Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2001 15:46:30 -0500 From: Matthew Snyder <matthew at pobox.com>
Kevin Robert Dean asks about local coalitions:
> What are other
> peoples experiences?
Here in Philly, there's been little in the way of anti-bombing protests except for those organized by IAC / A.N.S.W.E.R. I did attend one last week at the University of Pennsylvania campus -- I work there -- that was entirely disappointing. The protest was organized by neighborhood residents, some of whom I've been involved in other coalitions with.
My gut reaction to the protest was its ideological bankruptcy. I couldn't really get past the main sign at the protest: ``U.S. out of the Middle East'' with various peace signs. The motive demonstrated by the organizers was the negation of the dominant media line. It wasn't so much a critique of the bombing as it was an attempt to simply say the opposite, regardless of the (in my mind, quite obvious) logistical and ethical problems of actually implementing such a radical departure from current foreign policy. I'm not saying that they were wrong to oppose the bombing, but they weren't opposing the bombing. They were simply saying ``No!'' to whatever it was that the government happened to be doing in the Middle East, regardless of what it was or of how complex the situation is. I think it's this sort of mentality that Alterman's getting at with his ``anti-American left'' comments, but then again, I'm only speaking about what I've seen here.
The local indymedia outlet produced an info packet about the history of the conflict in Afghanistan and the key players involved, with articles about the oil angle. The booklet closed with a list of steps we could all take to stop the war. One of the steps was (I'm paraphrasing here but the original text was really this blunt): ``Stop paying taxes. As long as you pay taxes, you're a murderer.'' That's no way to build a coalition; that's a sure-fire way to alienate pretty much everyone who picks up the booklet.
Matthew