Doug Henwood wrote:
>
> From: DavidMcR at aol.com
> Date: Sun, 21 Apr 2002 18:42:33 EDT
> Subject: Washington DC Rally Report
>
> When I got home at midnight Saturday from Washington I was dead
> tired - as were tens of thousands of others across they country.To
> catch the 6 a.m. bus from the War Resisters League office in lower
> Manhattan I had skipped sleep Friday night. But I had enough energy
> left when I got home that I almost typed this up last night. Almost .
> . .but not quite. I fell asleep with good intentions. So let me get
> this off this Sunday afternoon.
>
> By now you know what we didn't know in DC, since it was almost
> impossible to make a crowd estimate "on the ground" - except that the
> demonstration was very large, much larger than we had expected or
> dared to hope for. (Some of the organizers privately feared we
> wouldn't get as many as 10,000 - the Washington Post has estimated
> 75,000).
75,000 - 100,000 would be an accurate estimate, especially since the march lost people who went home early or got frightened by the light rain.
> We were lucky in the weather. I'd brought an umbrella, thunderstorms
> having been promised. But all that materialized, late in the march,
> was a smattering of rain, which ended long before the march did.
>
> First - hello to the many people I met whom I knew personally over
> decades of marching to DC. It felt like old home week. (Or old
> peoples' home week. A long time ago a kid named Seth Foldy from Ohio
> had first made contact with the War Resisters League and gotten
> active. Seth's mother was there yesterday, along with Seth's son,
> older than Seth had been when I first met him. Seth has gone on to
> work for the city of Milwaukee). Venerables present included George
> Houser, Ralph DiGia and a host of others too numerous to name (or
> remember), reminding us that the current youth movement of protest
> and affirmation had "healthy parents" of men who served prison terms
> in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, fought McCarthyism
> in the 1950's, and worked against Jim Crow and racism before most of
> the Saturday marchers were born.
>
> But what was important was not the gathering of the old clan, but the
> gathering of a new clan. Youth. In their thousands. War Resisters
> League had gotten two busloads down from New York (on one of which
> was Jason Schulman of DSA and a young woman friend of his from Boston
> - good to see some of DSA active). The Socialist Party folks were
> scattered through the crowd but tried to gather under the SP banner -
> gathering anyone was very hard!! I saw SP members from New York, New
> Jersey, Michigan, Texas, Kansas, North Carolina, Massachusetts, and
> thanks to Greg Pason, the SP National Secretary, they did, from time
> to time rally around the red banner.
>
> Other groups with which we work - Committees of Correspondence for
> Democracy and Socialism, Solidarity, etc. - were also present and had
> put in hard work on building the rally. However the largest political
> contingent was the Green Party - several hundred folks with their
> banners. In their numbers they dwarfed all the little sectlets with
> the usual leaflets trying to simplify the problems of the world in a
> few weary slogans.
>
> This afternoon I saw a press release from ANSWER, largely run by
> Workers World (a key giveway was that the statement's main quote was
> from Larry Holmes, a long time activist and leader in WW, as
> "co-director of the International Action Center"). I mention the
> ANSWER release because it failed to begin to do justice to the
> demonstration. Under the headline "100,000 March For Palestine", it
> went on to speak of the demonstration as being primarily a
> pro-Palestine, anti-Israel demonstration.
We can expect ANSWER to take credit in coming months for the big rally. I will admit that they turned out a large crowd, but they were just another contingent among tens of thousands. We should give credit to the A20 coalition, United We March, MGJ, the hundreds of groups who organized their members, and the American Muslim network that turned out so many Palestinian families. I suspect that the pro-Israel rally last Monday prompted many of these families to organize together at the last minute. Somebody told me that 40 buses came from Detroit alone.
> This misrepresents what this demonstration meant. And if I discuss
> this bluntly, it was because Workers World, for all their enormously
> hard work, continues to be a problem for the broader movement because
> they are so determined to control or dominate a mass movement.
Amen. It's good to see that more people are talking about this, so I'm not one of the lone voices. I know that many DC activists are sick of the IAC's interference in our organizing campaigns, so you all can expect to hear more criticism of the IAC in coming months.
One note, David, about your use of the phrase "mass movement." I know that the older Left likes to think about things in terms of *one* mass movement, but that is an inaccurate way to frame social dissent since J18/Seattle. What we have is a network of movements and tendencies. The wonks call this "netwar," but I think that a "network of movements" is a better term.
>When
> the April 20th rally was first called - months ago - the Middle East
> had not exploded. The original organizers were students, their
> demands were rather vague. Later, Workers World set their own date
> for April 27th (focused then mainly on Afghanistan, not Palestine)
> but when they saw their support weak and most people opposed to two
> rallies a week apart, they changed their date for the 20th - so in
> some ways there were two rallies on the same day.
In general, David is correct. My suspscion, based on close observation of IAC/ANSWER, is that they set the A27 date thinking this would be the weekend of the anti-World Bank/IMF protests. When they announced this date in January, none of us knew when the World Bank meetings would be scheduled. The A20 mobilization snowballed out of the independent efforts from the student anti-war coalition and the Colombia solidarity folks. When the IAC realized that nobody was rallying behind their banner, in typical fashion they changed their plans to get their banner back in front.
[Ironically, I hear that IAC organizers were pissed on Saturday when they weren't the first contingent down Pennsylvania Ave. The mass of pro-Palestinian and anti-globalization activists went down Penn. Ave. totally unaware of the IAC's intention to lead the march. At least, this is what I've heard.]
> By April 20th the Middle East had indeed take over as the most
> immediate problem. It wasn't that Afghanistan was forgotten, the
> danger of war with Iraq ignored, the danger of a police state (The
> Patriot Act) avoided. Given the horrors of Jenin, Palestine leaped to
> the head of the list of demands.
Not surprisingly.
> Yes, the Muslim community was there in a way I had never seen before.
> Thousands and thousands and thousands of Muslims, most young, (but
> some very old, helped through the long march by younger people).
> Mothers with their babies in carriages. The PLO flag was everywhere.
> On the way back, when our buses stopped for food, the Muslim men took
> time for their prayers to Mecca.
>
> No one should for an instant underrate the importance of the Muslim
> participation. But for Workers World to term the rally only, or
> primarily a pro-Palestinian event, is to discredit the power of so
> massive a rally in protest against Bush and his backers.
And WW has no right to claim that their work turned out the American Muslim community.
> This was the first loud, clear voice from a nation which had been
> told by the media that there was no protest. In the words of Cokie
> Roberts, one of those air-headed talking heads, if there were any
> protests against the war in Afghanistan they were not important, not
> from "anyone one who counted". But yesterday even she could have
> counted. And we DO count.
>
> For the supporters of Israel it was a warning shot that they have
> lost the American Left, lock, stock and barrel. And that includes
> losing a great many American Jews who were there at the protest and
> had helped organize it. The issue of Jenin isn't one of Jews against
> Muslims. It is one of Sharon against the world, against the United
> Nations, against a very large number of American Jews and against a
> great many Israelis.
I think it's clear that they are losing more of mainstream America too. It was very encouraging to see so many American Jews on "our side of the fence" on A20.
> There were moments surreal, as when early in the march a small group
> of orthodox rabbis, with their fur hats and long coats, were led
> through our march by escorts. No problem, no shouts. and no idea
> where the rabbis had come from or where they were going, except that,
> being the Sabbath, they had to go there on foot. And there were
> moments of utter frustration, as when I found I had not brought down
> any extra rolls of film as I had thought and had to hunt down a
> supply from a street vender.
They apparently marched all the way down Pennsylvania Avenue, 'cause I saw them go by the Canadian Embassy.
> Some of those from the more traditional peace movement talked to me
> of their dissapointment that some issues seem to have vanished -
> Afghanistan was barely mentioned. But this misses the point - and one
> can be sure that Congress and the White House will not miss it. I
> doubt if one person in that whole vast mass of people supported
> Bush's illegal actions against Afghanistan, or bought into the
> rhetoric of his "war on terror", a war which has become a terror in
> itself, reminding us that war and terrorism are intimately linked and
> often, as in the Middle East, become one and the same thing.
Afghanistan is just one battle in a bigger war. If the hawks at the Pentagon say that this war is like the Cold War, then obviously they are thinking long term.
> What was important, in my view as an old veteran at these events, was
> that where the media had assumed silence, the world now saw public
> dissent - in far greater numbers than even we had hoped for. (It got
> excellent coverage on the BBC). For the "internal movement" it was
> noteworthy that Workers World had their bluff called, was forced to
> cancel their original demonstration date, and MAY (though I am
> skeptical) be prepared to work more honestly with the broad range of
> peace and justice groups. The loose coalition of peace and justice
> groups, from the Black Radical Congress to the War Resisters League,
> from the American Friends Service Committee to Peace Action, from the
> Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism to the
> Greens, have shown that they can pull off a national demonstration
> and provide leadership.
>
> The problems of such a coalition are enormous - it is vastly easier
> for a group such as Workers World, a very small Marxist/Leninist
> formation with strong central leadership, to set up fronts, and
> through those fronts to give the impression of a mass movement. (They
> have been greatly helped by the willingness of Ramsey Clark to give
> his name to their formations). The broader movement lived through
> such splits before, during the Vietnam War and during the Gulf War.
> What is important for us, internally, is to have faith in our ability
> to work together through the slower process of compromise, dialogue,
> and coalition.
This is why it is important to understand the "network of movements" thing I was talking about. This is the nature of dissent in the past 8 years, ever since the Zapatistas started their uprising. It is very much based on the Internet. This can even be seen in the recent protests in France where students coordinated actions using cell phones, the Internet, and text messaging. This is why there was 75,000 people marching on A20. It wasn't one group that organized them all, rather a network of groups, organizations, projects, and individuals.
When we recognize that we can have unity through diversity, it lessens the problem of "splits," since nobody is forced to toe the line fo Workers World, the greens, or the black bloc.
> What is essential for older radicals to see is that a new generation
> took part in the largest single peaceful protest of this century.
> This does NOT discount the importance of all the anti-Globalization
> actions, which helped build to where we are. Nor does it mean that
> mass peaceful civil disobedience will not be needed. But it does mean
> that just as Workers World is more marginal than it has seemed, the
> "Black Bloc" does not command the support of all the youth. Whatever
> is to be built will need democratic involvement of many, not the
> vanguard tactics or the "smash and run" tactics of the smaller groups.
The black bloc never commanded the support of all youth, since it is a tactic. It has had an influence on other youth, which is a great thing, since the tactic can be used by any militant group. For example, just look at how the RCYB carry themselves.
Also, the "smash and run" tactics are not a form of vanguardism. Those of us who practice these tactics are not trying to be a vanguard. We choose tactics that we want to engage in. We think that all people should engage in their hoice of tactics [hence the Anti-Capitalist Convergence's emphasis on "diversity of tactics]
> April 20th was a major victory for the forces of democracy, of
> dissent, of the peace and justice movement, and of the possibility of
> broad coalitons involving black and white - and Muslim and Jew. At a
> very difficult time in our history, this is an enormous victory
> indeed.
>
> No, I didn't hear the speakers. I don't think many did. Rarely are
> the speakers important. (An exception would be the great march in
> August of 1963 - I can always be glad that I was able to heard Martin
> Luther King Jr. give his great "I Have A Dream" speech). After all
> the usual long debates about who was to speak, in the end what
> mattered were the sheer numbers that turned out. I was happy War
> Resisters League was there with our "End War" tags - one way I got a
> chance to meet to so many old friends was in handing these out. The
> WRL tags have become so much a part of these demonstrations that
> almost everyone wants them and by the end of the day almost everyone
> seemed to be wearing one. The first ones were handed out in the harsh
> days of the Vietnam protest period, when some sought to provoke the
> police, and our tags said "Practice Nonviolence", with a now classic
> design by Markley Morris. We may have some tags left over - if you
> want one check the WRL web page, which I'll give in a moment.\
>
> It was very good to see the international support - a group of
> Japanese, mostly young, had come from Gensuikyo. I am only sorry I
> didn't have a chance to talk with them but it was good to see them
> and be reminded that the broad Japanese peace movement, which
> includes Gensuikyo, stands with us.
>
> Something else new, free, and important was War Times, put together
> by a coaliton of radicals on the West Coast, with almost half the
> text in Spanish.
>
> If you want informaiton about War Times, go to: <http://www.war-times.org>
>
> If you want one of the WRL "End War" tags (or if you are interested
> in an analysis of my own titled "War Without End") go to:
> <http://warresisters.org>
>
> And if you want to know that there are many in Israel who deeply
> oppose Sharon, subscribe to Gush-Shalom by sending a post to:
> <mailto:Gush-Shalom-subscribe at topica.com>
>
> To the many others of you who demonstrated on the West Coast, or in
> your own towns - we all did well. April 20th is a day which may
> stiffen the spine of the weak left within the Democratic Party - and
> give us all the
> strength to stop Bush's next move - his long-promised attack on Iraq.
>
> Peace, justice, and solidarity,
> David McReynolds
> staff emeritus, War Resisters League
> member, National Committee, Socialist Party USA
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