| Subject: Anti-war protests demand an 'A.N.S.W.E.R.' |
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Date Posted: 13:24:15 12/03/01 Mon
from Erth...thanks!
Anti-war protests demand an 'A.N.S.W.E.R.'
Saturday, November 3, 2001
http://www.naplesdailynews.com
By I.M. STACKEL, imstackel@naplesnews.com
In the first month after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the nation rallied to share pain and avoid xenophobia.
Then the U.S. military began bombing Taliban targets in Afghanistan on Oct. 7, and an anti-war movement has been growing quickly ever since.
The protests are consistently two-pronged. One is the call for an end to the war against Afghanistan. The other is for honest, accurate data on current and former U.S. foreign policies.
On Oct. 27, thousands of Americans in 70 U.S. cities demanded an end to the war against Afghanistan, pointing to civilian deaths. Similar groups from Lancaster, England, to Melbourne, Australia, protested the same day.
They were organized by a 6-week old New York-based organization called A.N.S.W.E.R. for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism.
At the same time the nation's Green party condemned U.S. and British leaders as "inhumane" for bombing Afghanistan.
It is a position embraced by some in Southwest Florida, even though official demonstrations have not yet sprung up.
Shelley Fite, a Green party member on the New College campus in Sarasota, said she's working on a Nov. 10 Day of Dialogue.
While Fite initially said it's not an anti-war event, just a bunch of people getting together "to talk about issues," it is clear she supports her party's position on the U.S. war against terrorism.
"What's going on is a political maneuver. We're not retaliating against the people" responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks, Fite said.
Students are slow to rally, because they're not getting good information, she said.
What they're getting is a single message filtered through the media: "America strikes back." However, for people like Fite, it's not an accurate depiction of America's policies.
"We haven't killed any major members from al-Qaida (Osama bin Laden's terrorist network.) We're killing innocents," she said.
Community activist Ian Harvey has been outspoken about American and British attacks on Afghanistan, and figures that Naples is lagging behind other Florida cities that held demonstrations last week, along with hundreds more around the world.
"It was pretty inspiring. When I feel kind of isolated, I look at that," he said.
"There are a lot of people out there who just don't know what to do. We aren't being presented with any options."
The presumption is that those who speak out against the bombings are anti-American, Harvey said.
The attitude is "you're either with us, and if you don't like it, you're one of the suicide bombers," he said.
It's a lot more complicated than that, he said.
The United States has bolstered governments around the world that have been less than kind or civilized, he said. The Taliban was one of them. The United States trained and armed them, he said.
Now, the United States is supporting the Northern Alliance that opposes the Taliban.
The reason for that, Harvey asserts, is to protect a proposed oil pipeline that traverses Afghanistan.
"They need a pliable government," said Harvey, a 46-year-old media teacher at Lely High School and a member of A.N.S.W.E.R.
Punta Gorda resident Phyllis Meisel is a member of Floridians for Middle East Peace, and said "the peace movement for years was viewed as anti-American."
While her group hasn't been active, it will probably start meeting again soon.
And while the current war is not her focus, Meisel has insight into the nature of the Sept. 11 attacks: she is committed to the Palestinian fight for equality in Israel.
"The anger. That's what we have to fear. The Middle Easterners who fear the imbalanced policy in relation to Israel," she said.
"What I fear are suicide bombers in U.S. as they have in Israel. Last night on TV, there was a panel discussion group, and there were questions from the audience. One young man said 'I am a Palestinian. My father has told me the truth. My brother has told me the truth. My grandfather has told me the truth. No one cares about the truth. The only thing left is action.'"
Meisel said the truth to which that boy referred is of the "peace process, the history of the Palestinians, the Israel situation," Meisel said.
Rev. Jim McDonald is director of Christian Education at Vanderbilt Presbyterian Church and a founder of the Naples Peacemaking Group, which has also been drmant for a while.
While McDonald doesn't see an anti-war stance as the answer — "Generally, we take an approach that peace is not necessarily the absence of war, as it is the presence of justice" — he does view accurate information as part of the answer.
He's trying to bring over a teacher from Davie who spent one month in Afghanistan prior to Sept. 11.
"I'd like to get him down here and have the public have an opportunity to hear what he has to say, enlighten us about that part of the world. I believe we can eliminate bias and prejudice by education and awareness," McDonald said.
As for to bomb or not to bomb, McDonald is still struggling with answers.
Terrorism is designed to produce divisiveness and unsettling fear, McDonald says: "And it works. Look at the paranoia abounding. That's what terrorism is supposed to do and it is very effective. We can let it go unchecked, but then what path do we take? That's what we explore."
Many people who call for an end to the bombings don't actually propose viable alternatives. And while that's frustrating for some, it is not good cause to question another's national allegiance, say protesters.
Harvey has been slammed by locals who believe his questions about American policy are anti-American. Harvey says it is hurtful for someone who is exercising his most fundamental American right: to question. Many agree it also has hampered a more vocal outpouring of criticism for the bombings.
Some just sidestep the protest issue altogether.
Magali Solimano, president of the student government association on the Florida Gulf Coast University campus, said she and her classmates held a fund raiser for the relief fund in New York.
While she's fairly certain some students oppose current U.S. policy, FGCU student actions "just aren't expressed as a demonstration."
"That's not to say anything rules out an anti-war demonstration," but the focus right now is on "peer prayer groups," she said.
They are "indirectly protesting what's happening. You could interpret it to be that way," she said.
Solimano was not being coy.
People have been cautious about speaking their minds.
"This is different from Vietnam or World War II," noted Fite, a religion major.
"One thing about the Green Party. If there's ever any time that tells us we need a third party, it's now: only one person voted against (this) war in our Congress."
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