From: ww@nyxfer.UUCP
Newsgroups: alt.activism
Subject: Iraq Bombing Protests/Roundup
Date: 26 Jan 93 07:52:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:yZyyXB10w165w@nyxfer.uucp:1931095293:000:6562
Nf-From: nyxfer.uucp!ww    Jan 25 23:52:00 1993


Subject: Iraq Bombing Protests/Roundup
From: nyxfer!ww (Workers World Service)


Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit


U.S. ATTACKS ON IRAQ SPUR PROTESTS

By Leslie Feinberg

For days, outrage over the renewed attacks on Iraq by U.S. planes
and missiles has spilled into the streets of cities across the 
country and around the world. Protesters raised their voices to 
be heard over the monolithic pro-war drone of the capitalist 
media, which has acknowledged barely a sound bite of dissent.

Orchestrated nostalgia over the exiting Bush forces and the 
inauguration of the Clinton administration didn't stop these 
activists, who chanted, "Hey Bill Clinton, Hey Al Gore, we say no
to Big Oil's war!"

RUSH-HOUR PROTESTS

In New York City, about 200 people gathered at the Times Square 
Recruiting Station at 42nd Street and 7th Avenue Jan. 14 during 
evening rush hour.

The protest was called by the International Action Center, a 
group that opposes U.S. military intervention and was initiated 
by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark.

A demonstration on Martin Luther King Day to demand jobs and an 
end to racism and bigotry also strongly denounced the bombings. 
(See accompanying article.)

Over 200 people demonstrated in San Francisco Jan. 13. The area
was experiencing a torrential rainstorm at the time. People had
been put on alert over the weekend by the Emergency Committee to
Stop the U.S. War in the Middle East and the International Action
Center, the two sponsoring organizations. Speakers at the rally
included Richard Becker and Gloria La Riva of the International
Action Center; Azania Howse, an African-American military
resister; Rosa Penate, Salvadoran community activist; Keith
McHenry of Food Not Bombs/Homes Not Jails; and a representative
OF Middle East Children's Alliance.

In San Jose, Calif., 60 people participated in a picket line in 
front of the Federal Building. Carrying picket signs reading "No 
blood for oil," "U$ out of Iraq" and "Our taxes are NOT for war,"
they were seen by downtown rush-hour drivers and other passersby.
A brief march through the heart of the downtown area followed the
picket line.

Hours after the bombing of Iraq on Jan. 13, the New England 
Coalition to Stop U.S. Intervention in the Middle East organized 
a demonstration of 100 people in Boston in freezing temperatures 
and driving wind. They emphasized demands that money be spent 
fighting wars against poverty, homelessness, racism, sexism and 
lesbian/gay oppression rather than against other oppressed people
overseas.

Three days later, the Coalition organized a second demonstration 
with the Movement for a Peoples Assembly (MPA), demanding that 
the U.S. withdraw military equipment and troops from both Iraq 
and Somalia and end sanctions against Iraq. Coalition organizers 
appeared on two local radio talk shows, one of which featured a 
television hookup from New York with former U.S. Attorney General
Ramsey Clark.

TO THE STREETS!

One hundred anti-war activists gathered at the Federal Building 
in downtown Seattle on Jan. 13 to protest the bombing of Iraq. 
Thirty-five people took the streets and blocked traffic for 20 
minutes before police forced the protest back on the sidewalk. 
The organizing groups included MPA, Seattle NOW, Fellowship of 
Reconciliation, Seattle Women Act for Peace and CISPES.

A woman disrupted Gov. Mike Lowry's inaugural address to protest 
the bombing of Iraq. She was removed by a state trooper.

"U.S. OUT NOW!"

About 40 anti-war activists endured the wind and cold in downtown
Cleveland. They picketed the federal building on Jan. 16, the 
second anniversary of the start of the Gulf War. "People all over
the world are remembering this anniversary, not with ticker tape 
parades and yellow ribbons, but with protests," Peoples Fightback
Center spokesperson Martha Grevatt told the crowd.

Outrage at the Pentagon aggression against Iraq was also 
expressed by Pearl Simon, President of Women Speak Out for Peace 
and Justice, who joined with the Fightback Center to organize the
demonstration. Hiram College students drove over an hour to be 
part of the protest.

Another picket line was planned for Jan. 22 outside British 
Petroleum's downtown headquarters. In the words of Grace 
Waite-Jones, "from LA to Haiti to Baghdad, this genocidal policy 
must stop."

MONEY FOR JOBS!

In Baltimore on Jan. 14, members of the Movement for a Peoples 
Assembly, Baltimore Emergency Response Network and Jonah House 
gathered in front of the Federal Building to demand an end to the
attacks on Iraq and that the money spent bombing Iraq be spent on
jobs in this country.

In Minneapolis, Women Against Military Madness (WAMM) activated 
their Emergency Response Network to swiftly organize 
demonstrations on Jan. 15 and 18. Each protest drew 200 people.

Other protests and press conferences took place in San Diego, 
Calif.; Charlottesville, Va.; Los Angeles; Portland, Maine;
Springfield, Mass., and Nashville, Tenn.

AROUND THE WORLD

There had already been a number of coordinated demonstrations and
meetings around the world scheduled to protest the continuing 
embargo against Iraq. They turned into stronger protests due to 
the current bombing. In Paris, France, 1,200 people turned out to
protest.

Some 300 from several countries gathered in Geneva, Switzerland. 
The Young Lawyers Association staged a walkout in Tunis, Tunisia.
The National Federation of Algerian Farmers held a large 
demonstration in Algiers, Algeria. Other protests took place in 
Berlin; Brussels, Belgium; Rome; Rabat, Morocco and other Arab 
capitals; Mexico City; Jakarta, Indonesia; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia;
Warsaw, Poland; and Reykjavik, Iceland.

Groups meeting in Naples, Italy, on Oct. 3 and 4 had initiated 
the call for this coordinated initiative among diverse movements 
who oppose the embargo against Iraq.

Information from International Action Center, Robert Rice, Jane 
Cutter in San Francisco, S. Muysenberg in San Jose, and the 
Seattle, Cleveland, Boston and Baltimore bureaus of Workers 
World.
 
                               -30-

Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if
source is cited. For more info contact Workers World, 46 West 21st
Street, New York, NY 10010; e-mail: ww%nyxfer@igc.apc.org or
workers@mcimail.com.



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