Protesting for peace

WASHINGTON -- Rallying for an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, racial discrimination and corporate globalization, tens of thousands of people from across the United States and abroad converged in Washington, D.C., last Saturday for one common goal: Peace. \nPolice estimate about 75,000 marchers. Organizers put the number at more than 100,000. \nSeveral dozen Bloomington residents and IU students were among the demonstrators, including Green Party candidate for Congress, Jeff Melton. Demonstrators for ANSWER -- Act Now to Stop War and End Racism -- rallied on the Ellipse behind the White House, chanting "Free, free Palestine" and "end the occupation now." Another rally, organized by a student coalition called the A20 Mobilization convened near the Washington Monument. \nAt about 1 p.m. the rallies began to march through the streets of D.C. to converge on the Mall in front of the Capitol Building. The streets were alive with chants and drum circles. One elderly man with a white beard dressed as Uncle Sam bore a sign proclaiming, "Not in my name." A barefoot woman with a young son in tow played "We Shall Overcome" on the violin, and a chorus of dozens sang along. \nGroups of American war veterans called "Veterans for Peace" marched alongside the "Raging Grannies," an anti-war group, young women did anti-war cheerleading routines, and families with children and groups of Jews united for peace and justice in Palestine. \nTeach-ins and direct actions were conducted throughout the city all last week. The issues and causes appear endless and varied but the common theme was strong: an end to global corporate domination and the violence it brings. \nOne teach-in concerned what some consider a threat here at home, and it isn't terrorism. It's the so-called Uniting and Strengthening of America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism, or the PATRIOT Act. \nWritten by John Ashcroft, a member of the justice department, the bill swept through congress in three days in the fervor following Sept. 11. It was introduced Oct. 23 and then signed into law by Bush Oct. 26. The bill endured no discussion or debate and only one dissenting vote in the Senate from Democrat Russ Feingold of Wisconsin. Thirteen members of the House didn't even show up to vote that day. \nAccording to Ciatta Baysah, a legislative aid and founder of D.C.-based Black Voices for Peace, a substantial number of representatives didn't even read the bill. The vaguely-written law defines "terrorism" as an act that violates any criminal law, is potentially dangerous to human life and appears to be intended to influence the policies of\n the government through intimidation or coercion. \nThe language of legislation being proposed in local jurisdictions across the country is even more dubious. One such bill working its way through the D.C. legislative process, if passed, will extend the definition of terrorism to include non-violent violations of the law, which could include civil disobedience or any other acts thought to be politically motivated whether or not they are potentially threatening to human life. \n"The law defines terrorism as any act that obstructs the government," D.C. activist Ruby Sales said. "So, if we have a peace demonstration in some ways that is obstructing the functioning of \nthe government, you can be designated a terrorist." \nMany individuals and groups are afraid that this law and the powers it bestows will give the government a virtual green light to disregard basic civil rights of citizens under the guise of fighting a war on terrorism. \nThe law undermines First and Fourteenth Amendment rights as well as Fourth Amendment protections regarding the conduct of searches. The act allows the FBI to conduct searches and wiretaps without a warrant. \nAccording to Ciatta Baysah, the act has permitted the FBI to conduct warrantless raids on churches, organizations and private homes. And, as in the case of attorney Lynne Stewart, the act threatens to erode attorney-client privilege. \nStewart defended Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman in the 1993 World Trade Center Bombing and is now being prosecuted for helping the "Blind Sheik," as he is known, to orchestrate terrorist activities from behind bars. The government demands to know the content of their confidential conversations.\n"The government says they can't stand us because of our freedom," says Baysah, "then they turn around and take away all of that freedom. This act has changed our bill of rights in some ways that will never go away."\nThe National Mobilization on Columbia produced a significant showing at the demonstrations, protesting U.S. involvement in Columbian civil wars through direct action and the School of the Americas, renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation. The institute is a U.S. military training facility that has produced over 60,000 graduates from Latin America who take home such skills as counter-insurgency techniques, sniper training, psychological warfare and interrogation techniques, according the School of the Americas Watch (SOWA), a monitoring group who compares these camps to al Qaeda terrorist training camps. \nAccording to SOWA, graduates of the school have included many right-wing paramilitary death squads whose anti-union agenda protects U.S. corporate interests. A sizeable proportion of demonstrators hoped to call attention to U.S. involvement in the recent coup d'etat of the democratic administration of President Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, an issue that has been closely followed by D.C.'s many independent newspapers, though largely ignored by mainstream media.\nAccording to D.C.-based, The People's World Weekly, the Communist Party of Venezuela says the coup was orchestrated so that Venezuela's oil resources could be handed over to multi-national corporations. Venezuela is currently the third largest producer of U.S. oil, providing about 17 percent of our imports. \n"Venezuela is like many countries in Latin American and around the world," says anti-globalization activist and union textile worker Dennis Richter of Kannapolis, Md. "They come under the direct economic boot of U.S. imperialism. Any nation that takes steps against that is met with resistance by the United States." \nImperialism and global corporate domination was a major theme as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank came to town for a summit this week. Activist groups such as "50 Years is Enough" hope to call attention to what they believe is imperialist and oppressive economic action being taken on so-called Third World countries by the U.S.-led IMF and World Bank. \nAccording to "50 Years is Enough," the "structural adjustment programs" conducted by these organizations give loans to poor countries that come with heavy conditions. Activists believe the programs perpetuate the poverty cycle in underdeveloped countries by shifting local economies from self-sustaining and agricultural to export-based economies. It is this shift that leads to thousands of workers, mostly women and many children, laboring for pennies a day and wondering where their next meal will come from.\nBut what does any of this have to do with war and peace? Was this weekend in Washington just a stunt for left-wingers to get some publicity for their obscure causes? \nSeveral IU students say it's all part of the big picture. \n"I think we have this whole war on terrorism because people outside of the U.S. are unhappy with U.S. foreign policy," said Douglas Briney of No Sweat! "You have big business in the U.S controlling people through economics and government controlling people through sheer military force. People who have the means to do so strike back. People in the sweatshops can't do so because they're poor. But people with other causes such as al Qaeda can find justification for their cause and it only further justifies in their minds that they are fighting this big evil force." \nSophomore Liz Spector agrees. \n"I mainly came to protest against what's going on in Afghanistan," she said. "And what's really interesting about most protests is that you come with the idea that you're going to focus on this one thing and bring back home information to people who aren't really that involved. And then you go there and you see hundreds of different groups there and when you learn about each of them it all forms back together." \nSome activists worry that Americans have become apathetic to the tumultuous events taking place in history right now and mainstream polls show Bush is enjoying record approval ratings for his response to Sept. 11. \nBut IU students who attended this weekend's events are confident that the show of solidarity and the sheers numbers of citizens who are opposed to the war had a positive effect that will resonate. \n"The adrenaline rush of having tens of thousands of people chant, 'We will not cooperate. We will not participate' was amazing. It's incredible to hear such a strong voice for peace," said Spector. "You just want to go back and educate everyone and get as many people involved as possible." \nFreshman Emily Ross said she felt similarily.\n"There's such a strong desire to learn what's going on in the world," Ross said. "We don't want to push it away or be lied to anymore. We can work on people knowing the truth now more than ever before and that's a really positive thing. That's why I came"