Historic Antiwar Demonstration

By Jack A. Smith

One of the most extraordinary antiwar manifestations in the long history
of peace activism in the United States took place in Washington April 20
when up to 100,000 people participated in different gatherings and then
joined for a unified march to a concluding rally in front of the
Capitol. The police estimated at least 75,000 demonstrators were in the
streets. The numbers alone were not historic, though the crowd was huge
by any standard. But three other factors contributed toward the
uniqueness of this action:

1. The main political focus of the demonstration as a whole became
opposition to the invasion of Palestinian territory by the Israeli army
-- an assault that was viewed by most participants as an extension of
George Bush's pretext for aggression known as the war on terrorism.
This was the first time since Israel's occupation of the Palestinian
territories as a consequence of the 1967 war that the major sector of
the U.S. antiwar movement and the left in general united in defense of
the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination and
statehood.

There were other political objectives at the demonstrations, of course,
including opposition to several of Washington's initiatives including
the continuing war against Afghanistan, the anticipated new war against
Iraq, the $48 billion hike in the Pentagon war budget, plans to
intensify U.S. involvement in Colombia, and the globalization of
inequality as symbolized by the headquarters of the World Bank and
International Monetary Fund in the nation's capital. But opposition to
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's military invasion of the West
Bank, which began March 29 (weeks after the demonstrations were first
announced) became the predominant political objective of the day. To
avoid doing so would have called into question the movement's reason for
existence.

2. For the first time, enormous numbers of Palestinian-Americans of the
diaspora, Arab-Americans and the Muslim community -- some say 30,000 or
more -- joined with the U.S. antiwar movement and the left in a mass
national protest. They were nonviolent, of course, but evidenced
exceptional passion and urgency for their cause, and anger toward the
Bush administration. The White House is viewed as primarily responsible
for Sharon's calculated attempt to destroy the Palestinian Authority, to
wreck its social and economic infrastructure, and to so weaken the
Palestinian people that they will agree to onerous terms at the
inevitable talks over which Washington, the "peacemaker," eventually
will preside to assure a favorable settlement for its closest ally.

3. This massive outpouring occurred just seven months after the White
House declared the United States to be engaged in a long-term,
full-scale war against a relatively small, amorphous collection of
vaguely defined enemies following the Sept. 11 terror raids in New York
and Washington. Despite Bush administration efforts to discourage
dissent by ceaselessly stimulating flag-waving hyperpatriotism and the
fear of terrorism from demonized "evil ones," never before has such a
large movement coalesced and taken action so quickly.

The tip-off to this phenomenon took place Sept. 29, when the ANSWER
coalition (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism) conducted the first
national protest against Bush's anticipated declaration of war, and up
to 20,000 primarily youthful demonstrators showed up for a militant
rally and march in Washington. What underscored the importance of this
event just 18 days after the attacks was that large components of the
traditional peace movement and the newly emerging movement against
corporate globalization had withdrawn from the struggle for the time
being in deference to the jingoist national political climate. ANSWER's
decision to move ahead despite abundantly inauspicious circumstances
propelled the new coalition, initiated by the International Action
Center, to the very center of the antiwar struggle. Inevitably, this
development was received with, let us say, a mixed organizational and
political response by some groups within the antiwar struggle, not the
least reason being that ANSWER obviously represents the anti-imperialist
left wing of the peace movement.

A total of 143 regional activists traveled to the demonstration in three
buses organized by the Mid-Hudson (N.Y.) National People's Campaign
which left Kingston and New Paltz in the pre-dawn hours of Saturday,
April 20. This writer realized the protest would be large because only
one bus was required to bring Mid-Hudson people to the Sept. 29
demonstration and to the Feb. 2 protest against the meeting of the World
Economic Forum. The true size of the impending protest began to dawn on
local organizers the evening of April 18 when, after failing to obtain a
fourth bus for our waiting list despite contacting 15 charter companies,
a frantic telephone caller asked if the Mid-Hudson NPC could supply
buses for another 300 people. A few minutes later, an email arrived
from a different source, virtually begging for as many buses as we could
acquire for an unspecified number of additional demonstrators. At that
point it became clear the Muslim mosques had decided to join with the
antiwar movement in Washington. The most activist Palestinian groups
had been anticipating April 20 for weeks, but the mosques did not decide
to become fully galvanized until after the pro-Israel demonstration a
week earlier, which had been supported by the Bush administration and
nearly all of Congress and was much ballyhooed by the corporate media.

Arriving in Washington, most Mid-Hudson activists walked one block to
the ANSWER Rally Against War and Racism at the Ellipse near the White
House. Some attended the United We March coalition's Stop the War at
Home and Abroad rally at the nearby Washington Monument. Groups
protesting corporate globalization were holding a simultaneous rally by
the IMF-World Bank offices. A small pro-war rally, organized by the far
right, was situated between the Ellipse and the Washington Monument.

A huge crowd was already at the Ellipse, and it continued to grow to an
estimated 50,000 people, according to ANSWER organizer Monica
Moorehead. The majority of participants at this rally were
Palestinians, Arab-Americans and Muslims, attracted by ANSWER's
unambiguous opposition to the invasion, the ongoing occupation and the
denial of freedom to the Palestinian people. A number of speakers from
various Palestinian and Arab-American organizations addressed the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. They were joined by Tariq Ali, the
well-known Pakistani playwright and left intellectual (appearing as the
representative of London's large Stop the War Coalition), who told the
crowd that "the real problem in the world is state terrorism -- and the
people who organize that terrorism are in Tel Aviv and their backers are
in the White House." Many other speakers, such as former Nobel Prize
winner Helen Caldicott, and Larry Adams of the NYC Labor Against the War
coalition, discussed a multitude of issues from the war on terrorism to
the danger of nuclear weapons, the situation in Colombia, the Navy
bombings in Vieques, and so on. A special taped message to the rally
from death-row political prisoner Mumia Abu-Jamal was played over the
speaker system.

Another large crowd, estimated by organizers as up to 25,000 people,
attended the United We March coalition's morning rally by the
Washington Monument's Sylvan Theater for a more traditional antiwar
gathering. Speakers included Amy Goodman of Pacifica radio and the
elderly pacifist leader Dan Berrigan, among others. New York State
Green Party organizer Mark Dunlea estimated that 1,000 Greens from
across the country were at this rally.

The big convergence of all the organizations and demonstrators took
place on Pennsylvania Ave. after 2 p.m. -- a result of ANSWER's non-stop
efforts in the weeks leading up to April 20 to convince the other
groups, primarily the United We March coalition, to cooperate in a
united front march to the Capitol after the separate morning rallies.
The avenue was filled, sidewalk to sidewalk, block after block, with up
to 100,000 peaceful but obviously determined people. ANSWER distributed
many thousands of signs with such messages as "Free Palestine, No War on
Iraq," "Stop Bombing Afghanistan," "Stop Plan Colombia," and "Money for
Jobs, Not for War." The front rank of the procession included a few of
the several dozen Orthodox rabbis who came down from New York City to
join the march, as well as representatives of the Palestinian community
and leaders in the antiwar movement. (Rabbi Yisroel Weiss told the
Washington Post that "The Palestinians here in the crowd looked at us
mistrustfully at first. But then they speak a few words with us, and
they show us respect and friendship."

Palestinian, Arab-American and Muslim adults, teenagers and children
were prominent on the march. Frequent contingents of Palestinians passed
by chanting "Free, Free Palestine!" or "You can kill, you can lie --
Palestine will never die." Several Mid-Hudson demonstrators said they
were proud to be marching side-by-side with the Palestinian people in
their moment of deep travail. A woman from Hudson told us she felt she
was part of a historic moment. A man from New Paltz commented, "we just
can't call for peace as though we were unaware there is a serious crisis
going on in the Middle East."

A small number of demonstrators carried signs equating Zionism and
Nazism or with the flag of Israel containing a swastika. Some ANSWER
organizers went through the crowd suggesting the signs be put away.
Some were, but most were not, with one sign-carrying demonstrator
saying, "You don‚t understand that to us, Sharon is acting like a
Nazi. Israeli tanks are crushing our homes, helicopters are firing
rockets, troops are invading and killing our people. We don't even have
an army. We think the Israelis are treating us the way Germany treated
them."

Some Jewish progressive activists in our Mid-Hudson contingent likewise
sought to discourage such sign-holders, but also displayed a sympathy
for the Palestinian plight and a comprehension of the Palestinian point
of view, however strongly they may have disagreed with the equation of
Zionism and Nazism on the signs. Several others, however, said they
were dismayed by the very emphasis upon the Palestinians, as though it
would be possible for an antiwar march of such magnitude to ignore
Israel's extension of Bush's war on terrorism to the Palestinian
territories, which was still taking place as we marched up Pennsylvania
Ave. One local resident, expressing an extreme view that she said was
likewise entertained by several others in the group, commented that "if
we had known about this [Palestinian] contingent beforehand, we would
not have chosen to participate. We actually did pull out of the march a
couple of times when we found ourselves surrounded by offensive signs
and people, but it was impossible to stay apart from them.... I feel
angry and used."

It is simply a fact that some antiwar activists evidently support Israel
to the extent that they cannot in good conscience participate in the
movement when it is critical of Sharon's suppression of the
Palestinians. This matter will no doubt be debated within a section of
the movement for some time. However, it does not appear likely the
post-April 20 antiwar movement will once again be able to ignore the
aspirations of these colonized and desperate people.

Most of the others in our contingent, including those of Jewish
affiliation, were primarily opposed to the Sharon-Bush war, and were
pleased to see such extensive participation by Palestinians, regardless
of their view concerning the occasional use of a Nazi symbol in relation
to Israel. This writer, too, is critical of such symbolism because it is
thoroughly counterproductive and a provocative contradiction in terms.
At the same time, we regard the emphasis upon Palestinian freedom as
entirely appropriate, especially at a time when Israeli tanks are
creating mayhem on Palestinian streets, and interpret the large
participation from the Arab-American community as a triumph for the
peace movement.

The concluding unity rally on the Mall opposite the Capitol boasted a
wide variety of excellent speakers chosen equally by ANSWER and the
United We March coalition. The co-chairs were Amy Goodman from
Pacifica and Randa Jamal, a Palestinian activist. The crowd was so
large that only those within several hundred feet of the stage were able
to see or hear clearly. The mall was filled for several long blocks,
and there were a few mini-rallies and one rousing musical event taking
place throughout the throng.

Speaking for ANSWER, organizer Larry Holmes argued that the events in
Palestine "aren't about Jews; they are about colonialism. This
movement is anti-colonialist and anti-racist; it is not against Jewish
people." He continued, pointing to one of the day's historic
accomplishments, "Finally the antiwar movement has merged with the
Palestinian and Arab and Muslim community and embraced the Palestinian
cause." Rev. Lucius Walker, whose IFCO/Pastors for Peace organization
is part of the ANSWER coalition, noted that "We didn't come here today
because we are anti-Israel. We came because we are against the Israel
government's terrorism against Palestinians." He went on to criticize
"U.S. complicity with the genocide of the Palestinian people." Rep.
Cynthia McKinney (D-Ga.) was the only congressperson to address the
audience. We missed the moment when several of the Orthodox rabbis
appeared on the stage as their statement was read. Fred Nagel, a
Dutchess County Green organizer who traveled on the Mid-Hudson bus,
reported that "the statement said that their religion would never
condone or even tolerate what was being done to the Palestinian people.
Immediately and unexpectedly, Muslim men started coming forward and
embracing the rabbis. Those who witnessed the event were barely able to
retell it; the symbol was that powerful." Egyptian feminist writer Nawal
El-Saadawi argued that "all the people of the world are exploited by the
same government and by capitalism." Fadia Rafeedi, representing the
Free Palestine Coalition, declared that "the fate of Palestinians is
linked to the fate of Iraq, of Venezuela, of Colombia. We have to end
the criminal partnership between the U.S. and the state of Israel."

At day's end, our 143 weary Mid-Hudsoners scattered throughout the crowd
all managed to find their buses on time along Independence Ave., amidst
scores of out-of-town charters departing with demonstrators bound for
Michigan, Vermont, the deep South, Midwest and points even further
away. The buses got back to New Paltz and Kingston by midnight.

Clearly, for most of those in our contingent it was an exciting,
motivating demonstration which augmented their antiwar, anti-colonial
views. The day's events provided a lot of reflect upon, especially the
intimate relationship between George Bush's war on terrorism and Ariel
Sharon's war on the Palestinians. Several local people were disturbed
because they continue to view the Palestinian struggle as a threat to
Israel, rather than grasp the reality that the biggest threat to Israel
is the suppression of Palestinian aspirations for national liberation
and a home of their own. The slogan "Free, Free Palestine!" -- which,
if fulfilled, will bring peace to the region for the first time -- may
also be construed to mean, "Free, Free Israel!"

This day had to come, finally -- the day when the U.S. antiwar and left
movements united massively to oppose Sharon's invasion and to support a
fair deal for the Palestinian people. It was obviously not easy for
ANSWER to bring this about. There was sharp resistance by certain left
and peace groups which didn't want to emphasize support for the
Palestinian people for fear of hampering efforts to attract "broad
forces" to the event. Also, some others wish to isolate the upstart
ANSWER because they cannot countenance a strong anti-imperialist
organization in a prominent position within the movement. Historically,
peace movement politics has never been a picnic. But ANSWER prevailed
this time -- and the accomplishment of April 20 will make all our
progressive movements stronger and enhance the struggle against the
warmakers at home and abroad.

This analysis of the April 20 demonstrations in Washington
appears in the May 1, 2002, issued of the Mid-Hudson Activist
Newsletter, published in New Paltz, N.Y.