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Terrorist Attacks Transform Protest
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-1185550,00.html
Thursday September 20, 2001
WASHINGTON (AP) - Demonstrators who planned to protest the now-canceled
meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund are still coming
to the nation's capital this month. Now their protests will be about war and
racism.
The global financial organizations called off this year's annual meetings
after last week's terrorist attacks. Groups representing most of the
expected protesters also canceled their demonstrations, many citing a need
to respect victims of the attacks.
But the New York-based International Action Center and other groups still
intend to assemble thousands of protesters across from the White House on
Sept. 29.
``We are demonstrating because of the imminent danger of a wider war, one
that could result in the deaths of tens of thousands or hundreds of
thousands more people in addition to the victims of the tragedy on Sept.
11,'' said organizer Richard Becker.
He said the protesters also oppose the backlash against Arabs and Muslims
and the Bush administration's efforts to expand police powers following the
attack.
While Becker said the group has a permit for the rally and march, it is
uncertain whether increased security around the White House will allow it to
go forward.
Secret Service spokesman Jim Mackin said he had to consult with the National
Park Service before commenting. The park service didn't immediately return
calls seeking comment.
District of Columbia Police Chief Charles Ramsey said he has no problem with
the protesters as long as they're peaceful.
``But it remains to be seen how they would be welcomed if they come to the
city under the circumstances,'' Ramsey said.
He said police would be watching for other demonstrators who, angered by
challenges to the appearance of American unity, might clash with the
anti-war protesters.
Police have blamed anarchists for much of the violence at anti-globalization
protests during the past few years. A Washington-based anarchist group, the
Anti-Capitalist Convergence, has announced plans for a separate anti-war
march on Sept. 29.
Before the terrorist attacks, police had said they expected as many as
100,000 protesters and wanted help from other jurisdictions, including New
York City. Ramsey said his force, along with federal authorities, should be
able to handle the scaled-back demonstrations.
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Anti-Capitalist Convergence Issues New Call to Action
Note: This is the official version of the revised call and will contain
changes that are more current than versions floating around the Internet or
on paper flyers. This is version 2.1.
The Anti-Capitalist Convergence is continuing our mobilization in
Washington DC September 24 through October 1. We are calling for a march
against the growing capitalist war on Saturday morning September 29th and
invite all those interested in creating a world free from terror, hate,
racism, poverty and war to demonstrate our unity and vision for a better world
For the past 5 months we have been organizing a mass mobilization against
the fall meetings of the IMF and World Bank because of their role in
enforcing global capitalism. In the process of this organizing we have been
working to strengthen our community by making the connections between
capitalism and issues local to dc. We had been planning a large, diverse
and beautiful protest and were optimistic that these demonstrations would
be a groundbreaking step for the Anti-Capitalist movement.
Like most people we were shocked by the events of September 11th and
stopped mid-action, mid-thought, our lives interrupted and forever changed.
The enormity of this crisis has affected us all. The IMF and World Bank
have cancelled their meetings and many groups have called off their events.
The political climate in the United States has severely changed, emotions
are running high and the country is extremely tense. In recent days we have
seen the militarization of our city, increasingly blatant racist attacks
and blind patriotism. Media hysteria and government rhetoric are pushing
people to unite through religious bigotry and nationalism. Security,
particularly here in Washington, DC, has been heightened as the country
prepares to go to war.
The US government has failed to recognize the interconnectedness of all the
forms of violence. Bombing, encouragement of dictatorships, sweatshops for
benefit of US corporations, third world debt, world hunger or lack of
shelter and healthcare are all forms of violence. The fear and desperation
that grows from poverty and oppression is crucial to any understanding of
violence throughout the world. 35,000 people die from starvation each day
even though there is enough food to feed all. Terror is still terror
whether it is from death from starvation, fear of enslavement by
corporations or fear of bombs or airplanes falling. Until we understand the
violence of our economic, military and foreign policies, we will continue
to foster the conditions that make this kind of terrorism possible.
We demand that no more terror or violence be perpetrated in our name. We
are a movement devoted to social justice. There is no justice to be found
in retribution, war, racism, corporate globalization or capitalism itself.
We condemn any and all retaliation and religious persecution of Arab, Arab
American and Muslim peoples and we oppose any attack on our constitutional
rights. We will not hand over our civil liberties to the greater good of
the State.
We strongly see the need to come together and act on our visions of the
world we want to create and not on our fears. Though we came together
against the Bank and Fund what we came together for is even more important
now. We want to continue to mobilize, though we are all uncomfortable
carrying forth in the way we planned. The tactics that were ideal to the
original situation will not have the same effects at this time. We are no
longer calling for militant blocs. We will take action to inspire, motivate
and demonstrate that a world based on needs not profit; a world of mutual
support; a world free from oppression is possible. This is a time to come
together in true solidarity, in a way that supports all those working for a
better world.
Our plans include a convergence week starting with the opening of the
Anti-Capitalist Convergence Welcome Center on Monday, September 24. All
week long we will engage in skill shares, art, organizing meetings and
outreach. At a time when many people think that war is the answer to
violence talking to our neighbors will be a revolutionary act. We plan a
Community Dialogue with people about what is happening in the world by
asking them Why? We will continue to make connection between critical local
issues like the lack of housing and healthcare and global capitalism.
On Saturday morning we will hold Anti-Capitalist March Against Hate. That
afternoon we will establish our Temporary Autonomous Zone to support and
provide for ourselves in a caring and inclusive way. It will be a hate free
zone, a war free zone, and a capitalist free zone. We encourage everyone to
make a contribution whether it be a class for the free school, offering
basic medical support, drumming, clothing swap, skill shares, performance,
strategic discussions, food and more!
Saturday evening we are extending an invitation to friends and neighbors to
join together in a "Food Not Bombs" Community Dinner. When the state's
pro-war rhetoric claims that "America takes care of it's own" yet spends
billions on a war when many of its people go to sleep hungry and homeless
it's time for a change. We want to model that change.
We urge people to take action together in Washington DC. Taking action at
home is equally important, however. If you cannot come to Washington,
organize an action, talk to people in your neighborhood or set up your own
autonomous zone. People are rising up everywhere saying no to hate and no
to war. Join with anti-capitalists and other around the world as we take
action for justice!
http://struggle.ws/stopthewar.html
UPDATED INFO ABOUT ANTI-CAPITALIST CONVERGENCE
Convergence week: September 24 through October 1
Website: http://www.abolishthebank.org/
Website (english): http://www.abolishthebank.org/en/
Phone: 703-276-9768
General: [email protected]
Housing: [email protected]
Local Issues: [email protected]
Media: [email protected]
Outreach: [email protected]
Funds: [email protected]
Food: [email protected]
Legal: [email protected]
Medical: [email protected]
Arts/Action: [email protected]
Ride Board: [email protected]
Request Housing: http://www.abolishthebank.org/en/request_housing.php
Offer Housing: http://www.abolishthebank.org/en/offer_housing.php
Maps: http://www.abolishthebank.org/en/maps.html
Eating guide: http://www.abolishthebank.org/en/guide.html
Outreach Materials: http://www.abolishthebank.org/en/outreach.html
Events: http://www.abolishthebank.org/en/events.html
Ride Board: http://www.abolishthebank.org/en/transit.html
Free Skool/Workshops: http://www.abolishthebank.org/en/freeskool.html
Local Issues Working Group: http://www.primate.net/%7Echagall/acc-local/
Donate: http://www.abolishthebank.org/en/donate.html
Child Care: http://www.abolishthebank.org/en/childcare.html
Next Public Meeting in Washington
Sunday, September 23, 7:00 PM
Location: For Location call 703-276-9768 Ext. 7
Anti-Capitalist Convergence Welcome Center
It's about time to announce the Anti-Capitalist Convergence Welcome
Center. The Welcome Center will open at 10am on Monday, September 24th
and be open daily from 10am to 9pm from the 24th to October 1st. This is
not a place to hang out or store your belongings. This space will used
by the ACC to disseminate information about the Anti-Capitalist
Convergence. Stop by to receive updates on protests and various actions
during the Anti-Capitalist Convergence. From the welcome center we will
be directing folks to protests, meetings, trainings, skillshares and
workshops throughout the city. You will also be able to find out how to
secure housing for your stay in DC and be directed to food servings by
Seeds for Peace and various Food Not Bombs groups throughout the week.
For information on anything concerning the Anti-Capitalist Convergence
stop by the ACC Welcome Center at 15th and Irving Streets NW. One block
from the Columbia Heights Metro stop on the Green Line.
We need volunteers, contact: [email protected] if you can
volunteer to staff for a shift or two during the convergence or call
703-276-9768
This space is NOT open to media or law enforcement.
------------------
Anti-Capitalist Convergence Principles of Unity
(These are as adapted from CLAC and CASA's principles of unity. Two
groups that organized for the FTAA protests in Quebec City.)
*We are opposed to capitalism. We fundamentally reject a social and
economic system based on the private ownership of the means of
production and exchange. We reject a system driven by an exploitative
logic that sees human beings as human capital, ecosystems as natural
resources, and culture as simply a commodity. We reject the idea that
the world is only valuable in terms of profit, competition and
efficiency.
*We reject the ideology of neo-liberalism, whereby corporations and
investors are exempt from all political and social measures that
interfere with their so-called "success".
*We are anti-imperialist, opposed to patriarchy, and denounces all forms
of exploitation and oppression. We assert a worldview based on the
respect of our differences and the autonomy of groups, individuals and
peoples. Our objective is to globalize our networks of resistance to
corporate rule.
*Respecting a diversity of tactics, we support the use of a variety of
creative initiatives, ranging between popular education to direct
action.
*We are autonomous, decentralized and non-hierarchical. We encourage the
involvement of anyone who accepts this statement of principles. We also
encourage the participation of all individuals in working groups, in
accord with their respective political affiliations.
*We organize with a regard for security culture, keeping in mind the
constant repression and infiltration of political movements by the
state.
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A new peace movement emerges
Students rally Thursday; peace gathering set for Sept. 30
By Eric Pianin
THE WASHINGTON POST
Sept. 20 � Ending their silence after a week of mourning
the victims of terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, a broad range of
religious leaders, social activists, entertainers, student organizations and
business leaders are publicly beginning to urge President Bush to show
restraint in his response and to carefully calibrate the use of U.S. military
power.
'We must not, out of anger and vengeance, indiscriminately retaliate in ways
that bring on even more loss of innocent life.'
� NATIONAL COUNCIL OF CHURCHES
AS PART OF the budding peace offensive, over 1,200 members of the
National Council of Churches and a diverse coalition � organized by Harry
Belafonte, Danny Glover and Rosa Parks � issued strong statements yesterday
noting that, while the attacks' perpetrators should be brought to justice,
wholesale military action would incite more terrorism, not end it.
Demonstrations and teach-ins are planned on scores of campuses today,
and some of the groups that had geared up to protest the International
Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Washington are joining forces,
instead, in plans for a peace gathering here on Sept. 30.
Some protesters bring a special moral force to their argument. Judy
Keane, whose husband, Richard, was killed in the World Trade Center during
last week's attacks, spoke out against military retaliation during a prayer
vigil that she helped organize near her home in Wethersfield, Conn., Sunday
evening. The event drew more than 5,000 people.
"The World Trade Center was in retaliation for something else, and
that was the retaliation for something else," she said in a telephone
interview yesterday. "Are we going to continue this in perpetuity? We have to
say at some point, okay, let's find another way of doing this."
Businessman and CNN founder Ted Turner argued against a military
solution yesterday at the United Nations as he delivered a $31 million check
to cover part of the United States' U.N. dues. "We should not, I don't think,
go around and indiscriminately start bombing countries that we suspect the
terrorists are in because there are terrorists everywhere, here in the United
States," he said. "What were [Oklahoma City bombers] Terry Nichols and
Timothy McVeigh but terrorists?"
The statement by the National Council of Churches declared: "We must
not, out of anger and vengeance, indiscriminately retaliate in ways that
bring on even more loss of innocent life." The coalition of more than 100
people organized by entertainers Belafonte and Glover and civil rights legend
Rosa Parks said in a separate letter: "Our best chance of preventing such
devastating acts of terror is to act decisively and cooperatively as part of
a community of nations within the framework of international law."
Organizers say there is a fast-growing network of peace activists who
will likely outnumber the demonstrators who rallied during the Persian Gulf
War a decade ago. Student groups are planning peace demonstrations on 105
college campuses in 30 states across the country today. More than 1,000
students and community members from nine Boston-area schools are expected to
participate in noontime rallies that will converge in a march from Boston to
Harvard Yard, while close to 3,000 are expected to march and mourn on the
campus of the University of California at Berkeley.
"There's pretty much a consensus among students in this group [that]
we want to prevent the continuation of the cycle of violence by averting
war," said Brad Hornbake, 22, a senior at Emerson College in Boston.
Meanwhile, the Washington Peace Center, a pacifist and human rights
group, is planning a major "peace event" in Washington on Sept. 30 as an
alternative to the canceled meetings of the World Bank and IMF. Organizers
stressed that the event will not involve any of the "confrontational tactics"
that were used during previous meetings of the international agencies.
"We don't want the violence here to be perpetrated somewhere else,"
said Maria Ramos, a coordinator of the event. "The U.S. has the moral high
ground now ... This is a time for building alliances based on law and
strengthening international tribunals [for] cross-border terrorism."
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LOUD AND CLEAR, WE MUST SAY NO TO WAR!
http://dc.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=11961&group=webcast
by Paul Kotheimer, Urbana, IL IMC
Wed Sep 12 '01
address: 218 West Main Street, Suite 110; Urbana, IL 61801 phone:
(217)344-8820 [email protected]
...Loud and clear, we must say NO to war, and where better to say it
than on the streets of Washington, DC, on September 28th-30th, as
planned? (article 1)
On the evening of September 10th, oddly enough, I had been re-reading
"The Diary of Anne Frank." The play tells of the Fascist crackdown on
the Jews in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation, and of its effect on
the life of one 13-year-old diarist and on the lives of her family.
The thoughts I had after reading the play were these: Crackdowns, worse
than any I might be able to imagine, have been happening for centuries,
and have been particularly fierce in the past 50 years. Violence breeds
violence. There is a convoluted line of causality connecting the
Holocaust, in which millions of Jews were victims, to the West Bank and
Gaza today, in which a few leaders plus billions of dollars in war money
make an apartheid state possible. One person can only begin to
understand the systemic logic which governs such a line of causality.
On the morning of the 11th, I woke up to the news, which by now billions
of people worldwide have heard: The World Trade Center, a pair of
110-story skyscrapers, twin symbols of global economic power and U. S.
centrality in that power -- in which as many people work on an average
Tuesday as live in my entire town -- collapsed to the ground after
having been struck by hijacked commercial airliners. A third hijacked
plane crashed into the Pentagon, the nerve-center of U. S. military
might -- another seemingly inexorable symbol of U.S. hegemony,
patriarchy, murderous violence...
Thousands of people, as a direct consequence of these actions, are dead
today. I do not yet know how to grieve over this, except (numbly) to add
September 11, 2001, New York City, to a list which I, as a news-reader
and activist, keep somewhere in my brain. The list includes Oklahoma
City, Baghdad, Tel Aviv, Grenada, Liberia, Kosovo, Viet Nam, Hiroshima,
Dresden. My mental list includes, also, hundreds of thousands of
isolated incedents of murder and terror which cannot claim a date "which
will live in infamy." This mental list, as I inventory it, seems to
extend to the horizon of my capacity to remember.
Activists against global capital and U. S. violence here in the Midwest
are aware of the imminent possibility of the escalation of violence
worldwide, and especially of the convenient use of "counter-terrorism"
as an excuse to usurp First Amendment freedoms, institute police state
tactics in our civic centers, silence dissent in general and at every
level, and drum up popular sentiment for full-scale worldwide war. The
simple phrase, "Second Pearl Harbor," repeated often enough, is powerful
propaganda, as it obscures what followed the first Pearl Harbor: a
protracted war on every inhabited continent of the globe, two cities
devastated in atomic bomb blasts, major European city-centers firebombed
with conventional weapons, millions upon millions dead.
Is this what anyone wanted? Is this what we will be told to want in the
coming months?
The movement for direct action against globalized capital, which took
its quantum leap in Seattle in November-December 1999, spawning the
Independent Media Center Movement, has moved along a steady upward
trajectory, through Washington, DC, in April 2000, against the political
party Convention meetings in Philly and DC last summer, back to
Washington for S26, and then to Quebec City and Genoa this year. The
sheer numbers and level of organization and skill among direct action
demonstrators has increased geometrically during this past 20 months.
The shout-out to oppose the IMF and World Bank in DC at the end of this
month still stands. Top officials at the Bank and the IMF were quoted
yesterday as saying that perhaps they would postpone or cancel their
annual September meeting in Washington, in the aftermath of the attacks
on the Twin Towers in Manhattan and the Pentagon in DC. Activists
against global capital, however -- regardless of changes in the date of
the World Bank/IMF meetings -- have momentum toward amassing in the
capitol of capital on September 28-30.
Fundraising, co-ordination of affinity groups, plans for creative direct
action, travel and hospitality arrangements, trainings and workshops for
medics and media producers are all in progress. The opportunity presents
itself to demonstrate that the Work Machine (run by corporate capital
worldwide and fuelled in large part by U.S. consumers), and the War
Machine (operated in the interest of corporate capital worldwide and
funded overwhelmingly by U.S. taxpayers) are ONE AND THE SAME MACHINE.
Up until the morning of September 11th, thousands of small clusters of
students, rank and file union workers, religious groups, environmental
advocates, singers, puppeteers, Radical Cheerleaders and other activists
for the globalization of justice have been planning to amass in
Washington, DC, at the end of September 2001. I want to advocate
strongly that we STAY OUR COURSE toward that action, adding to our cause
the simple and powerful message: WE SAY NO TO WAR, unconditionally and
unequivocally!
I'll be here at the IMC audio workstation, doing home support for local
participants who go to DC. I hope to be turning your phonecalls and
uploaded audio into a radio-braodcast document of our movement for
global justice and peace at this crucial time at the onset of the new
century. The 20th Century was one of mechanized murder and misery. Let
us organize ourselves so that the 21st century becomes one where the
call for PEACE is loud and clear.
Solidarity,
Paul Kotheimer
IMC Audio Geek and Writer
<urbana.indymedia.org>
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FREE RADICAL: chronicle of the new unrest
by L.A. KAUFFMAN
http://www.free-radical.org
[to subscribe, write [email protected]]
ALL HAS CHANGED . . . #19 (Sept. 17, 2001)
It's now official: In the wake of the September 11
disaster, the IMF and World Bank have indefinitely
postponed their planned late-September meetings,
and the raucous street protests that were to greet
them have effectively been canceled. (At this
writing, the Anti-Capitalist Convergence, the
more radical of the two organizing coalitions, has
still not decided what it's going to do.)
There still will be teach-ins and at least one
large interfaith vigil in D.C. that week. Meanwhile,
the International Action Center -- front group for
the Stalinist Workers World Party, with a long
history of supporting murderous dictators like
Nicolae Ceausescu, Saddam Hussein, and
Slobodan Milosevic -- is planning to go forward
with a September 29 "March Against War and
Racism" in Washington. I suspect a lot of other
groups may sign on, because there's a widespread
desire to do something. But you won't catch me
supporting a "peace march" organized by a
bunch of authoritarian opportunists who have
no problem with slaughter, so long as it's
committed by their pet tyrants.
Excuse my angry tone: I'm awash in emotion
today. For days after the World Trade Center
was destroyed, I was in numb shock and
responded with frenetic action -- going to
hastily called meetings; handing out thousands
of leaflets for Friday night's massive peace vigil
in Union Square; putting up posters all
throughout Midtown Manhattan and,
yesterday, the just-opened part of the
Financial District. With exhaustion, the tears
have finally come, mourning mixed with rage
at what has happened and fear about what's to
come. Today is supposed to be the day when
people begin returning to normalcy, but there's
nothing normal about life now in a city where
the newspapers scream "CRUSADE!" and
"WAR!" on their front covers, where fighter jets
fly overhead and military vehicles prowl the
streets, where Arabs and Muslims are being
harassed and beaten, where lampposts and
bus shelters remain covered with heartbreaking
"missing" posters bearing photos of people
who will not be found alive.
When the wind from Ground Zero catches you,
this city smells of war and death. The first meeting
I went to, held outdoors in Union Square because
our usual meeting spot was in a restricted zone,
had to quickly decamp when the horrible smoke
began blowing north, overpowering us with its
toxic stench. ("I left Kosovo to get away from
that smell," a woman told a friend of mine.)
Several friends and I had caches of gas masks
in our apartments, many covered with rhinestones
and glitter, that we were planning to distribute
at the D.C. protests. When the call went out
that rescue workers urgently needed respirator
masks, we donated them all, first pulling off the
festive decorations that were now so inappropriate.
So much is inappropriate now that just one week
ago made political sense. Some of it is darkly
comical: Just two days before the World
Trade Center was reduced to rubble, people
were meeting here to plan direct action against
the Financial District in November, when the
World Trade Organization was scheduled to
meet in Qatar. (No word yet on whether the
WTO meeting will even take place; the
direct action, needless to say, will not.)
More broadly, the September 11 attacks
definitively interrupted the unfolding logic of the
movements for global justice. The IMF/World
Bank protests in D.C. were going to be
simultaneously broader, more diverse, and
more intense than any demonstrations in
recent U.S. history. The AFL-CIO was
pouring unprecedented resources into the
events, mobilizing its membership on a
massive scale, and faith-based and non-
governmental organizations were activating
thousands of people who had never come to
a globalization protest before. Meanwhile,
more and more people were embracing the
philosophy of "diversity of tactics," shifting
away from the strict nonviolence guidelines
that have been the hallmark of large-scale
direct actions for two decades, and agreeing
to respect those who chose to engage in more
confrontational or property-destroying tactics,
so long as they didn't directly endanger other
protesters.
"Diverse tactics" are clearly off the table for the
time being, especially in New York and
Washington, where the sound of breaking glass
connotes death and devastation, and the masked
uniform of the Black Bloc will only inspire fear.
And with the world's greatest symbol of global
capitalism having been reduced to a smoldering
mass grave, it's going to be difficult for a while
to present anti-capitalist critiques in a way that
will resonate broadly, and not seem to justify
an unjustifiable atrocity.
Our movements' vision of global justice is needed
now more than ever; we will simply need to take
great care in presenting that vision in a way people
can hear.
In the meantime, a huge upsurge of activism for
global peace is already well underway. All a
round the United States, meetings to discuss
progressive responses to September 11 have
been overflowing. Groups everywhere have
thrown themselves into organizing everything
from rapid-response teams to counter racist
attacks to antiwar teach-ins and rallies. Here in
New York, we were all astounded and inspired
by the thousands and thousands of people, of
every race, class, and age, who converged on
Union Square last Friday night to stand for peace.
I know that one part of the deep mourning I feel
is for the global justice movements as they were
before those planes crashed into the Twin Towers:
steadily growing in scope and influence, increasingly
occupying a central place on the global stage.
We were blown off that stage on September 11,
and the context for our ongoing activism is now
utterly transformed. Action is essential: May it
be prudent, strategic, and effective.
* * *
FREE RADICAL: chronicle of the new unrest
is a column on the current upsurge in activism,
written by L.A. Kauffman ([email protected]).
It appears about once a month.
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Washington, DC; where we could use a nice juicy Chandra Levy revelation
right now
http://www.sinkers.org/mf-editorial091701/index.html
09.17.01
an editorial by Mike Flugennock.
"When the shit hits the fan,
you'll be sittin' on the can,
when the whip comes down!"
--stones.
Well, I'll be dipped in shit. They've actually gone and done it, and
believe you me, kids, Monkeywrench Grrl is plenty pissed off. After
reading in Alexander Cockburn's column the other day about the Sierra
Club and Friends of the Earth and the Fuck Us...uhh, Ruckus Society
caving in to the wave of fascist hysteria consuming this nation and
backing out of the fall actions here in DC, I hoped and hoped like hell
that our own MGJ would take a chance and show some backbone at a time
when it was desperately needed. Looks like I expected a little too much.
After what was reportedly a wailing and acrimonious spokescouncil, the
MGJ decided that the lives of Americans were, after all, more valuable
than the African, Iraqi, and other lives in the Global South and Third
World being destroyed by the US Corporate State through war, economic
sanctions, or loan sharking. At a time when courage was vital to the
survival and continuation of the movement for peace and freedom around
the world, MGJ chose to cut and run, almost breaking its neck to get to
the head of the line in front of the AFL-CIO.
Claiming a concern for the lives of the workers in the Morgan Stanley
offices at the WTC, the International Rivers Network has suddenly gotten
cold feet about protesting against the abuse and poverty being by Morgan
Stanley around the world. To fall silent while Morgan Stanley and other
financiers continue to enable the deaths of thousands in Africa, Asia,
China and elsewhere, while global capitalism continues to cause the
deaths of thousands more, while George Duh Duh Duhbya Bush prepares to
slaughter thousands and thousands more people -- in your name and mine,
and in the name of six thousand or more souls who can't speak for
themselves -- is flat-out fucking sad. Have the American lives at the
Morgan Stanley offices suddenly become more worthy of our sorrow than the
thousands of lives lost in Africa every day, or the quarter-million Iraqi
lives brutally snuffed out during Gulf War v1.0, the million Iraqi lives
taken since then by US economic sanctions? I'm sure that the Third World
populations MGJ is supposedly speaking out for will be thrilled to the
goddamn' bone to hear that one.
I'm insulted at the request that I abandon my work for the struggle
against the economic brutality, political tyranny and mass murder being
committed by the US Corporate State against the Third World, abandon my
work against the US State's destruction of civil liberties "in light of
the events of September 11". At a time when it couldn't be more important
to protest and speak out, MGJ expects me to stand by while IMF/WB
economic violence continues, while US State preparations for genocide
abroad and deeper repression at home continue. What gall -- what fucking
gall. Because I knew I wasn't going to be physically in town for this, I
put untold extra time and effort into doing the largest amount of the
best work of my life -- late nights, all-nighters, workgroups, postering,
video -- so that I could leave some of myself behind in spirit, so that
when my wife and I were on our second honeymoon next week, on our tenth
anniversary -- a trip scheduled over a year in advance, by the way -- we
could go into a cafe or a bar and look up at the TV and see my friends
and comrades in the street, carrying my work with them, and feel proud.
Instead, it seems I've donated artwork to a mobilization of mice.
While Duhbya and Cheney and Corporate America prepare to commit mass
murder in my name, in your name, in the names of the people lost at the
Pentagon and WTC, MGJ decides not to protest? While claiming to defend
"democracy", the US Corporate State is preparing to strip away what
liberty we have left, and the MGJ decides not to speak out against it at
a public assembly? Keep that shit up, and the only right you'll have left
is the Right To Remain Silent.
Saturday afternoon, while dropping my car off to be worked on, they had
the TV on in the front room, broadcasting the latest "news" on the latest
preparations for mass murder by the US Corporate State in our name. From
New York City, the Chairman of the Port Authority talked with stern gusto
about the "eradication" of "terrorists" and the countries who host them.
How dare MGJ expect us, in the face of this overtly fascist and
jingoistic bloody-shirt waving -- at the most vital time of all to resist
and speak up -- to turn tail and run for cover, to betray fighters for
peace, freedom and justice around the world, and abandon our streets and
airwaves to pickup-truck patriots and professional politicians singing
"God Bless America"?
How fucking dare they.
Eugene Debs, imprisoned for his courageous stand against WWI, and Carlo
Guiliani, murdered by fascist Carbinieri -- poor Carlo, not even six
months dead -- are turning over in their graves at the thought of this
betrayal of our movement by fair-weather liberals.
A large dissident public response is vital in order to halt the fascist
mob mentality, the racist violence, and the threat to our own liberty and
to the lives of thousands -- perhaps millions -- of innocents whose
murder is, at this moment, being planned in the name of the WTC and
Pentagon victims, with our money. Luckily for all of us, the ACC and the
IAC -- the only outfits in this town with any cajones, it seems -- are
still solidly "on" for actions on the 29th.
Our Mobe is ready to hit the streets to fight militarism, racism and
facism. How about yours?
"We Can Do It!"
Mike Flugennock
Washington, DC
09.16.01
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [email protected]
Subject: (50 Years) Changes in September Mobilization
Sunday, September 16, 2001
The 50 Years Is Enough Network is shocked and deeply saddened by the
terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. We unequivocally condemn these
heinous actions. Our hearts and prayers are with the victims, survivors and
their families.
The 50 Years Is Enough Network has consulted with colleagues around the
U.S. and the world in the days since the September 11. We regret not being
able to announce our plans regarding the events scheduled for the end of
September before today.
We are changing our plans for the mass mobilization in Washington,
scheduled for September 25 to October 4, to coincide with the scheduled
annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World
Bank. We are in agreement with other coalition partners that this is not
an appropriate time for street demonstrations against these
institutions. We will, however, go ahead with planned educational activities.
Last night we joined with our allies in the Washington-based host coalition
for many of the September events, the Mobilization for Global Justice, in
agreeing to cancel all street actions -- protests, demonstrations, civil
disobedience, direct action -- focused on the IMF and the World Bank. This
decision does not encompass any actions that may be planned in response to
military or other aggressive actions taken by the U.S. government.
All reports indicate that the IMF and World Bank will be canceling or
postponing their joint annual meetings. The U.S. Treasury Department is
the official host of those meetings; it is expected to coordinate with the
boards of the two institutions to announce such a course of action as early
as tomorrow. We agree with the view expressed by the AFL-CIO that this is
not the time for "another round of closed-door meetings behind tall
fences," and hope that the institutions will not now magnify the lack of
accountability and transparency that have already done so much damage to
their performance and reputation.
The "traveling teach-in" sponsored by the 50 Years Is Enough Network
together with Essential Action, the Center for Economic Justice, and
Jubilee USA Network was already underway at the time of the September 11
attacks. Speakers from South Africa, Haiti, Zimbabwe, India, and now
Panama, are addressing audiences interested in the IMF, World Bank, and
corporate globalization around the United States. Most of the communities
hosting events have indicated a desire to proceed as planned. We hope that
our current speakers will soon be joined by others from Senegal, Ghana, and
Tanzania, but that depends on the capacity of airlines to catch up with
their disrupted schedules. For more information on the traveling teach-in,
see <www.essentialaction.org> or contact Monica Wilson at 202/387-8030 or
<[email protected]>.
The "Ending Global Apartheid" teach-in, sponsored by the same organizations
as the tours as well as Global Exchange and International Rivers Network
(which has announced its intention to pull out of most events), will
likewise go on as scheduled, beginning with an opening plenary the evening
of Thursday, September 27, and continuing through Friday and Saturday,
September 28-29. The reduced number of speakers who will be able to
attend, together with the anticipated drop in attendance, have prompted us
to abbreviate and re-structure the schedule. The price of tickets will
correspondingly drop (with refunds offered to those who have already
purchased tickets). Please visit <www.essentialaction.org> for further
details, or contact Monica Wilson (see above).
The changes in our plans in no way reflect a shift in the positions of the
50 Years Is Enough Network or its members or partners on the policies of
the IMF and World Bank, nor on the imperative to challenge and change those
policies. Our eight demands of the institutions (see
<www.50years.org/=====) remain our challenge to the decision-makers of the
global economy, and will be the gauge by which we measure any policy
decisions made, with or without the benefit of an annual meeting.
We acknowledge, however, that the political landscape has changed
dramatically and suddenly, and that protests at this moment of uncertainty
could be counter-productive. Part of our intention in re-structuring
"Ending Global Apartheid" is to provide space for activists from around the
U.S. and the world to begin to discuss and grapple with the new situation
we all find ourselves in.
We encourage people to come to Washington, DC at the end of September if
they still wish to. We believe there will be plenty to interest and occupy
economic justice activists who make the trip.
1) the full address for the website listing the 50 Years demands is
<www.50years.org/s28/demands.html>
2) The Religious Working Group on the World Bank and IMF and the Jubilee
USA Network are proceeding with plans for an interfaith service and vigil
on the evening of Saturday, September 29, 2001. For more information and
updates, www.jubileeusa.org and www.religiouswg.org
50 Years Is Enough Network
3628 12th Street, N.E.
Washington, DC 20017 USA
tel: +1-202-463-2265
fax: +1-202-636-4238
email: <[email protected]>
web: <www.50years.org>
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Come to DC on September 29!!!
WAR AND RACISM ARE NOT THE ANSWER
Sat., Sep. 29, 12 noon, Lafayette Park
International A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism) - a new
anti-war coalition - has secured permits for Lafayette Park, the
White House sidewalk and for a mass march to the Capitol for
Saturday, September 29. Please see the Call and signers below. Email
back to sign on and get involved!
Join a New Anti-War Coalition:
International A.N.S.W.E.R.
[Act Now to Stop War & End Racism]
Please join us in signing this call:
We join with people all over the world in condemning the horrific
killings of thousands of persons in the September 11th attacks on the
World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Our most heartfelt sympathies
and condolences are with those whose loved ones were lost or injured
on September 11, 2001. At this moment, we would all like to take time
to reflect, to grieve, to extend sympathy and condolences to all. But
we believe that we must do more. We must act now.
We are assembling International A.N.S.W.E.R. to call for worldwide
rallies against war and racism. On September 29, there will be a
national march and rally at the White House in Washington DC, as well
as marches on the West Coast of the U.S. and around the world. We
call on all people of conscience and progressive organizations to
take up this call and organize rallies around the world.
Unless we stop President Bush and NATO from carrying out a new, wider
war in the Middle East, the number of innocent victims will grow from
the thousands to the tens of thousands and possibly more. A new,
wider U.S. and NATO war in the Middle East can only lead to an
escalating cycle of violence. War is not the answer.
We must also act against racism. Arab American and Muslim people in
the United States, in Europe and elsewhere, as well as other
communities of color, are facing racist attacks and harassment in
their communities, on their jobs and at mosques. Anti-Arab and anti-
Muslim racism is a poison that should be repudiated.
The U.S. government is attempting to curb civil liberties and to
create a climate in which it is impossible for progressive people to
speak their mind. The Bush administration is attempting to take
advantage of this crisis to militarize U.S. society with a vast
expansion of police powers that is intended to severely restrict
basic democratic rights.
On September 29, tens of thousands of people had planned to
demonstrate against the Bush administration's reactionary foreign and
domestic policy and the IMF and World Bank. In light of the current
crisis, with its tragic consequences for so many thousands of people,
we have refocused the call for our demonstration to address the
immediate danger posed by increased racism and the grave threat of a
new war. We call on people to demonstrate around the world on that
day.
Now is the time for all people of conscience, all people who oppose
racism and war to come together. If you believe in civil liberties
and oppose racism and war, demonstrate on September 29 in front of
the White House and around the world. October 12-13 will be
International Days of Action Against War and Racism. We urge all
organizations internationally to join together at this critical time
and take action.
Initial Signers:
-Ramsey Clark, former U.S. Attorney General
-Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, Auxiliary Bishop, Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit
-Al-Awda, New York and New Jersey
-Barbara Lubin, Exec. Director, Middle East Children's Alliance
-Jews Against the Occupation
-Rev. Lucius Walker, Pastors for Peace
-Nania Kaur Dhingra, Sikh Student Organization, George Washington University
-Chuck Kaufman, National Co-Coordinator, Nicaragua Network
-Karen Talbot, International Center for Peace & Justice
-Committee for a Democratic Palestine
-Michel Chossudovsky, Professor of Economics, University of Ottawa
-Howard Zinn, Author
-Michael Parenti Ph.D., author of Against Empire
-Ben DuPuy, former Deputy Ambassador-at-Large, Haiti
-Teresa Gutierrez, Co-Director, International Action Center
-Martin Espada, Poet
-Sakhi for South Asian Women
-Women for Afghan Women
-Michele Naar-Obed, Plowshares activist, Jonah House, Baltimore
-Pam Africa, International Family & Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
-Tom Hansen, Mexico Solidarity Network
-Michel Collon, author and journalist, Belgium
-Heidelberg Forum Against Militarism and War, Germany
-Italian Tribunal on NATO Crimes in Yugoslavia
-Maryland Green Party
-Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild
-Helena Papadopoulos, Center for Comparative Study of Law and Society, Lebanon
-Elmar Schmaehling, Retired Admiral, German Navy
-Wolfgang Richter, President, European Peace Forum
-Nino Pasti Foundation, Rome, Italy
-Information-Post on Militarism, Tobias Pflueger & Claudia Haydt (Germany)
-Ricardo Juarez, Pasamonta�as
-New Communist Party of the Netherlands
-African Immigrant and Refugee Coalition of N. America
-Dominican Workers Party, NY
-Ray LaForest, Labor Organizer, 1707 AFSCME
-Kriss Worthington, Berkeley City Council
-Leonora Foerstal, Women for Mutual Security
-Asha A. Samad, Human Rights Center
-April 25 Movement of the Dominican Republic, NY
-Njeri Shakur, Texas Death Penalty Abolition Movement
-Michel Shehadeh, Los Angeles 8 Case Respondent
-Muslim Student & Faculty Association
-Marco Frucht, Editor and Publisher, Activist Times
-Leslie Feinberg, Transgendered author, Co-Founder, Rainbow Flags for Mumia
-Kadouri Al Kaysi, Committee in Support of Iraqi People, NY
-Minnie Bruce Pratt, writer and ant-racist activist
-Vieques Support Campaign
-Mitchel Cohen, Green Party USA, Brooklyn Greens
-Milos Raickovich, College of Staten Island, CUNY
-Carlos Eden, Raweshrar Project for Indigenous People--Chile
-Jamie York, Cuba Advocate Newsletter, MT
-Brian Barraza, Association of Mexican American Workers (AMAT)
-Justin Vitiello, Professor, Temple University, Philadelphia
-John Kim, Veterans for Peace, NYC Chapter
-Mahtowin Munro & Moonanum James, United American Indians of New England
-SAFRAD Somali Association
-Arab Cause Solidarity Committee, Madrid, Spain
-Korea Truth Commission
-Congress for Korean Reunification
-Struggle Against War Coalition, Italy
-Trades Union International of Building and Wood Workers, Finland
-LEF Foundation, St. Helena, CA
-SEIU Local 1877, Bay Area, CA
-Vanguard Public Foundation, San Francisco
-Consuela Lee, musician
-Bohemian Grove Action Network, Sonoma County, CA
-Sonoma County Free Press (CA)
-Susan E. Davis, co-chair, NY Local, National Writers Union, UAW Local 1981
-James Lafferty, National Lawyers Guild, Los Angeles
-Campaign Against Racism & War, Oberlin, Ohio
-Vietnam Veterans Against the War Anti-Imperialist
-Dr. Pol De Vos, President, Anti-Imperialist League, Belgium
-Refuse and Resist
-Klaus von Raussendorff, Anti-Imperialist Correspondence, Germany
-Dr. Bert De Belder, Coordinator, Third World Medical Aid, Belgium
-Dr. Jean Pestieau, Professor, Catholic University of Louvain,
Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium
-Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, California
-Klaus Hartmann, President of World Union of Freethinkers, Germany
-California Prison Focus
-Sally Davis, President, AFSCME 1072
-Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director, Food First/Institute for Food and
Development Policy
-Sandra Robertson, Georgia Citizens Coalition on Hunger
-Freedom Road Socialist Organization
-Al-Awda Massachusetts (Palestinian Right to Return Coalition)
-Radio Arabiyat, Boston, Mass
-Vanessa Marques, Portuguese-American Relief for Palestine
-Rima Anabtawi, Al-Awda Coordinating Committee
-Committee to Defend Amer Jubran and Palestinian Free Speech Rights
-Steven Gillis, Executive Board, USWA Local 8751, Boston School Bus Drivers
-Falco Accame, former president, Defense Commission, Chamber of Deputies, Italy
-Gerry Scoppettuolo, Director of Education, So NH HIV/AIDS Task Force
International A.N.S.W.E.R.
(Act Now to Stop War & End Racism)
National Office: 39 W. 14 St. #206, NY, NY 10011
(212) 633-6646�[email protected]�www.iacenter.org
Washington DC Office: 1247 E St. SE, Washington, DC 20003�(202) 543-2777
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bush can't stop D.C. protests, organizers say
Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the Sept. 13, 2001
issue of Workers World newspaper
CAMPUSES ARE ABUZZ:
BUSH CAN'T STOP D.C. PROTESTS, ORGANIZERS SAY
By Workers World
Washington, D.C., bureau
Organizing for fall protests against the right-wing Bush
program, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank
has picked up momentum here in Washington since the
beginning of the school year.
District of Columbia colleges are currently facing a housing
shortage and so are offering college students free room and
board if they defer their admission for a year. Over 100,000
college students have come to Washington, D.C., in the last
week to attend school.
Workers World spoke to protest organizers who have spent the
last month getting the word out about the protests.
Organizers from the International Action Center have
attended several first-year college orientations and
leafleted during the first week of classes. They are
promoting a demonstration to "Beat Back the Bush Attack" on
Sept. 29, drawing a connection between globalization abroad
and at home.
"In the past two weeks, we've been to American University,
Howard University, George Washington University, University
of the District of Columbia, University of Maryland,
University of Virginia at Charlottesville and more. The
schools have been swamped with students. Just standing
outside of the bookstore entrance at one school, we were
able to pass out hundreds of flyers in less than an hour,"
said Sarah Sloan, youth coordinator for the IAC.
Mervyn Marcano, a Baruch High School student from New York
City who spent his summer organizing for the protests, found
a great response. "At each of the schools, we've met many
students who are interested in organizing for the
demonstrations. Our hope is to set up organizing centers on
all of these college campuses to bring more people to the
protests. Students are interested in handing out flyers,
hanging up posters, and holding organizing meetings on their
campuses."
Staff people from the IAC reported hundreds of calls from
interested people who have received leaflets, seen posters
in their neighborhoods or on their way to work, or have seen
press coverage of the event.
Kelly Morrison, a staff organizer from the national office
of the IAC in New York City, spoke of a similarly positive
response nationally. "Coordinating outreach nationally has
been extremely successful. We have helped set up almost 100
organizing centers, from Maine to Florida to Texas and
California. People are organizing buses, vans and car
caravans, and coming by plane and train to attend the
protests.
"Since the government's announcements of plans to restrict
the protests by building a huge exclusion zone, there has
been an increase in interest. When people around the country
find out that the DC police and the federal government want
to deprive tens of thousands of people of their First
Amendment right to protest, they become interested in all of
the protests taking place against the IMF, World Bank and
Bush program."
ORGANIZERS: 'THE PROTEST WILL CONTINUE'
IAC organizers released a statement addressing concerns
about police and government attempts to prevent
demonstrations. "The IAC believes that the fight for free
speech and the right to protest has become an added
dimension to the protests against the IMF, World Bank and
Bush administration," said the statement. "Those coming to
the protests from around the country should know that
activists in Washington, D.C., have formally initiated a
legal and political struggle against the D.C. police over
their attempts to deprive tens of thousands of protesters of
their First Amendment rights."
On Aug. 20, the Partnership for Civil Justice--on behalf of
the IAC, the Latin American Solidarity Conference, 50 Years
Is Enough Network, and the Kwame Ture Work Study Institute
and Library--filed a complaint for injunctive relief against
the Washington police and federal agencies.
The legal action is based on the authorities' intent to
refuse march permits to protest organizers and to declare a
"no-protest zone" in downtown Washington during the Sept. 29-
30 IMF and World Bank meetings. This zone includes areas for
which protesters already hold permits.
The statement continued, "We consider the exclusion zone to
be illegal and invalid. We intend to fight all police
attempts to restrict demonstrations in the courts and in the
streets.
"No matter what, there will be a mass assembly of tens of
thousands of demonstrators in Washington, D.C., on September 29.
"National and Washington, D.C.-based groups organizing for
the September 29-30 protests include the Latin American
Solidarity Conference, Anti-Capitalist Convergence,
Mobilization for Global Justice, AFL-CIO and the National
Coalition for the Dignity and Amnesty of Undocumented
Workers.
"Please stay in touch with the IAC for updates on the
logistics."
To reach the International Action Center, call (202) 543-
2777 or email [email protected] in Washington. There is
an email listserve that will include all logistical and
political updates; updates can also be found at
www.beatbackbush.org and www.iacenter.org.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Protesters meet to consider response to US attacks
Mon, 17 Sep 2001
Anti-capitalist protesters are to meet to discuss the implications of a war
against the terrorists responsible for the attacks on America.
More than 1,000 anti-capitalists, environmentalists and peace campaigners
are expected to meet in London on Saturday next week to discuss their
response to any military action.
The event, Counter Conference, takes place on September 29 - the day before
the Labour Party conference is scheduled to start.
A spokeswoman for Globalise Resistance, which is organising the
anti-capitalists' event, said speakers would be discussing alternative
retaliation methods to war.
The event is taking place at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith from
10.30am to 5pm.
Members of Globalise Resistance were present at the riots during the G8
summit in Genoa, Italy, earlier this year.
See this story on the web at http://www.ananova.com/news/story/sm_401208.html
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Action Center" <[email protected]>
Date: Sun, 09 Sep 2001
Subject: [IAC] Support Free Speech lawsuit vs. DC Police
Join the Free Speech Lawsuit!!!
Sign on to the lawsuit today by filling out an online affidavit:
http://www.beatbackbush.org/affidavit.html
The International Action Center is making a unique request
to every progressive activist to fill out an affidavit in
support of the legal challenge to the "wall."
In Washington, D.C., where huge protests are planned for the
end of this month, the police are attempting to suppress the
free speech rights of the demonstrations by announcing that
they will erect two miles of nine-foot-high fencing all
around the White House and IMF/World Bank area, precisely
the area where the International Action Center holds permits
and several groups have planned demonstrations.
Thus, the International Action Center along with others have
filed a groundbreaking lawsuit: "the International Action
Center, et al. v. Washington, D.C. Police Chief Charles H.
Ramsey, et al." This legal action seeks to enjoin the police
from doing something that has never been done before: The
Washington, D.C. police's attempt to revoke the people's
right to have a mass assembly of progressive demonstrators
to redress grievances right in front of the White House, IMF
and World Bank.
The lawsuit is being filed by the Washington, D.C.-based
Partnership for Civil Justice. The other plaintiffs include
the Latin American Solidarity Conference, Fifty Years is
Enough Network, Kwame Toure Work and Study Institute and
others.
We request that all of the people who plan to attend the
Washington, D.C., demonstrations or who wish the
mobilization's success to fill out the affidavit online by
following the link above or pointing your browser to:
http://www.beatbackbush.org/affidavit.html
This way, the lawsuit has not only the voice of the
plaintiffs but the voice of thousands of individuals who
want to take a stand for their First Amendment rights.
The affidavit is very simple and easy to fill out. Time is
of the essence. This is a true people's lawsuit. We can win
in the court because justice is on our side and because we
are mobilizing the power of the people. Please take just a
few moments to fill out and submit the online form today in
order to support this important initiative!
This is not the first time in the history of the United
States that the First Amendment and free speech rights are
under attack, but many believe our movement is at a turning
point and that is why we hope as many people as possible can
show support for this movement and sign an affidavit.
If the police succeed in denying the right to protest in the
central area of DC during the week of planned
demonstrations, it will be a significant erosion of free
speech rights. The police authorities are heading down a
slippery slope and we must mobilize ourselves to defend our
rights to free speech and assembly.
NOTE: Filling out an online affidavit is voluntary and, once
submitted, will be transmitted to the International Action
Center and the Partnership for Civil Justice. It will be
used solely for the purposes of supporting the legal action
"IAC, et al. v. CHIEF RAMSEY, et al.," described above.
If you have questions about this lawsuit or how to fill out
an affidavit, please call (212)633-6646, email
[email protected], or visit our Web sites:
http://www.beatbackbush.org
http://www.iacenter.org
http://www.mumia2000.org
Send replies to [email protected]
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: [email protected]
Date: Fri, 7 Sep 2001
Subject: Re: IMF/WB -- DC - continued...(4)
Please go to www.RichterVideos.com for information about several relevant
videos that colleges and universities should acquire quickly, to show to
students who plan to come to the September 29-30 demonstrations. And please
alert your email and other lists about this resource.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE IMF AND WORLD BANK PROTESTS
Tens of thousands of people plan to be in Washington, DC at the end of
this month to protest the unfettered free-market policies pushed by the
IMF and the World Bank. To help cover and encourage these activities, The
Nation has created an IMF/World Bank Protest Page. We'll be collecting a
variety of online information in this space, including media resources;
activist info; links to the main protest groups and relevant archival
articles. So check it out at:
http://www.thenation.com/special/2001imf.mhtml
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: "Soren Ambrose" <[email protected]>
Subject: (50 Years) DC teach-in: ending global apartheid
Date: Wed, 19 Sep 2001
ending global apartheid
a teach in for action on the World Bank and IMF
Washington, DC, September 27-29, 2001
Plenary Sessions include:
Democratizing Development: The Case Against Structural Adjustment;
Our World Is Not For Sale; and Ending Global Apartheid: Another World Is
Possible.
And A Conversation about peace with Howard Zinn at All Soul's Church
Action Sessions on: Reparations and Debt, World Bank Bonds Boycott,
Legislative Actions, HIV-AIDS & Intellectual Property Rights, Labor &
Sweatshops,
Fighting Privatization Locally and Globally, Environment & Indigenous Rights.
Featuring leading activists and campaigners from around the world,
including:
� Chie Abad, former sweatshop worker in Saipan (Philippines)
� Tania Arosemena, Civil Society Initiative for the Environment (Panama)
� Salih Booker, Africa Action (U.S.)
� Dennis Brutus, Poet, Jubilee South Africa, anti-apartheid activist
(South Africa)
� Bertha Caceres and Felix Dominguez, Council of Indigenous and
Popular Organizations of Honduras
� Camille Chalmers, Haitian Platform for Advocacy for Alternative
Development-PAPDA (Haiti)
� Harry Clerveau, Central Union of Electricity Workers of Haiti (Haiti)
� Marie Dennis, Chair of Religious Working Group on the IMF and World
Bank (U.S.)
� Kevin Danaher, Global Exchange (U.S.)
� Demba Dembele, CONGAD (Senegal)
� Molly Dhlamini, Student Union For Christian Action (S. Africa)
� Jonah Gokova, Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt & Development (Zimbabwe)
� Vineeta Gupta, Insaaf (Justice) International (India)
� Naomi Klein, author of No Logo (Canada)
� Aggripina Mosha, Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (Tanzania)
� Trevor Ngwane, Anti-Privatization Forum (South Africa)
� Njoki Njoroge Njehu, 50 Years is Enough (Kenya/U.S.)
� Daisy Pitkin, Campaign for Labor Rights (U.S.)
� Marie Shaba, Tanzanian Association of NGOs (Tanzania)
� Robert Weissman, Essential Action (U.S.)
� Daphne Wysham, Sustainable Energy & Economy Network (U.S.)
� Howard Zinn, author, A People's History of the United States (U.S.)
Thursday, September 27: 7 pm, Opening Event with Naomi Klein, Salih Booker,
Njoki Njoroge Njehu
at National Baptist Memorial Church, 16th St and Columbia NW.
Friday, September 28 and Saturday, September 29: Plenaries and Action
Sessions 9 am - 4 pm,
at National Baptist and Casa del Pueblo Methodist Church, 1459 Columbia Rd.
Rd., NW, Washington, DC
Tickets are $5 for Thursday night opening session, $15 for Thursday, Friday
and Saturday, or $10 for students for all three days. Tickets can be
purchased at the door.
For the full schedule and more information, visit
www.essentialaction.org/wbimf or call Monica Wilson at (202) 387-8030
Presented by: Essential Action, 50 Years Is Enough Network, Global Exchange,
Center for Economic Justice/World Bank Bonds Boycott, Jubilee USA Network
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 17 Sep 2001
From: [email protected]
Subject: Update on DC events
Dear Alliance Activists, As you have probably already heard, the
plans for the permitted rally sponsored by the AFL-CIO and others on
Sunday, September 30, have been cancelled. The following educational
events are going forward:
* Ending Global Apartheid: A Teach-In for Action on the IMF and World Bank,
Sept. 27-29, will go forward. For more information, see
www.essentialaction.org/wbimf
* The Mobilization for Global Justice will proceed with its plans for a
Peoples' Summit, to be held from Sept. 26 - Sept. 29. For more information
and updates, visit www.globalizethis.org
The Religious Working Group on the World Bank and IMF and the Jubilee
USA Network are proceeding with plans for an interfaith service and
vigil on the evening of Saturday, September 29, 2001. More plans may
emerge. For more information and updates, www.jubileeusa.org and
www.religiouswg.org
Also, I was able to attend the Saturday evening spokes council
meeting of the Mobilization for Global Justice and would like to add
that MGJ agreed to shift its resources to support the efforts by the
Washington Peace Center, the American Friends Service Committee and
the Religious Working Group.
This is different from the plans by the International Action Center
to continue their street protest on Saturday, but to redirect it from
opposing a broad range of Bush policies to opposing war and racism.
As far as I know, these are the only street protests which have not
been cancelled. Living in DC, I can tell you that this city is on
heightened alert and very jittery, fearing further attacks. It is my
personal opinion that street demonstrations in DC at this time are
not a good idea. This does not preclude other expressions such as
processions. In fact we had more than a thousand people participate
in a candlelight procession Friday evening with good cooperation from
the police.
The statement from 50 Years Is Enough follows.
May we become strengthened as a movement in this time of terror and
tragedy. May we find ways to speak to the root causes of violence in
these days of heightened patriotic fervor. May we seek peace and
justice for all.
In Alliance, Ruth
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mobilization for Global Justice
For Immediate Release:
September 16, 2001
Contact: Robert Weissman, 202-387-8030, 202-904-4068 (cell)
Steve Kretzmann, 202-497-1033 (cell)
Celia Alario, MGJ Media Office: 202-969-1593
Mobilization for Global Justice Cancels its Call for Street Demonstrations
Against World Bank/IMF at End of September
Street Demonstrations Postponed;
Peoples' Summit, Educational Events to Continue;
Coalition Calls for End to Cycle of Violence
Washington, DC -- Participants of the Mobilization for Global Justice
(MGJ) are shocked and deeply saddened by last week's terrorist
attacks. We express
our deepest sympathies for the victims of this tragedy, their families, friends
and communities. We unequivocally condemn these horrific attacks, and we
call for an immediate end to the cycle of violence. We urge all leaders to
seek
justice in this situation rather than revenge.
In this time of grief, the MGJ is postponing the nonviolent demonstrations
against the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) our
coalition was planning to host later this month. We choose this course of
action
regardless of the plans of the World Bank and IMF, and we respect other
organizations that choose a different path.
MGJ is proceeding with plans to co-sponsor the Peoples' Summit, an
educational forum and teach-in scheduled for September 26th-28th, which
will include
issues that have been brought to the forefront this past week. We extend our
invitation for people to come to Washington DC for the Peoples' Summit and
for the Interfaith Service for Justice and Restoration on September 29th. We
also encourage groups working around the world for peace and global justice to
organize teach-ins, educational events and vigils in their own communities.
Our decision to postpone was made out of respect for the victims of this
tragedy. However the policies of the World Bank and the IMF remain
unchanged, and the MGJ, as part of a global movement, will continue its
efforts to
hold these institutions accountable for their role in structuring an unjust and
inequitable global economy. Our commitment to global justice demands no
less. The MGJ stands committed to achieving social, racial, economic and
environmental justice, which we see as the only path to a lasting peace.
During these difficult times, we call on people in the U.S. and around the
world to stand firm against all racist persecution of Arab and Muslim
peoples.
Furthermore we oppose any opportunistic attack on our constitutional
freedoms and Americans' civil liberties. Despite the disheartening acts of
hatred
we observed last week, we believe that another world is not only possible,
but more necessary than ever.
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