Students for International Peace and Justice
21st of April 2002 11:56:45 AM
This was just one step on a long march to freedom, and it was a long time in coming. And we don't want it to take any longer than it already has because the Palestinian Intifada has just gone to the steps of the Last White Castle. And we are taking big steps from here on out.
One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.
If we can get a man on the moon, we can give a Palestinian man his freedom.
From the earth to the moon
From the sun to the star
From the star to universe
The Sun Set on the British Empire
The Sun Will Set on every U.S. Military Base
Stand by and
Peace out!
SIPJ
100,000 People March in Washington DC & 35,000 in San Francisco in Support of Palestinian People and Against War, Racism & Poverty Largest Protests for Palestinian Rights Ever Held in U.S. History
WASHINGTON, DC April 20, 2002--Today over 100,000 people marched in the largest pro-Palestinian rally in U.S. history. Demanding an end to the U.S.-backed onslaught by the Israeli military against Palestinian civilians and calling for an immediate end to the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian homeland, protesters turned Pennsylvania Avenue into a sea of kaffiyas, the traditional Palestinian scarf worn by demonstrators in a show of solidarity. "Free, free Palestine!" echoed from the White House to the Department of Justice to the U.S. Capitol. Over 60,000 people demonstrated at the White House, where bus after bus from Mosques and Islamic Centers all over the eastern seaboard dropped off a stream of protesters that continued to pour into the rally from the opening speaker until the beginning of the march on Pennsylvania Avenue. Once the various rallies merged, tens of thousands filed past the Department of Justice demanding the repeal of the USA Patriot Act, and a!
n immediate end to the Ashcroft raids on the Muslim and Arab community. SAN FRANCISCO More than 35,000 crowded Dolores Park for an opening rally and then joined in a huge march to a rally in the S.F. Civic Center. It took one hour and twenty minutes for the entire march to enter the Civic Center. "Today's marches and rallies are the largest ever in this country in this country in support of the Palestinian people," Richard Becker of the International ANSWER-Act Now to Stop War and End Racism Coalition, which organized today's marches and rallies, told a cheering crowd in the Civic Center. For more information on the April 20 protests, or to interview an ANSWER organizer, call 415-821-6545.
A Call to Action: National Mobilization Against the Butcher Sharon April 22, 2002 - Washington, DC The Free Palestine Alliance, USA calls on all people to join in a national mobilization in Washington, DC, on April 22, against the Butcher of Qibya, Sabra and Shatila, and the commanding general of the ongoing mass-murder of Palestinian children, Ariel Sharon. Sharon, the embodiment of brutal Zionist aggression, together with George Bush, are scheduled to address the strongest of the Zionist organizations in the US, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), in an attempt to further the policy of systematic repression and subjugation that has collectively brutalized and ravished every Palestinian town, village and refugee camp. The Free Palestine Alliance, USA calls on all to reject outright this War Criminal, and demand an end to the US's continuing complicity in the escalating projects to liquidate the Palestinian People and terminate their march to freedom. We!
further call on the coalitions convening for the April 20 Anti-War National Mobilization to take a firm stand against any US support to Israel, and to render clear and loud solidarity with the Palestinian People as they struggle for freedom and justice. We further call on all organizations and individuals who may not be able to join the National March and Rally in Washington, DC to organize on the same day events, teach-ins, protests, etc. across the nation, to expose the criminal character of Sharon and his associated polity. Join us Onward to Freedom and Justice The Free Palestine Alliance, USA
1-800-465-1519 ext. 8500 The Free Palestine Alliance (FPA), USA was formed in recognition of the natural responsibilities of the Palestinian Arab community in the US towards the struggle of the Palestinian People to end colonial control and racial subjugation. As a non-sectarian national organization with a presence in multiple states, the FPA is reaching out to our Palestinian and Arab family in the United States, to shun the remnants of division, lock arms, stand proud shoulder -to- shoulder, unified in the call to freedom, and humbled by the sacrifice of our children, to declare ourselves a humane bridge of hope for the future. The ALL PEOPLES CONGRESS is urging everyone who is able to take of work or school to join the Aril 22 on Monday to protest against Ariel Sharon who will be in Washington D.C. We will be having buses from Baltimore. Below is a recent message from Al-Awda that we are forwarding: To all Palestinian Activists, To all Al-Awda Branches and all Palesti!
nian organizations To all Arab Organizations And to all activists and organizations in solidarity with Palestine: Al-Awda-NY/NJ Committee calls for a huge demonstration against Ariel Sharon in Washington DC on April 22, 2002. We call on all individual activists, religious groups, and organizations who condemn the Israeli military attack on Palestinians to join us in calling for this demonstration. At its meeting Sunday March 3, 2002, AL-AWDA-NY-NJ, voted to call for a demonstration against Sharon. We call on all al-awda branches to join us. We call on all those who stand with Palestine and who can come with us to demonstrate to do so. If you wish to sign or endorse please contact Abbbas@al-awda.org Signers and Endorsers: Abbas Hamideh and Rama Kased Co-chairs Al-Awda-NY/NJ Committee
Samia Halaby, Member, Al-Awda-NY-NJ Committee
Committee for Popular Defense of Palestine
Deir Yassin Committee of Ramallah
Deir Yassin Committee-North America (Abbas Hamideh, Founder&Chairman)
Deir Yassin Committee-Puerto Rico
Amer Jubran Defense Committee
International Action Center (IAC)
Free Mumia Abu Jamal Coalition (NYC) Suzanne Ross, Co-chair
Students for a Free Society (SFS) of Queens College, CUNY http://al-awda.org/rafah_fund.htm TERRORIST ASSETS! FREEZE AID TO ISRAEL NOW!! Sign the petition letter online at: http://al-awda.org/terminate_aid_petition.htm Al-Awda, The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, is the largest network of grassroots activists dedicated to Palestinian human rights. Al-Awda develops, coordinates, supports and guides as needed global and local grassroots initiatives for action related to Palestinian refugee rights.
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Today I was Palestinian
By Dr. Ubaid Shaikh
Today I was a Palestinian. One of more than 100,000 that marched down the Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House to the Capitol.
I even, briefly, marched under the shade of a huge canopy made out of the Palestinian flag. When I reached out and tentatively touched this symbol of human dignity of an oppressed people, I felt a reverence that is hard to explain. Many a night I had found myself crying silently in the night thinking of the innocent Palestinian children buried alive under the rubble in Jenin and of babies, crying with hunger and fear, cowering behind their mothers in other Palestinian towns. I was crying as much because of empathy as with guilt, after all it were my tax dollars that supported the tanks, apache helicopters and bulldozers that were raining death and destruction on the Palestinians. Today I shed a few more tears, but they were shed openly, in daylight and were tears of relief and gratitude.
Watching tens of thousands of fellow Americans and fellow humans marching in solidarity with the oppressed Palestinians had revived my faith in the American people. These hundredt housand “honorary Palestinians” including “Jews for Palestine”, were marching with determination, holding their banners high. Today was the day not just to demand freedom for Palestinians; it was also to celebrate freedom.
After living under fear for eight months, the Muslim-American community finally felt bold enough to march in such great numbers. Their sense of outrage and grief over the terrible massacres in Palestine and India had forced them to overcome their fear.
“Yeah,too bad”! I said to the ugly triumvirate of neo-conservatives, evangelical fundamentalists and militant Zionists that rules my country’s foreign policy today. Too bad that, your desperate and last ditch effort to make America turn against its Muslim citizens and to cow the Muslims into a cowardly silence on Palestine had finally failed. Now, in this war of public opinion, the tide will finally change. Churchill had said about the battle of El-Alamein that before it the allies won no battle and after it they lost none. This could be our El-Alamein, our Midway, I thought. In a democracy once the people start to campaign against an injustice there can be no stopping to them.
Today, American Muslims were not only out in great numbers, they were also not alone. Tens of thousands of our fellow Americans who were earlier in the day demonstrating for their pet causes from anti-globalizationto exploitation in Latin America came together to express solidarity with the Palestinians and the besieged Muslim-Americans.
The International A.N.S.W.E.R (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) had given a call for this rally. We had been trying to mobilize the Muslims for many weeks but were running into fear and apathy. Then on the 54th anniversary of Deir Yassin massacre, the Jenin massacre took place at the hands of the much reviled, Sharon.
Kibya (probably Dubya had never heard of it) in 1953, Gaza in the 60s, Sabra and Shatilla in the 82 were all committed by this monster mass-murderer and their memories werealready open wounds in the psyche of Muslims. Suddenly the Mosques and Islamic Centers all throughout the Northeast and even as far as Detroit, Chicago and North Carolina were arranging buses for the rally. The national organizations had already endorsed it.
Earlier that morning a moderate size earthquake, the biggestin recent years had shaken the Northeast United States.
We heard it on the radio en route from NewYork to Washington. I thought to myself that it was a good omen, even though I do not believe in omens. All along the way from New York we saw buses, minivans, trucks and cars with banners and Palestinian flags. The ugly triumvirate should be trembling too, I thought, as its foundations build on the Goebblian strategy. Propaganda has only one object - to conquer the masses. Every means that furthers this aim is good; every means that hinders it is bad must be shaking bythis show of America’s awakening. What must be disconcerting to these false prophets of oppression was the fact that most non-Muslim supporters of Palestine were young. America’s future was with us today and it was so eloquently disowning and condemning the injustices perpetrated by America’s recent past.
There were so many huge Palestinian flags that it was not clear if it were the clouds or the flags that were not letting the sunlight through. Then there were a zillion banners, many unique, many hand painted by little children while others a witness to the expertise of the youth increative graphic designing.
Many years ago, at a hastily arranged rally in Chicago, to gain the media attention, I had suggested that we paint Hitler’s toothbrush mustache under the nose of Milosevic. Today there were tens of banners that had painted the war criminal Sharon in similar telling fashion.Then there was a “new” Israeli flag, with a blue nazi swastika in place of the Star of David in the center and many that were equating Israel with apartheid and Zionism with racism.
The slogans were varied too. And yet, just like the banners, they were eloquently and clearly united in their message.
“Free Free Palestine," “Hey hey Ho ho - The occupation got to go”, “Long live the Intefadah”, “The people United - will not be defeated”. When someone put the megaphone in front of my face I chanted “Sharon Sharon you shall see - Palestine will soon be free”. “Serbia Serbia you shall see Bosnia will soon be free” was a popular chant from the 93 rally for Bosnia, the biggest ever rally of Muslim-Americans when 75,000 Muslims marchedon the same route.
Many did not believe then that this prediction would come true. But it did. It will again. It is the nature of the human spirit that itcan not be enslaved for long. The free countries of Asia and Africa bear testimony to this fact. It is a just a matter of time before this colonization will also end and this apartheid will also be dumped into the dust bin of history. And marches like today’s will expedite the demise of this horrible and brutal occupation.
So we shall march again and again till we shall have overcome
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Does your University Support the Terror of War!
Did you know that every nuclear weapon in the US arsenal was designed and
tested by the University of California? Monsanto has just given Cal Poly
San Luis Obispo $500,000, Lockheed Martin is courting Santa Clara University
Engineering students, Stanford is developing NIF and robots for urban
warfare. The list goes on and on. In California, the UC's and the Cal
States have gone to bed with the weapons industry. Meanwhile what is
happening to our Humanities, Arts, Ethnic Studies, and Women's Studies?
More and more corporatized State schools bend to the fat pocket books and
promises of defense contract benefits from these war mongering weapons
industries and it is time to take action. The privatization of education is
happening now and we need to take back control of our future. Corporations
like Boeing, Lockheed Martin, TRW, Monsanto, and Northrup Grumman WILL NOT
be given positive PR for helping out schools, but rather, we must expose
them for their role in the war machine and their tactics of siphoning a new
generation of scientists and engineers to become accomplices in mass
destruction and murder against the world's people. It is unacceptable, and
it is our generation that must cut the chord with the weapons industry and
deconstruct the military industrial complex.
The Dismantling the War Machine Tour is coming to a Cal State and UC near
you. It is time to openly question the relationship between our
Universities and the Weapons Industry at all costs!
UC Santa Cruz -- Friday, April 19th 11-1 Campus Bookstore. 3rd
Floor
Cal State Long Beach -- Tuesday, April 23rd. 12-1 Free Speech Area
Cal Poly Pomona --- University Park, April 24th 12-2
UC Irvine -- Thursday, April 25th Student Center 12-2 (with special
guest LA PAZ)
Harvey Mudd -- Monday, April 29th TBA
UC San Diego -- Tuesday, April 30th TBA 12-2 (with special guest LA PAZ)
UC Santa Barbara -- Wednesday, May 1st Lagoon/Stork Plaza
in solidarity with International
Workers Day
Cal Poly San Luis Obispo -- Thursday, May 2nd 11-1 Dexter Lawn
UC Berkeley -- Wednesday, May 8th Sproul Plaza 5-7pm (with Special
Guest LA PAZ)
It's never been more urgent to throw a wrench in the War Machine straight
out of our Universities! To find out more, please contact
students@californiapeaceaction.
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