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| Subject: A.N.S.W.E.R. | |
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Author: We Want Brian Becker's Head on a Platter |
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Date Posted: 11:03:14 08/02/06 Wed A.N.S.W.E.R. stands for the seemingly hypocritical (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) as for the group’s strong ties with Anti-Semitic causes. The organization is sometimes referred to as International A.N.S.W.E.R. and the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition. Widely known as a radical protest organization, which has taken a leading role in the post-9/11 anti-war movement. A.N.S.W.E.R. characterizes itself as anti-imperialist, and its steering committee consists of socialists, Marxists, civil rights advocates, and progressive organizations from the Muslim, Arab, Palestinian, Filipino, Haitian, and Latin American communities. A.N.S.W.E.R. has helped to organize many of the largest antiwar demonstrations in the United States since the September 11, 2001 attacks, and has also organized activities around a variety of issues, ranging from Palestine, to immigrant rights, to Social Security, and the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles. Though its national headquarters are in Washington, D.C., where it organizes its national antiwar demonstrations, the coalition's influence is seen as being strongest in San Francisco, and increasingly, in Los Angeles. A.N.S.W.E.R.’S organizing strategy centers on acquiring police permits for public demonstrations, and organizing national demonstrations, giving the group leverage over other groups that do not have the permits or a national network. A.N.S.W.E.R. was established by the International Action Center (IAC), which was founded by former United States attorney general Ramsey Clark and the Workers World Party. A.N.S.W.E.R. was one of the first organizations formed to protest the policies of the Bush administration in the wake of the September 11 attacks. It was formed on an emergency basis within three days, and officially founded on September 14, 2001. A.N.S.W.E.R.’S first major action was a September 29, 2001 "Anti-War" political rally and march in Washington, D.C., primarily in protest of the then impending U.S. invasion of Afghanistan. An estimated 8,000 people participated. A.N.S.W.E.R.’S next major demonstration took place on April 20, 2002, which according to A.N.S.W.E.R.’S website, drew 100,000 people to Washington in the largest pro-Palestine/anti-Israel demonstration in U.S. history. On October 26 of that year, A.N.S.W.E.R. held a demonstration against Congress' vote to authorize the use of force against Iraq, which according to its website drew 100,000 in San Francisco and 200,000 in Washington, D.C. A.N.S.W.E.R. called antiwar demonstrations on January 18, 2003 in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, which were each attended by 200,000 people, according to the group's website. A.N.S.W.E.R. was one of several groups organizing the U.S. component of the worldwide February 15, 2003 anti-war protest, which was, across the globe, the largest anti-war rally that has ever taken place. A.N.S.W.E.R. sponsored emergency demonstrations just before the launch of the U.S. invasion of Iraq, on March 15, 2003, which according to its website drew 100,000 people each in San Francisco and Washington. With United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), it cosponsored an anti-occupation protest in Washington on October 25 of that year which, again according to the group's website, brought out 100,000 people in Washington. A.N.S.W.E.R. called for national anti-war, pro-Palestine, and anti-Haitian coup demonstrations on March 20, 2004, the first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. The protest in New York, cosponsored by UFPJ, was attended by 100,000 according to the A.N.S.W.E.R. website. A.N.S.W.E.R. participated in the March for Women's Lives on April 25, and the protests of the 2004 Republican National Convention from August 30-September 2. A.N.S.W.E.R. and UFPJ jointly sponsored a rally in Washington, D.C. on September 24, 2005, whose attendance was estimated by police at 150,000 and by organizers at 300,000 people. A.N.S.W.E.R. was involved with demonstrations on May Day, 2006, in support of rights for illegal immigrants, which brought out several million people across the US. These protests were organized by a number of groups unrelated to A.N.S.W.E.R. as well. Many of A.N.S.W.E.R.’S leaders were members of Workers World Party (WWP) at the time of A.N.S.W.E.R.’S founding, and are current members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), a Marxist-Leninist organization that formed in 2004. When the WWP did function in A.N.S.W.E.R., the coalition was accused of being a front group for the Party. The organization is now accused of being a front group for the PSL, although some critics say that the PSL plays a more open and less controlling role in A.N.S.W.E.R. than the WWP initially did. Unlike the WWP, the PSL has taken an official position on the steering committee of A.N.S.W.E.R. As of March 2006, A.N.S.W.E.R.’S Steering Committee consists of: Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines Free Palestine Alliance - U.S. Haiti Support Network Kensington Welfare Rights Union Korea Truth Commission Muslim Student Association - National Mexico Solidarity Network Middle East Children's Alliance Nicaragua Network Partnership for Civil Justice - LDEF Party for Socialism and Liberation IFCO/Pastors for Peace Other prominent organizational endorsers include the Freedom Socialist Party, Green Party USA, and Vietnam Veterans Against The War Anti-Imperialist. Prominent individual endorsers include comedian Dick Gregory, Robert Meeropol of the Rosenberg Fund for Children, author Michael Parenti, and historian Howard Zinn. Few other prominent antiwar groups in the U.S. or elsewhere have formal relationships to A.N.S.W.E.R., although many have participated in the major A.N.S.W.E.R.-sponsored protests. Even some sources very critical of A.N.S.W.E.R. have had grudging praise for the group's organizational ability. There has been much discussion among U.S. leftist opponents of the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions of the degree to which they are or are not willing to work with A.N.S.W.E.R. and with Not In Our Name (NION), which has a somewhat similar history, with the Revolutionary Communist Party (USA) having played a significant role in its founding. A.N.S.W.E.R. engages in acts of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism by labeling Israel as a terrorist state in spite of constant attacks from neighboring countries. Brian Beck, Member of International A.N.S.W.E.R.'S steering committee, called for the impeachment of President George W. Bush for supplying Israel with weapons used by Israel to disperse Hezbollah. The rally was co-sponsored by national organizations A.N.S.W.E.R., NION, United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ), and the local Bay Area United Against War. Lerner is founder and editor of Tikkun magazine and the Tikkun Community that grew out of it. The Tikkun Community was (and as of 2004 is) a member of UFPJ. In a statement issued February 11, 2003, A.N.S.W.E.R. claimed in its defense that, "One of the first agreements that was made between the groups organizing the Feb. 16 anti-war protest was that none of the coalitions would propose rally speakers who had publicly attacked or worked to discredit one of the coalition groups... His views on Israel and Palestine had nothing to do with [his not being selected as a speaker]. Within the anti-war movement, there is a wide spectrum of diverse and opposing views regarding Israel and Palestine, which will be expressed on Feb. 16." They claimed it was not a matter of them "vetoing", but of adherence to a decision that had already been made. They also stated, "We strongly abhor all forms of racism and bigotry, including anti-Semitism. At the same time, we don't believe that criticism of Israeli government policies should be labeled as anti-Semitism any more than criticism of U.S. government policy should be labeled as anti-American." Although A.N.S.W.E.R. worked with United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) to build the September 24, 2005 Washington, D.C. rally, a December 2005 statement by the UFPJ Steering Committee says that UFPJ "has decided not to coordinate work with A.N.S.W.E.R. again on a national level. The document cites three reasons for the decision: "1) A.N.S.W.E.R. did not honor the agreed-upon time limits for its sections of the pre-march Rally... 2) A.N.S.W.E.R. delayed the start of the March... and 3) A.N.S.W.E.R. did not turn out many volunteers." The document says that the UFPJ Steering Committee "did not have consensus" about the decision not to work with A.N.S.W.E.R., but had "a more than two thirds supermajority … We make no recommendations or mandates on this issue to UFPJ member groups in local or constituency-based area…" A.N.S.W.E.R. responded by saying that "UFPJ has publicly proclaimed its intention to split the movement," and accused UFPJ of "a false and ugly attack on the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition," and of doing so for "embarrassingly petty and astonishingly trivial" reasons. Besides giving their own version of the events surrounding September 24, A.N.S.W.E.R.’S statement indicates some less trivial differences between the groups: they criticize UFPJ for its willingness to support the ideas of moderate politicians, such as John Murtha, who are disaffected with the war, while A.N.S.W.E.R. "considers it harmful to try to tailor the message of the progressive movement to please the long-awaited but fictional support from the politicians." A.N.S.W.E.R. asks, "Why is it that UFPJ's leadership can build a gushing "united front" with imperialist politicians but not the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, which has organized hundreds of thousands of people to promote genuine peace and self-determination?" At considerable length, A.N.S.W.E.R. argued that the current split has historical roots, dating back to "the first Iraq war of 1990-1991, [when] some of the same leadership forces now in UFPJ chose to create a second antiwar coalition and insisted on marching under the banner "Economic Sanctions Not War" while some of those who are today in the leadership of A.N.S.W.E.R. argued that economic sanctions were war—and a weapon of mass destruction at that. We contended that economic sanctions against Iraq would result in a form of genocide against the Iraqi people and that the only correct position for the U.S. antiwar movement was to demand, 'No war against Iraq.'… The economic sanctions ultimately took the lives of more than one million Iraqis, most of them children under the age of five, according to the UN's own statistics… The question for the antiwar movement is this: are we building a movement that comprehensively challenges imperialism or are we opposed only to certain tactics employed by imperialism such as overt, unilateral military invasion?" Regarding the prospects of working again with UFPJ, A.N.S.W.E.R. wrote, "[we regard] the united front that was formed at [our] initiative to have been remarkably successful," and later, "Different groups may have different slogans on their banners, but they should try to overcome the forces of division so as to march shoulder to shoulder against the real enemy." Although the language of the UFPJ Steering Committee statement makes the break appear definitive, they have published similar statements (rejecting future work with A.N.S.W.E.R.) in the past, only to later agree to united demonstrations. Most recently, a May 2005 decision to the same effect—announcing a September 24 demonstration separate from the one initiated by A.N.S.W.E.R.—was reversed when UFPJ agreed to a united antiwar demonstration. Previous united demonstrations between the two groups took place on October 25, 2003, and March 20, 2004. In addition to anti-war activism, A.N.S.W.E.R. is involved in advocacy for rights for illegal immigrants, for whom it supports immediate and unconditional amnesty. A.N.S.W.E.R. became involved in immigrant rights activism through protests against Save Our State, a California-based anti-illegal immigration protest group, and the Minutemen Project, a group which patrols the U.S.-Mexico border to prevent illegal border crossings, and which A.N.S.W.E.R. views as practicing racist vigilantism. These protests began soon after the founding of the Minutemen group in April, 2005. A.N.S.W.E.R. has not usually been the primary organizer of these protests but has actively supported them. For example, A.N.S.W.E.R. helped organize counter-protests of rallies held by right-wing groups in Alhambra, California on June 21, 2005; in Sacramento, California on August 29, 2005; in Los Angeles on January 7, 2006; and in Burbank, California on January 21, 2006. A.N.S.W.E.R. has also been involved in the much larger demonstrations in opposition to the Sensenbrenner Bill and support of legalization for illegal immigrants that have occurred across the United States since March, 2006. A.N.S.W.E.R. was not the primary organizer of the initial large protests in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Dallas in late March and early April, but endorsed them. A.N.S.W.E.R. was more prominent in the promotion of a May Day "Day Without An Immigrant" strike and boycott, because this call was controversial within the immigrant rights movement, contributing to a growing division between its left-wing advocates and moderates who believed a strike and boycott would be counterproductive. A.N.S.W.E.R.’S position on the left side of this issue led to criticism; Jaime Contreras, president of the National Capital Immigrant Coalition and chairman of the local Service Employees International Union in Washington, D.C., told the Washington Post regarding A.N.S.W.E.R. that, "Groups... that have done nothing on immigration have no reason to stick their nose where it doesn't belong... They have no business saying, 'Let's do a strike' when it will create a humongous burden on immigrant groups. They need to stay in their box." Brian Becker, A.N.S.W.E.R.’S national coordinator, responded that A.N.S.W.E.R. has in fact been involved in immigration in the long-term, and that "We are just part of the coalition; we are not spearheading it at all... Whatever the immigrant rights community calls for is what we support." [ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ] |
| Subject | Author | Date |
| Brian Becker Communist & Anti-Semite | General Frenchal | 11:10:14 08/02/06 Wed |
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