The quarrel between the two main anti-war coalitions, United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) and the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism Coalition (ANSWER) means they’re sponsoring competing national anti-war marches early in 2007. Oh brother.
Okay, well, I’m sure there are good reasons for this depressing state of affairs... You can go here and here for the problems the groups have with each other. Uhh, enjoy.
UFPJ sponsors the earlier, January 27th, march. What’s special about January 27th? Not sure, but UFPJ says the march will “Tell the New Congress” what we just told them (“Get us the f*#@ck out of Iraq!), again.
But the 110th Congress convenes Wednesday, January 3rd. So...
... I’m just saying... UFPJ, your march is three weeks late. And an earlier date would match a lot of people’s semester breaks, but hey, I’m sure there are good reasons for the delay.
The march announcement summarizes:
The peace and justice movement helped make ending the war in Iraq the primary issue in this last election. ... On January 27 we will take collective action, as we march in Washington, DC, to make sure Congress understands the urgency of this moment.
But, back to dueling peaceniks, UFPJ adds at the end:
You might have also heard that United for Peace and Justice was calling for a demonstration in Washington to commemorate the 4th anniversary of the war in Iraq on March 17. Because of the new developments and our decision to organize the January 27th mobilization, we are now calling for local and regional antiwar actions that weekend instead. We will soon be issuing more information about the plans for the 4th anniversary.
Well, that’s a fine “greetings, comrades” to ANSWER'S call for a March 17 mass demonstration in Washington:
The ANSWER Coalition is calling for mass demonstrations in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Chicago and other cities and towns throughout the United States as anti-war actions take place throughout the world on this global day of action.
One bonus of ANSWER’s protests is that you can protest not just the war in Iraq, but also US (and/or Israeli) imperialism in Palestine, Lebanon, Cuba, North Korea, the Philippines, Haiti, Sudan and Venezuela, its non-stop war on the Arab people, racial and religious profiling especially against the Muslim and Arab community, government surveillance and warrantless wiretaps, assertion of imperial presidential authority to jail anyone without charge, Guantanamo and other secret prisons and torture centers, cuts in social services and education funding, reduced veterans benefits, high taxes on working people, assaults against unions and decent wage paying jobs, illegal elimination of pension funds by corporations, racist neglect as evidenced by New Orleans, the government's policy toward immigrant workers, and the Republican and Democratic leadership’s support for the "warfare state" (also known as the Military Industrial Complex), which is the root of destruction of financing of education, housing, health care, child care, and all other vitally needed programs.
Peace. ...
Oh hell, I can’t end on such a depressing note. If you want an insightful and (reasonably) optimistic piece along peace activism lines, read Robert Parry’s America: What to Do Next?:
... in one of the most encouraging examples of grassroots democracy in decades ... citizen-run Internet sites led the way along with non-traditional TV and radio, from Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” to Air America and other progressive radio shows, to pull back the veils of propaganda.
This mix of start-ups, iconoclasts and unconventional media got enough information to the people so a majority finally could see through the deceptions. ...
Many mainstream media personalities were unmasked ... as frauds and cowards. They had stood meekly aside as Bush’s Iraq War parade passed by, or they jumped into line themselves, all the better to protect and advance their careers.
Still, this match-up – pitting the well-funded right-wing propaganda machine and the giant mainstream media against the tiny information outlets that dared question Bush’s policies – must rank as one of the most imbalanced contests in modern history. ...
So, one of the lessons from Election 2006 should be that investment in a “counter-media” is both the right thing to do and the smart thing to do. Contrary to the long-held opinion of many on the Left, media can be both cost-effective and crucial to the emergence of a coherent popular movement of concerned citizens.
So, please, be there on January 27th AND March 17th (really, though, sooner is better than later). But give a little thought and time, too, to giving to and growing anti-occupation, anti-imperialist big and small media.