April 9 & 10 protests show a new and diverse antiwar movement
2011Christine Marie 2011-05Read it in the scan (PDF at ETOL), page 1 →
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The extrajudicial killing of Osama bin-Laden by U.S. special forces in Pakistan, and the Obama administration’s celebration of it, increase the likelihood that the U.S. government will seek to prolong its wars in the Middle East, Asia, and Africa—and even to launch new wars in the region. We can also expect a rise in Islamophobia and attempts to restrict dissent as part of the U.S. campaign to justify its “war on terror.”
With these dangers before us, the recent upswing in antiwar activity in the United States rises in importance. The April 9 and 10 demonstrations in New York and San Francisco, sponsored by the United National Antiwar Committee (UNAC), brought iconic antiwar figures like Col. Ann Wright and Cindy Sheehan, as well as thousands of marchers from highly diverse communities—a large proportion of them youthful—into the streets and into the discussion of what steps should be taken next.
The demonstrations called for all U.S. troops and war dollars to be brought home immediately from Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Libya, along with an end to U.S. aid to Israel and an end to Islamophobia.
The breadth and democratic procedure of last July’s Albany, N.Y., antiwar conference, from which the call for national united bicoastal demonstrations was issued, contributed to making the April actions diverse and politically sophisticated. Because the Albany conference drew in and took seriously the voices and votes of the leaders of Muslim, Palestinian, immigrant rights, and other community organizations on demands and foci, the resulting demonstrations had a special impact on movement building.
In New York on April 9, up to 10,000 people participated in two rallies anchored by the leadership of the Islamic Council of North America, the Islamic Leadership Council of New York, the (continued on page 10, in “Malcolm X biography marred by political confusion”)
Tony Savino / Socialist Action April 9 marcher in New York City.
Ivory Coast / Movies — 8 New Malcolm X biography — 9 Canada election / antiwar march — 11
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INSIDE SOCIALIST ACTION: Illinois teachers unions — 2 Natural gas “fracking” — 3
Egyptian workers’ struggle — 4 Palestinians’ Right of Return — 5 Gulf oil spill / Japan nukes — 6-7