Resistance Forum!

In preparation for our event next week, post/add to comments/label anything you find relating to Iraqi, student, or military resistance!

Protesting the war!

Here's a link to the Daily Cal article about the protest from Saturday. A friend of mine, Hossam al-Hamalawy took some great pictures of the protest that you can find here. Also check out his blog if you get a chance.

BSTW's very own Jeff E was interviewed by a news crew during the protest -- check out his biting indictment of the war in Iraq.

Peace Not Prejudice

The Daily Cal has recently published a few editorials on Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week. The more recent one defends the week as confirmation of American values in the face of a violent and intimidating Islamic Jihad, written by Andrew Quinio, project chairman for Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week at UC Berkeley (also a prominent member of the BCR). The first likens Horowitz' minions to McCarthy and his Red Scare, feeding American fear of the unknown. It criticizes the week as a manipulation (desecration?) of the 1st Amendment because it uses the Bill of Rights to justify the establishment of a binary, alienating, hate-fueled environment. Apparently, Horowitz has cited the article as a statement of support from UC Berkeley for his expression of free speech. I have heard multiple groups on campus call for a more inflammatory condemnation by the Daily Cal.

I imagine that my reaction is quite similar to all of yours. Quinio writes that "the real danger comes not from single words, but from those who find single words to be frightening." I find it interesting that he can criticize the Daily Cal for being overly sensitive to the term "Islamo-Fascism" while he capitalizes on the fear which such a term can instill. Peter Wilby (via The Guardian) put it nicely when he wrote, "I wish the press would debate a little more vigorously the views...of those who flirt with the boundaries of racism and not simply pillory those who question them."

It is important to remember that the "Islamo-Fascism Awareness" movement will not die after this week. Just a few weeks ago, Senator Rick Santorum urged President B-sh to depict the war in Iraq as a battle against Islamo-Fascism in an effort to rouse dwindling public support (because this provides "a clear message and a clear understanding of what we are up against") In the coming months we should watch for this new shift in rhetoric.

If anyone is interested, NRCAT has published a Statement Against Torture which everyone is welcome and encouraged to endorse. Personally, I do not encourage anyone to endorse David Horowitz' Petition (though it is quite an interesting read), which has been likened to the Great Loyalty Oath from Catch-22.

Tomorrow, during the BCR event at noon on Sproul, there will be protesters reading statements, waving signs, etc. If anyone would like to read a statement or participate, please come! Meet up a little before noon on Upper Sproul. I hope to see you all there! Wear green!

Occupation and resistance in Iraq

This is pretty amazing: a six-minute 'video op-ed' posted on the New York Times website about the Iraqi resistance. It includes interviews and statistics that show that it is the American occupation itself, rather than sectarian strife or 'terrorism,' which is causing the vast majority of the obscene violence in Iraq. Ordinary Iraqis are understandably incensed by the presence of the American military, and it is this fact which is causing them to fight--which accounts for most of the attacks in the country (74% of all violent acts in Iraq are aimed at the American military, as opposed to other Iraqis, according to the US Department of Defense). Definitely worth watching.

Nancy, Nancy, You Can't Hide!

Video of the Campus Antiwar Network protest at Nancy Pelosi's office, which BSTW, along with other campus antiwar groups in the Bay Area, organized:

Workshop on Vietnam

Perhaps over the next week anyone who finds information contributing to the Jeffs' discussion on Vietnam could post it for all to see and learn!

Simply add a comment to this message to contribute to the conversation.

October 27th -- protest the war in San Francisco

The October 27th protest against the war in Iraq is just around the corner. We're hoping for a good showing of people from UC Berkeley. The Campus Antiwar Network is sponsoring a student contingent and everyone is more than welcome to join us.

Protesting the war has in recent years been considered a little passe (partly because people feel they don't do anything and partly because people feel that they are a kind of ritualized political theater of the left). But it has always seemed to me that this conclusion was based on people's raised expectations about protesting the war Iraq, namely, that protests were ALL that it would take to stop the war.

Protests have never been sufficient to stop any war. In the 1960s, there were of course substantial demonstrations, but a) they were happening all over the country, and not just in a few places every 6 months and b) they were only part of the resistance to the war time effort (which included, domestically, draft-dodging, counter-recruitment, sit-ins, etc. and internationally, importantly included the successful military tactics of the Vietnamese NLF).

But protests are necessary. They not only give people a chance to see what the anti-war movement looks like, they get to see what it is that the antiwar movement wants. We get an opportunity to meet and talk to other activists who have their own experiences of organizing successes and failures and we get to learn from them. And perhaps most importantly, they can definitely be a boost for morale in some trying times.

Stand Up! Speak Out!

STAND UP! SPEAK OUT!

Against poverty and for the millenium development goals

Wednesday, Oct 17th San Fran Civic Center

www.standupsanfrancisco.org