We’ll demand our right to protest within sight of the NATO Summit

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day. It is astounding how much has changed over the past year and a half, although many of the challenges we its desperation to control world resources and maintain its power, engages in expanding brutal wars, draconian saults on the environment, and institutes police-state measures to scapegoat vulnerable populations and when our side—in the millions—has fought back. There ed States, in North Africa, which inspired the fightback by workers in the U.S., in Madison, Wis., Greece, and around the world, against austerity measures imposed the intensified repression of the War of Terror, raining down on us all. The Palestinians have inspired us by ment, directed at Wall Street, that spread like wildfire their unflagging determination to end over 60 years of across the country, and brought a new vocabulary to the lead in organizing to stand up to Islamophobia and ference held since 9/11. Glen Ford summed it up this 4 SOCIALIST ACTION APRIL 2012 Below are introductory remarks to the March 23-25 UNAC conference by UNAC co-cordinator Marilyn Levin.

When I started preparing for this talk, I thought back to July 2010, when UNAC began, and where we are to­ face are the same.

We experience an Empire that is losing ground, and in measures to cut spending on social needs, increases as­ stifle dissent.

But just think of what has happened for the good, were the uprisings against despots, backed by the Unit­ by the rich. That, in turn, triggered the Occupy move­ movement—Mic Check!

The Muslim and Arab communities have taken the By GLEN FORD Below are remarks on UNAC’s draft Ac­ tion Plan, presented by Glen Ford, execu­ tive editor of Black Agenda Report.

Power to the people! Power to the 99% of the world! I thank UNAC for the hon­ or of presenting the conference Action Plan. We have gathered at this conven­ tion to do two things. First, as you can see from the program, we are going to share analyses and educate ourselves about the wars, plans for wars, and dreams of war of the 1%.

Second, having armed ourselves with that knowledge, we are going to plot the way forward toward putting thousands of people back in the streets to directly and clearly and unequivocally oppose U.S. and NATO wars of aggression every­ where—from the Middle East and South Asia, from Africa to East Asia, and right here in the Americas. We are going to spend two major plenary sessions debat­ ing and voting up an Action Program for this coming spring and fall—that is, what we will actually do to fight U.S. and NATO wars in the coming months.

To facilitate that discussion and help us arrive, in this very short two days, at a reasonable plan of action, the Coordinat­ Marilyn Levin speaks from the floor during the discussion of the UNAC Action Plan.

ethnic cleansing and U.S.-backed Israeli oppression.

Our first conference was the largest movement con­ ing Committee of the United National An­ tiwar Coalition has drawn up a draft res­ olution. You should have picked it up at registration and you now have it before you. Later today, and then again tomor­ row, we will discuss the general merits of this document, the merits of various amendments that have been proposed by you before and during this conference, and vote them up and down.

My job is to introduce this draft Action Plan to you. To explain a bit of the think­ ing behind it. To inspire you to take time the mighty can fall. opposition.

How has UNAC and the broader movement fared?

(Left) Glen Ford introduces draft Action Plan to UNAC conference.

between now and the first deliberative plenary session to look at it more closely.

The basic raison d’etre of the Action Plan is spelled out in the first paragraph. We need such a plan, a plan to mobilize the largest numbers in mass actions to oppose U.S. military intervention be­ cause history tells us this is the only way forward. It says, “The history of all suc­ cessful social movements demonstrates that the few, the one percent, never yield to the many unless the many are orga­ nized democratically, independent of the institutions of the status quo, united in struggle in massive numbers and confi­ dent in victory.”

Think about that for one minute. This is a plan organized around the idea that the 1% will not retreat from their wars of economic plunder unless we find a way to move the majority who oppose these horrors into the streets, again and again, in ever growing numbers, and in open di­ rect protest against the whole of the in­ stitutions of the status quo.

This action plan does not just target some U.S. wars. UNAC does not view the multitudinous wars in which the U.S. is engaged as a menu to pick and choose a significant contingent of Muslims.

Today, UNAC is a well-established force on the left, see our role as making the connections between the is­ sues we all deal with as coming from the same source— This is an election year, when the lesser-evil Demo­ big honcho Democrat in the White House.

Historically, the liberals, when in office, have been powers-that-be hold the movement in their back pock­ Well, this year, we got a gift by the [Obama] Admin­ istration. They decided to bring the world’s econom­ (continued on page 5)

from: “I’ll oppose that war. I’ll let that one pass.” It does not target only the cur­ rently unpopular wars. It does not shy away from condemning the wars that re­ main acceptable to half of the population because the real reasons for them are obscured in the rhetoric of humanitarian intervention. It does not advocate that we avoid putting U.S. boots on the ground by mounting embargoes that bring econom­ ic devastation on the peoples of Iran.

The Action Plan does not condone war by other more sanitized means. It does not cheer on wars that minimize U.S. combat deaths by the use of robotic un­ manned planes or the highly trained murder squads of the Joint Special Oper­ ations Command. It does not see war by mercenary as somehow less threatening to the peoples of the world and the U.S. than war by the economic draft. It does not give credit to Washington for remov­ ing brigades from one country in order to deploy them in the next.

The draft Action Plan says: “We, the 99 percent, demand that the government of the United States, the self-appointed cop of the world, the imperialist, neo-colonial one percent, who live and profit at the ex­ pense of the world’s people:

(continued on page 10, in “‘Kony 2012’ provides cover for U.S. imperialism in Africa”)

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... UNAC to challenge NATO changing strategies of the 1%. We need to “Know thy SKYPE, foreign affairs analyst Vijay Prashad, and econ­ Enemy” and what’s really motivating their actions— omist Richard Wolff. We finish tomorrow afternoon and as we heard, it ain’t freedom and democracy. This with a NATO/G-8 protest organizing session to hear morning’s panel deals with our response to their mili­ The other thing that makes UNAC unique and vital is and helped to initiate CANG8, the Chicago-based coali­ Our lunchtime panel features the War at Home on that we discuss and debate major issues, vote demo­ tion, doing a terrific job in leading the fight with the the Black community, the most oppressed group in cratically on our public positions, and decide on a city and Homeland Security for our constitutional right the country, and the most antiwar—and usually over­ program of actions that will take us through the next to protest. Some movement leaders, warned us not to looked by the majority white left. We see the blatant demonstrate—“now is not the time; it’s an election racism that killed Trayvon Martin and the spontane­ While we may have differences on some issues, even year, you know.” [Chicago Mayor] Rahm Emanuel and ous response of sorrow and anger. We see the new Jim some hot button ones, where emotions run high, we Obama cockily thought they could intimidate us from Crow of mass incarceration of Black youth, police bru­ can calmly have a high-level discussion, debate the is­ demonstrating, but our organizing efforts and civil lib­ tality and surveillance, where over 40% of all prison sues, and then unite around the principled demands erties campaigns for the right to protest gave them sec­ inmates are African American and one-third of Black and actions we can all agree with, while maintaining ond thoughts, and we chased the G-8 out of Chicago to our different positions through our individual organi­ We see the crushing economic deprivation of a Black zations. This is what allows us to grow and makes us We will continue to demand our right to protest official unemployment rate of 13.6%, and a real rate “within sight and sound” of the Summit, and we will that includes people who have given up is much, much We invite all of you whose organizations are not yet win! Thousands of us will be in Chicago to say No! to higher. These conditions, in my opinion, will inevitably affiliated with UNAC to join us. We urge you to be an the NATO/G-8 Agendas of War, Poverty, and Repres­ trigger a new civil rights struggle, and we all need to be active partner in carrying out the mandates of this con­ sion. And we’ll be seeing the U.S. leaders again in Au­ ference. We have application forms at the UNAC table gust and September at the Democratic and Republican Tonight’s panel will focus on the domestic repression for organizations that want to join and be part of the targeting Muslims, the Bill of Rights, and the ceaseless organizing and decision-making process. We want and At this gathering of a broad and diverse movement, war on workers and the organizations that represent need to have a leadership body—our coordinating we have an incredible program for you to enjoy. There their interests. Tomorrow, we will hear firsthand about committee—that is representative, broad, and diverse are 50 amazing workshops reflecting all sectors of ac­ the victims of repression, recognizing once again, that and reflects the composition of the movements that tivism and analysis. The panels of leading thinkers and Our lunch panel tomorrow features very different Make your travel plans now for Chicago and don’t Last night, we set the stage by taking stock of the keynoters: Environmental activist Bill McKibben by miss the major mass demonstration of 2012! n SOCIALIST ACTION APRIL 2012 5 (continued from page 1: “[cause the real reasons for them are obscured…]”)

Jeju Island to build a new naval port, is designed to pressure nations to look to the U.S. rather than China for trade alliances and economic partner­ ships. Abayomi Azikiwe, who brought greetings from “the embattled city of Detroit,” recounted the growth of the U.S.-backed multinational forces wag­ ing war in Somalia and the U.S. combat troops recently sent to Uganda. For the Black community, Azikiwe said, the re­ lationship between the wars abroad and the war at home could not be more apparent.

Racism and Islamophobia The degree to which racism contin­ ues to be central to U.S.-NATO war ef­ forts was dramatized by the number of plenaries and workshops devoted to addressing this war at home on Black, Latino, and immigrant people in the United States. Dr. Khalilah BrownDean keynoted a lunchtime panel and highlighted the way in which mass in­ carceration and the criminalization of the Black community was being used to drive African Americans, one of the most antiwar sections of the U.S. popu­ lation, out of political life. Bruce Dixon described the way that mass incar­ ceration works to disenfranchise Black Georgians.

A workshop on connecting Black com­ munity struggles and the fight against war was one of the best-attended work­ shops at the conference. Another led by a board member of the National Net­ work for Immigrant and Refugee Rights connected the massive new surveil­ lance of border regions and immigrant communities in the U.S. with the same in Egypt and other parts of the world where millions of displaced peoples are victimized by the surveillance state. Another immigrant rights workshop focused on how best to integrate immi­ grant rights and union rights with the overall themes of the upcoming May Day “strike” called by the Occupy Move­ ment.

Attendees also celebrated the heroic strike effort of the Longview, Wash., longshore workers by rising in a stand­ ing ovation for ILWU Local 21 rank-and-file striker Mike Fuqua. Local 21, by standing up to the union-busting corporation EGT, inspired and then helped to lead a West Coast outpouring of community solidarity for their mili­ tant labor fight back.

At least 175 participants at the con­ ference hailed from the Muslim Ameri­ can community. Abhorrence at the use of Islamophobia and anti-immigrant prejudice to create war fever permeat­ ... Right to protest (continued from page 4: “Protests, hunger strikes in Palestine and Bahrain”)

Camp David.

Conventions.

activists reflect the major concerns we face today. ed every aspect of the conference. Ple­ nary sessions and workshops featured activists and educators from a host of Muslim. South Asian, and civil liberties groups—including the Muslim Peace Coalition, Desis Rising Up and Moving, the Council on American Islamic Rela­ tions, the Muslim Solidarity Coalition, Project SALAM, and the National Coali­ tion to Defend Civil Freedoms.

A special dinner plenary session in­ troduced attendees to such leaders in defense of Muslim rights as Imam Talib Abdurrashid of the Muslim Leader­ ship Council of Metropolitan New York, Cyrus McGoldrick of New York City CAIR, the victimized Guantanamo chap­ lain James Yee, and Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid—whose decision to found the Muslim Peace Coalition arose out of his desire to partner with the United Na­ tional Antiwar Coalition in this fight.

Conference meetings with forces that included the Muslim Peace Coalition and Desis Rising Up and Moving devel­ oped a proposal, passed unanimously by the UNAC group as a whole, to hold a mass mobilization and demon­ stration in New York City on June 16 “to protest against the violation of the civil and human rights of all people, the undermining of the Bill (Above photo) Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, Muslim Peace Coalition, speaks on UNAC panel on Islamophobia.

(Right) Nellie Bailey, Occupy Harlem, speaks on conference panel, “War at Home on the Black Community.”

(Below) UNAC workshop on Haiti: Presenters (from left) are Marty Goodman and Ray LaForest.

tary and economic plans. males born since 2001 will spend time in prison.

part of it and stand together in solidarity.

an attack on one is an attack on all. of Rights, and the purposeful erosion of our civil liberties.” How to defend Iranians?

The continued threats of out­ right war on Iran and the grow­ ing impact of the war by sanc­ tions on Iran generated a pas­ sionate discussion about how best to organize on this front. In the past, the antiwar movement has been divided on this ques­ tion.

Forces organized around the International Action Center ar­ gue that when a country is under attack by U.S. imperialism, all criticisms of the regime under fire by forces in the U.S. should be muted. Our fire, they say, should be exclusively on the U.S. government.

Others, including those who attended the conference from the Iranian feminist collective Raha and the new coalition Har­ vaar, argue that the U.S. antiwar movement, in order to avoid be­ ing used politically by the Ahmadinejad regime, should clearly express solidar­ ity with those actively opposing that strong. make up the coalition.

Photos this page: Tony Savino / Socialist Action regime inside Iran.

Both views were presented in talks at major plenary sessions, in workshops, and in resolutions. All participants in the discussion agreed on absolute op­ position to U.S. threats of war against Iran. All sides were opposed to U.S. sanctions, embargoes, and assassina­ tion plots. After a sometimes heated de­ bate, the conference voted to reaffirm UNAC’s traditional view that the best position for an antiwar coalition that aspires to mobilize the largest num­ bers is to support the right of the Ira­ nian people to self-determination. The winning proposal stated that UNAC has full confidence that the Iranian people, freed from imperialist threats, can cre­ ate a just society without the interven­ tion of U.S. forces.

Such a position, ideally, will allow all political tendencies, no matter what their analysis of the Green movement in Iran, to unify in the streets and create larger actions than would be possible otherwise. As numerous speakers on the question explained, such a stance must be coupled with a commitment to an open, welcoming, and non-exclu­ sionary coalition where all views can be freely expressed on speakers’ plat­ forms, on signage, and on flyers.

While the ability of UNAC and other formations to mobilize really huge numbers against the U.S.-NATO wars underway is limited by election-year politics and by illusions that Washing­ ton is winding down its military en­ gagement in the Middle East and South Asia, the Stamford conference went a long way toward creating the broad al­ liances that are indispensable to chal­ lenging the U.S. war machine. n about the plans for Chicago.

year. We believe in the united front.