcomed the crowd and chaired an opening panel that launched the day-long program of talks, workshops, educational presentations and activist strategy sessions by emphasizing popular struggles around the world targeted by U.S. military, economic and political aggression.
Challenge to new FBI powers
International Action Center Co-Director Larry Holmes introduced components of an action plan proposed to the conference by the ANSWER steering committee, including a call for a march on the FBI and Justice Department headquarters in Washington on June 29 and a campaign to hold independent hearings on U.S.-backed Israeli war crimes in Palestine.
"John Ashcroft announced a few days ago that he was removing the so-called restrictions put on the FBI during the mid-70s when there was an exposure of the Counter-Intelligence Program that came to be known as Cointelpro," Holmes reported.
"We've got to remind people what Cointelpro was about. It wasn't just about spying. It was a war on the Black movement, the Puerto Rican movement, the Native peoples' movement, the radical movement, the anti-war movement, the solidarity movement ... it involved not only infiltration and surveillance, but frame-ups, assassinations, murders."
Holmes then implored the crowd; "We have to respond to this as a movement."
Representatives from the Partnership for Civil Justice Legal Defense and Education Fund presented further analysis of the newly expanded FBI powers.
Attorney Carl Messineo explained that the FBI refers benignly to its activities as surfing the Web while "what they really are talking about is a massive data mining operation involving huge, Borg-like computers" capable of compiling and maintaining detailed dossiers on anyone.
"On June 29," PCJ attorney Mara Verheyden-Hilliard promised, "we will stand in front of the FBI, which is conveniently across the street from the Justice Department in Washington, DC, and we will tell them, hell no to Cointelpro."
Monica Moorehead, a national coordinator of Millions for Mumia who spoke at a morning workshop addressing the Patriot Act and civil rights, welcomed the ANSWER proposals.
Moorehead expressed her impression that "the action plan and momentum for June 29 coming out of this conference will have a significant effect, especially given recent announcements concerning the FBI's unrestricted powers. That demonstration in Washington can serve both as a response to these developments and help elevate the plight of political prisoners who are also victims of the In-Justice Department."
Labor against the war
Two co-conveners of New York City Labor Against the War (NYCLAW) addressed the conference.
Mailhandlers Local 300 President Larry Adams explained, "Like you, NYCLAW sees 9/11 as a pretext to unfold an overall global agenda of pillage and plunder of the world that's particularly aimed at destroying the national liberation movements of oppressed peoples all over the world and to promote reaction in this country."
Brenda Stokely, president of AFSCME District Council 1707, pointed to the importance of the gathering "because it is essential in any movement for freedom and justice to build a principled united front against this government and against all of those that are bent on continuing to exploit and oppress people throughout the world as well as in this country."
Adams also helped lead a workshop where labor activists strategized about how to increase labor participation in anti-war activities.
Other workshops covered topics such as corporate globalization and U.S. economic intervention, international movements opposed to U.S. military intervention, and building grassroots opposition to the war on campuses and in communities. A workshop on U.S. strategy in the Middle East drew over 120 people to hear experts and discuss in depth the latest developments in Palestine, Iraq and Sudan. A presentation on Afghanistan by Workers World editor Deirdre Griswold sparked a lively discussion about the history of that country.
Eyewitness Palestine
Conference participants were shown a short video of the recent ANSWER coalition delegation to occupied Palestine. The dramatic footage illustrated the daily crisis for Palestinian people living under the Israeli-imposed apartheid system of racist violence, discrimination, restrictions and checkpoints.
Delegation members described the coalition's plans for organizing Independent Commission of Inquiry hearings to investigate U.S.-backed Israeli war crimes in Palestine, including evidence they gathered while in Gaza and the West Bank.
Elias Rashmawi of the Free Palestine Alliance, himself a Palestinian, followed their presentations with an eloquent appeal to the activists to consider the meaning of Palestine's--or any oppressed nation's--struggle for self-determination.
He told the rapt audience, "To understand Palestine you can hit the books and read the details of history, which is important, extremely important. But let me break it down for you. There is a Palestine that has a people that fight and struggle to maintain their humanity. And this Palestine is one that you can imagine best as you can imagine your own life."
An afternoon session was dedicated to strategizing in smaller groups about how to continue building the anti-war movement. Activists used these sessions to share lessons from recent organizing efforts. They discussed action proposals, including an international day of protests Oct. 19 and a march on Washington on the Gulf War's 12th anniversary, Jan. 18, 2003.
Sixty people joined a concurrent session to plan for the independent hearings on war crimes against Palestine.
A final session, chaired by International Action Center Co-Director Brian Becker, was dedicated to summing up the day's work and hearing from international guests from Palestine, Haiti, Venezuela and the Philippines as well as representatives from an array of progressive struggles.
Noted author Leslie Feinberg drew connections between the fight for lesbian, gay, bi and trans liberation and the need for strong resistance to the Bush administration's war drive.
Why they came
WW spoke with many activists who attended the conference.
Janyce, 20, an activist from Los Angeles, said, "This was awesome. It makes me want to go home and work twice as hard and start an ANSWER chapter in Riverside [Calif.]." Janyce had organized for the April 20 demonstration in San Francisco, filling a 50-passenger bus in the space of two days.
Schuyler, a high-school sophomore from New Jersey, took time off from his studies and part-time job to attend the conference. He said, "I really learned a lot, especially about Cuba, and I really appreciated the African American union leader, Brenda Stokely, who was very inspiring in her presentation linking the war against Afghan istan with poverty and social issues here at home."
Jamal, 27, learned about the conference at the April 20 demonstration in Washington. He volunteered to help with conference security. "There was a group of 10 to12 Zionists counter-demonstrating outside," Jamal said. "We talked to our people and asked them to ignore them. It was a weak showing of their side and their ignorance.
"I thought the conference itself was extremely positive. We covered a lot of the issues that are going on around the world, in the Middle East, Latin America and Asia, and even here in the U.S.," Jamal concluded.
Judi Cheng, a Workers World Party member who staffed an ANSWER outreach table, remarked: "Everyone got a lot out of it and left with a better sense of what direction the progressive movement has to take in the coming months."
'An outstanding step'
Several ANSWER steering committee members also shared their impressions and reflections on the conference.
Elias Rashmawi told WW, "The conference, in my opinion, was an outstanding step toward cementing international solidarity and principled positions for an anti-imperialist force, including forces for social justice and self-determination, on the road to transforming the peace and justice movement in the United States to reflect the conditions of people victimized by globalization in the U.S. and everywhere else.
"We, the Palestinian people, salute the International Action Center for anchoring the ANSWER coalition, as it convened perhaps one of the most crucial and significant gatherings to propel the struggle of the Palestinian people forward.
"We are also gratified and humbled by the principled positions of the constituent member organizations of the ANSWER coalition, for their historic stand and solidarity with the Palestinian cause during both the April 20 mobilization and the conference of June 1."
Mara Verheyden-Hilliard found the large attendance to be "evidence of a very powerful movement of people in the U. S. who are forming together to fight the tide of government repression.
"The conference was significant in the breadth and diversity of people who attended and who are actively engaged in mounting an aggressive challenge to any attempts by Ashcroft and FBI Director Mueller to silence or quiet growing dissent against the Bush administration's corporate global war drive."
"I was struck by the high numbers of relatively new, relatively young activists at this kind of a gathering," said Sarah Sloan, a youth organizer for the International Action Center. "And it was great how much people appreciated the anti-imperialist message that resounded throughout the conference."
"The fact that 600 people from all over the country would come together to plan the next nine months of anti-war activities astounded me," said Chuck Kaufman, co-director of Nicaragua Network. "The level of enthusiasm and support for the program proposed by the ANSWER steering committee indicates that we have a strong anti-war, anti-racist coalition made up of many diverse forces and that we will continue to grow."