We are heartened by the large volume of positive responses to the announcement issued by the A.N.S.W.E.R. steering committee (February 27) that the coalition was shifting the date of its demonstration to Saturday, April 20. The change to April 20 was in turn a response to a large number of requests asking for a united date for anti-war forces to converge this spring in Washington DC. The A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition has been and continues to be in communication with other groups organizing on the weekend of April 19-22 for a variety of activities.
UPDATE ON APRIL 20 A.N.S.W.E.R COALITION SCENARIO
March 3, 2002
We are heartened by the large volume of positive responses to the announcement issued by the A.N.S.W.E.R. steering committee (February 27) that the coalition was shifting the date of its demonstration to Saturday, April 20. The change to April 20 was in turn a response to a large number of requests asking for a united date for anti-war forces to converge this spring in Washington DC. The A.N.S.W.E.R. coalition has been and continues to be in communication with other groups organizing on the weekend of April 19-22 for a variety of activities.
The demonstration couldn't come at a more important moment. We are focusing the political protest against the Bush administration's expanding war against oppressed peoples all over the world. The Bush program represents the extreme right wing of corporate America. It represents a violent assault on people's rights at home and abroad and a dangerous assault on the environment.
On April 20, anti-war activists, workers, trade unionists, communities of color, women, lesbian, gay, bi and trans communities, communities of faith, and others will take to the streets of Washington DC to say that Bush cannot speak in our name as his administration carries out the anti-people, pro-corporate, militarist agenda.
WE WILL ASSEMBLE AT THE WHITE HOUSE AT 11 AM ON SATURDAY, APRIL 20 in order to protest against the real "axis of evil": war, racism and poverty.
In the early afternoon of April 20, we will MARCH from the White House, east on Pennsylvania Ave. directly in front of the White House, and proceeding on Pennsylvania Ave. to the Justice Department. At the Justice Department--directly across the street from the J. Edgar Hoover FBI building--we will rally in defense of civil rights and civil liberties and to demand the repeal of Ashcroft's USA Patriot Act.
Following the rally at the Justice Department, it will be our goal to link up with the other anti-war coalition that is planning activities on April 20. We recognize that the anti-war movement includes people and organizations from a range of traditions, beliefs, and political currents. But, we also recognize that thousands and thousands of people must march shoulder to shoulder in the streets in Washington DC if we are to build an anti-war, anti-racist movement strong enough to dismantle the Bush perpetual war machine.
MASS ASSEMBLY AT THE WHITE HOUSE - 11 AM
At the White House, we will condemn the massive bombing of Afghanistan that has killed thousands of civilians. At this moment, U.S. forces have launched a new offensive in Afghanistan using experimental "thermobaric" bombs that suffocate all living things. During the war, the U.S. has used fuel-air explosives, cluster bombs and other weapons, the use of which, by definition, constitutes a war crime. The Bush administration has used the war in Afghanistan as a springboard to establish new U.S. military bases in South/Central Asia. We will demand that these bases be dismantled and that the troops be brought home immediately.
At the White House, we will show our solidarity with the besieged people of Palestine, who are at this very moment resisting fierce aggression in the Balata and Jenin refugee camps in the occupied West Bank. Ariel Sharon is giving the orders to carry out these massacres - but he could not do it without the support of the Bush administration. U.S.-backed-and-financed Israeli forces are today bulldozing the homes of civilians in Occupied Territories, they have intentionally destroyed the sole source of water into the Balata camp, and they have deliberately destroyed the electrical system. These Israeli war crimes are being sponsored by the Bush administration.
At the White House, we will show our solidarity with the people of the Philippines and Yemen, where Bush has already dispatched a growing number of U.S. Special Operations forces to occupy and wage war in their countries. In the same manner, we will show solidarity with the people of Somalia, who fear a repetition of the murderous U.S. military actions taken against them in 1993. The Bush administration seeks to portray these interventions as "limited police actions in the war against terrorism." Let us never forget that that is precisely how the Kennedy administration initially explained the introduction of U.S. troops into Vietnam in the early 1960s.
At the White House, we will condemn the new aggression waged by the Colombian government and its paramilitary proxies against the people. The Pastrana government is giving the orders to cancel negotiations and wage war - but we well know that the Colombian government would never dare to have taken this step if it had not been given the money, the weapons and the political support for this aggression by the Bush administration.
At the White House, we will raise our voices to demand "No New War Against the People of Iraq" and we will demand the immediate elimination of all sanctions on Iraq that in the last decade have taken the lives of more than 1.5 million Iraqi civilians.
At the White House, we will stand with the people of Korea, who reject the new threats delivered by Bush in his State of the Union message. The Korean people want the removal of the 37,000 U.S. troops that occupy South Korea. The Korean people must be allowed to pursue their own destiny, including the right to the reunification of their divided nation.
At the White House, we will extend a hand of solidarity to the people of Iran who too are threatened by Bush's "axis of evil" stratagem that seeks to demonize in advance the potential targets of U.S. military aggression.
At the White House, we will demand an immediate end to the U.S. blockade of Cuba. We will protest the wrongful designation by the U.S. government of Cuba as a "terrorist state" and demand freedom for the five U.S.-held Cuban political prisoners, who have been given harsh prison sentences for defending their country from U.S.-sponsored terrorism.
At the White House, we will demand that the Bush administration immediately move to extend unemployment benefits for the millions of workers who are suffering unemployment. We will tell Bush "HANDS OFF SOCIAL SECURITY." We will demand money for jobs, education, health care and housing - not for wars of aggression in the Third World. We will stand against union busting.
At the White House, we will condemn the Bush administration's reintroduction of a form of apartheid in law enforcement through the USA Patriot Act that strips non-citizens of essential democratic rights and legalizes racial and religious profiling. We will make it clear that we will not allow the Bush administration to use the "war on terrorism" to implement the long-standing agenda of the ultra-right and corporate America to stifle progressive dissent.
At the White House, we will demand an end to the use of methods of racist terror in the United States, most notably the death penalty. George Bush, while governor of Texas, executed more people than any governor in U.S. history (152 human beings). He is the face of the death penalty. The people of the world have let it be known that they consider the use of the death penalty in the United States to be an unconscionable abrogation of fundamental human rights.
FOR MORE INFORMATION see
www.internationalanswer.org , or email
ANSWER-AT-afgj.org, or call New York 212-633-6646, Washington 202-543-2777, Chicago 773-583-7728, San Francisco 415-821-6545
TO ENDORSE, GO TO
www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/april/a20-endorse.html
----------------------------
PARTIAL LIST OF ENDORSERS:
A.N.S.W.E.R. STEERING COMMITTEE
- IFCO/Pastors for Peace
- Nicaragua Network
- Mexico Solidarity Network
- Partnership for Civil Justice LDEF
- Committee for Justice to Defend Palestinian Rights-USA
- Bayan-USA
- Kensington Welfare Rights Union
- International Action Center
- Middle East Children's Alliance
- Korea Truth Commission
ENDORSERS
(partial list)
- Black Voices for Peace
- Howard Zinn, Author, Historian
- Ramsey Clark, former U.S. attorney general
- Al-Awda Palestine Right to Return Coalition
- American Muslims for Global Peace and Justice
- Bay Area Anti-War Coalition
- Students for International Peace and Justice
- Palestine Aid Society
- Inglewood Anti-War Coalition
- Charlotte Coalition for Peace & Justice, North Carolina
- Chicago Coalition Against War & Racism
- International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS)
- National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA), Brooklyn NY
- Queers For Racial & Economic Justice
- Rev. Graylan Hagler, Senior Minister, Plymouth Congregational Church
- Bishop Thomas Gumbelton, Auxilliary Bishop, Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit
- Chuck Turner, council member, Boston City Council, District 7, Massachusetts
- Sally Davies, President, Council 92 AFSCME
- Prof. Richard Lewontin, Harvard University
- Rev. Curtis Gatewood, Durham, North Carolina
- The Feminist Coalition Emmanuel College, Boston
- Women For Peace, Iowa
- Anti-Racist Action, Denver
- Anarchist Action of Rochester
- Students And Youth Against Racism, Penn State University
- Int'l Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu Jamal (ICFFMAJ)
- Anti-War Committee, Minnesota
- High Country Citizens for Peace and Justice, NC
- Chicago Anti-Bashing Network
- Simmons College Feminist Union, Boston
- WESPAC (Westchester People's Action Coalition)
- Gloria La Riva, President, Typographical Sector, Northern California Media
- Bay Area Iranians for Peace and Social Justice
- Committee on US-Latin American Relations (CUSLAR)
- Ray LaForest, District Council 1707 AFSCME
- Prof. Asha A. Samad, Muslims against Racism and War
- Community Church of Boston
- Berkeley Women in Black
- Leslie Feinberg, activist and author
- Committee To Free Mumia Abu-Jamal, Penn State University
- Collier County Anti-War Coalition, Naples, FL
- Nicaragua Solidarity Committee of Chicago
- Rainbow Flags for Mumia
- Jim Fennerty, President, Chicago Chapter, National Lawyers Guild*
- Colombia Solidarity Committee, Chicago
- Freedom Road Socialist Organization
- Falmouth AntiWar, Cape Cod, Mass
- Justice for Political Prisoners in Turkey, Boston
- United American Indians of New England
- Womens Fightback Network, Boston
- Hammerhard MediaWorks
- David Sole, President UAW Local 2334, Detroit
- Moroccans for Peace and Justice
- Bus Riders Union, Los Angeles
- Committee to Defend Amer Jubran and Palestinian Free
A.N.S.W.E.R. APRIL 20 CALL TO ACTION:
www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/april/call.html
FULL LIST OF ENDORSERS:
www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/april/a20-endorsers.html
A.N.S.W.E.R. COALITION ENDORSERS:
www.internationalanswer.org/endorsers.html
TO ENDORSE, GO TO:
www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/april/a20-endorse.html
----------------------------
APRIL MARCH ON WASHINGTON UNITY STATEMENT FROM THE A.N.S.W.E.R. COALITION:
www.internationalanswer.org
BUSES, VANS & CAR CARAVANS COMING TO DC FROM AROUND THE COUNTRY:
www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/april/contacts.html
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Email:
ANSWER-AT-afgj.org
or call New York 212-633-6646, Washington 202-543-2777, Chicago 773-583-7728, San Francisco 415-821-6545.
www.internationalanswer.org
----------------------------
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
APRIL 19-22
National Colombia Mobilization
www.colombiamobilization.org
APRIL 20
NATIONAL MARCH ON WASHINGTON DC
Assemble 11 am at the White House
The people of the world are not our enemy - solidarity against U.S. world domination!
www.internationalanswer.org
APRIL 20
Stop the War at Home and Abroad
www.a20stopthewar.org
APRIL 20-21
Protest the IMF and World Bank
www.globalizethis.org
APRIL 22
Protest Ariel Sharon and George Bush - 7 pm at the annual conference of American Israeli Public Affairs Committee