- WASHINGTON, D.C. -
On September 11 an Al-Quida-led terrorist network struck at the heart of
American financial and political centers, killing thousands, troubling
a shaky economy, and for many, destroying the notion that America is immune
from the grim art of the terrorist.
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- Much of the American citizenry, shocked and incensed
by what Noam Chomsky called the "most devastating instant toll in
history outside of war," looked to an inarticulate, Republican-led
Supreme Court-installed president to implement measures to prevent the
atrocity from recurring.
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- President George W. Bush' s response--redeclared a "war
on international terrorism" that bequeathed in a matter of weeks a
death toll of innocent civilians in Afghanistan surpassing the Al-Quida
attack--prompted an estimated 200,000 people to march on Washington D.C.
on April 20th to demand that American foreign policy "stop the killing"
of innocent civilians, end the occupation of Palestine and pursue social
justice as an animating principle vis-a-vis an a ready administration willingness
to potentially brand any country or individual a terrorist under the Bush
Doctrine.
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- The marchers called for a domestic and foreign policy
animated by social justice, libertarian concerns, with a heavy emphasis
on immediately halting the offensive of the Israeli Defense Forces in the
occupied territories--a bloody siege described in a widely-distributed
pamphlet at the march as a "macabre saga of violence and methodical
repression (Islamic Circle of North America)."
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- Organizers called the solidarity march for Palestine
the largest in U.S. history.
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- The first major national protest against the war on terrorism,
occurring some seven months after the September 11 attack, featured a wide
coalition of citizen groups representing organizations addressing specific
issues such as the Israeli "slaughter" of the Palestinians, the
American war on terrorism, the domestic erosion of civil liberties, corporate
domination of the global economic system and mass media, racism and racial
profiling, and halting military aid to Columbia.
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- The march was planned months in advance and organizers
claimed it represented an "unprecedented" coalition of peace,
labor, and justice groups.
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- In a scene paradigmatically reflecting the apparent nature
of the coalition, Wisconsin Green party organizer Ben Manski delivered
a fiery speech against the war on terrorism through a bullhorn on a flatbed
truck, sharing the horn and truck with eight young Palestinians as protesters
marched down Pennsylvania Avenue.
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- Despite intense propaganda efforts by the U.S. and Israeli
governments and their military forces that systemically prevented press
access to Afghanistan and the occupied territories, the stage-managed acts
of American and Israeli aggression have drawn wide public condemnation
in the United States culminating in the April 20th march displaying what
marchers said is a common sentiment--that innocent civilians not be harmed
in the pursuit of the Al-Quida network, and that U.S. foreign policy should
advance social justice.
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- A virtual black-out exists in mass-media American reporting
on popular opinion beyond carefully-framed polling questions, but organizers
hope the rally was so large that their peace and justice message could
be conveyed through mass-media news reports.
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- "Not in my name," and "Peace Is Patriotic"
and "All War Is Terror" were common signs at the march, as an
exuberant and diverse crowd shouted a variety of anti-war chants and slogans,
with seemingly hundreds of individuals distributing pamphlets and other
literature.
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- "I'm here out of a desire for peace and a belief
that violence and revenge are not a way to peace. As the world's only super
power, we should be leading the way toward peace and justice in the world,
and not creating the circumstances that lead to greater tension and terrorism,"
said Katherine Kurtz, of Philadelphia, who is an Associate Director of
American Friends Service Committee.
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- "The war machine is about profit not about security
and we are not going to have peace without justice. I believe that terrorism
is terrorism whether it is raining down from U.S war planes or if it's
desperate people blowing themselves up," said Jennifer Atienofifatar,
who is 29 years old and lives in Washington D.C.
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- Although the march seemed to be comprised largely of
people from the east coast--New England, Washington, Philadelphia and New
York--all regions of the United States appeared well represented.
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- "People just kept coming and coming, bus load after
bus load," said Jackie Captain of Fitchburg, Wisconsin. "I wonder
where all of the Palestinians were from, because there were just thousands
of them, whole families."
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- "I met people form Illinois, Minnesota, California--young
and old. Palestinians and Midwesterners alike, standing together for peace
and justice. It was wonderful. Everybody was talking to everyone, you had
to be there to feel the atmosphere, it was inspiring."
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- Ralliers mixed freely and openly with each other in an
often-festive environment. A common scene was of Palestinians talking to
a group of vocally supportive white questioners. One veteran of Vietnam-era
peace marches remarked that the march was as open, community-oriented and
good-natured, as he had ever seen.
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- The crowd, which assembled on the southwest side of the
Washington Monument at Sylvan Theater on Saturday morning, converged with
the Palestinian solidarity rally from the northwest side of the monument
and by 3:00 p.m. with other protesters joining the march, the crowd had
swelled to an estimated 200,000 as they marched toward Pennsylvania Avenue
and then on toward the capitol, ending with a rally on the Mall.
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- Some press reports quoted D.C. officials who put the
crowd size at 75,000, but Washington, D.C. Police Chief Charles H. Ramsey--smiling
and joking with passersby in a park off Pennsylvania Avenue--told this
writer at approximately 3:30 p.m. that the crowd was well in excess of
100,000. Other sources said the crowd exceeded a 250,000.
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- Ramsey agreed with activists' assessment of the atmosphere
and peaceful nature of the march, calling the rally "an outstanding
event."
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- Mike Leon is a writer living in Madison, Wisconsin. His
writing has appeared nationally in The Progressive, In These Times, and
CounterPunch. He can be reached at: maleon@terracom.net
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- http://www.counterpunch.org/
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- Comment
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- From Gil Espinoza
- 4-21-2
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- Hi Jeff,
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- I know Washington DC's protests yesterday were large
but I also hope your site mentions the very successful protest here in
San Francisco. There were in excess of 20,000 people that turned out to
protest Bush's war on terrorism.
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- Thanks and keep up the good work. Love your show Jeff!
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- Gil
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