------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Oct. 24, 2002 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
"NO NEW WAR AGAINST IRAQ!": WORLDWIDE PROTESTS SET FOR OCT. 26 By John Catalinotto Organizers at the ANSWER coalition office in New York tell Workers World they are encouraged by what spokesperson Teresa Gutierrez calls the "tremendous international support for the Oct. 26 March on Washington to Stop the War on Iraq Before It Starts." ANSWER, which stands for Act Now to Stop War and End Racism, originally called the Oct. 26 actions in Washington and San Francisco along with several other prominent antiwar voices. The call to protest has now broadened to nearly all U.S. anti-war groups, and others. The original, emailed international call was reinforced when representatives of the U.S. movement, including Gutierrez, Larry Holmes and Khadouri al-Kaysi, participated in an international solidarity meeting in Baghdad in mid- September. As of Oct. 14, major demonstrations have been called in at least nine countries--to coincide or otherwise work in tandem with the U.S. demonstrations and show joint solidarity with the Iraqi people. Worldwide, anti- imperialists want to encourage the growth of a strong U.S. anti-war movement, says Gutierrez. In Puerto Rico, groups that are pro-independence and those who want to stop the U.S. Navy's use of the island of Vieques as a bomb-testing site have called for an Oct. 26 action in San Juan. In Japan, the movement plans to use its traditional anti-war day of Oct. 21 to organize demonstrations in connection with the U.S. initiatives. On that day there will be demonstrations in six major cities--Tokyo, Osaka, Sendai, Hiroshima, Fukuoka, and Okinawa-- to oppose U.S. aggression against Iraq. There will be anti-imperialist protests in India. In south Korea, groups that organized the Korea Truth Commission tribunals have called for regional protests against U.S. military action in Iraq. Anti-imperialist groups in Italy have joined with Palestinians living in that country to call for a national demonstration in Rome on Oct. 26. They will demand no war on Iraq and solidarity with Palestine. Vast crowds, which some estimated at 1.5 million, demonstrated in 120 Italian cities in early October. German anti-war groups met in Kassel Sept. 28-29 to call regional demonstrations for all major cities on Oct. 26. The biggest action should be in Berlin, the capital. Denmark's anti-war movement was one of the first outside the United States to call a national march. It will be in Copenhagen on Oct. 26 to "Stop the War on Terror." In the Netherlands, people will join either a national demonstration in Amsterdam or a local one in Rotterdam on Oct.26. In Madrid, Spain, since the preferred day for demonstrations is Sunday, the main demonstration to "Stop the War on Iraq Before It Starts" has been called for Oct. 27. Then, on Nov. 16-17, the Spain-based Committee in Solidarity with the Arab Cause will hold a conference, to which Ramsey Clark and other representatives of the International Action Center and ANSWER are invited. A Peace Race organized by young people of the Workers Party of Belgium is planned for Oct. 26. A coalition has also called for a national demonstration in Belgium on Nov. 10 in solidarity with the Washington and San Francisco actions. Also in Brussels on Oct. 26, the Anti-Imperialist Camp will protest at the headquarters of the European Union to oppose the EU's decision to put revolutionary organizations and organizations fighting for national liberation--like Herri Batasuna in the Basque Country and the Communist Party of the Philippines--on a list of "terrorist" groups. On Oct. 12 there were demonstrations in 30 cities in France. Tens of thousands of people took part. In Britain, where the Blair regime threatens to send troops to participate in a U.S.-led war against Iraq, 250,000- 350,000 marched in protest in London on Sept. 28. On Oct. 31 the British anti-war movement will move from dissent to resistance, as demonstrators gather in city centers to stop traffic. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] Support the voice of resistance http://www.workers.org/orders/donate.php) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
