|
|
|
The Antiwar MovementMobilizing the Antiwar Majority
Public opinion polls show a majority of Americans oppose the Iraq war and want U.S. troops to be withdrawn within the year. Consequently many antiwar groups are targeting the 2006 mid-term elections. “We want to ensure that peace is the defining issue in the 2006 elections. And we want to use the elections to continue building the antiwar movement,” said Hany Khalil of the national coalition United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ). Voters for Peace (www.votersforpeace.us) is a major effort to leverage the power of the peace majority in the election. Hundreds of peace groups are working to collect millions of signatures of people who pledge to support and vote for candidates who call for a speedy end to the Iraq war and oppose future wars of aggression. Other groups like the Progressive Democrats of America and the Daily Kos are supporting anti-Iraq war candidates. They helped Ned Lamont defeat pro-war Sen. Joseph Lieberman in Connecticut’s Democratic Senatorial primary. In August activists from UFPJ, CodePink, Global Exchange and Iraq Veterans Against War traveled to Jordan for a first-ever meeting with officials of the Iraqi government. The latter included official representatives of the ruling Shiite coalition, the minority Sunni bloc, the Muslim Scholars Association, parliamentarians and torture victims from Abu Ghraib. “The most consistent message we heard from every Iraqi representative, from every party and tribe, was ‘We want the Americans out of our country,’” said Jeeni Criscenzo, a California Congressional candidate who was part of the delegation. The meeting resulted in an agreement by the Iraqis and Americans to promote a specific timetable for U.S. withdrawal from Iraq , as well as efforts to “fix the problems” of the occupation as the withdrawal proceeds. Several of the participating groups plan to bring Iraqi parliamentarians to tour the U.S. to speak against the U.S. occupation. These groups will also lobby the United Nations Security Council to formally end its authorization of the occupation when it meets this December. The next major coordinated antiwar actions will be from Sept. 21-28, organized by a campaign called the Declaration of Peace (www.declarationofpeace.org). Hundreds of groups throughout the United States will be staging local antiwar actions and lobbying visits in that week. At the end of October, Iraq Veterans Against War (IVAW) will hold a march from Dover, Delaware, where coffins from Iraq initially arrive, to Washington, D.C. “We are getting seven or eight new members a week since the recent involuntary recall of Marine reservists,” said Salih Watts of IVAW. On Dec. 2-3, U.S. Labor Against War is holding a national labor conference against the Iraq war in Cleveland. Regarding the conflicts in Lebanon and Palestine, the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation (endtheoccupation.org) is building an “anti-apartheid” movement to end U.S. aid to Israel. They are supporting a Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel. Caterpillar Corporation, whose equipment Israel uses to demolish Palestinian homes and to construct the Separation Wall, is their main target. The World Can’t Wait has set global justice demonstrations for Oct. 5. And International Act Now to Stop War and End Racism is planning mobilizations on Oct. 28 in New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles to end occupation from Iraq to Palestine. Relief groups working in Lebanon include Samidoun, comprised of activists from Lebanese social and human rights groups, and the International Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies. Andrea Buffa is the communications director at Global Exchange. |
|
|
War Times/Tiempo de Guerras is a fiscally sponsored project of the Center for Third World Organizing. • c/o P.O. Box 99096 • Emeryville, CA 94662 |
