Occupation is a Crime: Resist on March 21st
There is a lot wrong with the ANSWER Coalition.
Their steering committee is dominated by Stalinists in the Party for Socialism and Liberation, a break away from the Workers’ World Party. These groups saw the Soviet Union as an example of a healthy socialist state. Their view of Marx is so simplistic it’s a caricature of itself. Their “anti-imperialist” stance makes them bedfellows with tyrants in Iran, China and Sudan and compares to the muddled politics of the German Red Army Fraction. Their activism against Israeli crimes is commendable, but at times their rhetoric strays towards anti-Semitism.
They exaggerate their protest turnouts so much it’s laughable. I was at a protest on September 15th, 2007 that perhaps at most 25,000 people attended. The cops said it was only around 10-20,000. The police love to lowball these figures, but it was a spirited march. How many people did ANSWER claim participated in the action? 100,000.
An October 2007 Socialist Worker editorial penned by Todd Chretien and republished on CounterPunch asserted: "Ask anyone who has worked with ANSWER, and they will tell you that its organizers always double the number of people at their marches. More recently, the multiplication factor has increased." Chretien describes this as "disorienting for the movement."
But no one can accuse ANSWER of being in bed with the forces that dragged this country into the latest batch of imperialist wars. So when United for Peace and Justice heads buck consensus opinion within their own ranks, call for limited local actions on the 21st and are careful in their condemnation of US action in Afghanistan and Israeli actions in occupied Palestine, I’ll be marching with ANSWER and praying that I don’t have to listen to a PSL member tell me about the class composition of the Chinese Communist Party.
If your in Washington DC, Los Angeles or San Francisco I hope you’ll join me.
Members of the March 21 National Coalition and supporters of the March on the Pentagon include:
- ANSWER Coalition (http://www.answercoalition.org/)
- Muslim American Society Freedom
- National Council of Arab Americans
- National Assembly to End the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars and Occupations (http://www.natassembly.org/)
- Veterans For Peace-National
- Iraq Veterans Against the War
- Vietnam Veterans Against the War
- United States Labor Against the War
- Free Palestine Alliance
- Al-Awda, International Palestine Coalition for the Right of Return
- Ramsey Clark
- Cindy Sheehan
- San Francisco Labor Council (AFL-CIO)
- The World Can’t Wait
- Code Pink
- School of the Americas Watch
- Paul Haggis, Academy-Award winning director and screenwriter
- Ron Kovic, Vietnam Veteran
- Edward Asner, Actor
- Mimi Kennedy, Actor and Activist
- Elaine Johnson, Gold Star Mother
- Colonel Ann Wright, US Army Reserves (Retired)
- Lynne Stewart
- Tina Richards, Executive Director, Grassroots America
- Angola 3 Defense Committee
- Herman Wallace, Political Prisoner, Angola Prison, Louisiana
- Albert Woodfox, Political Prisoner, Angola Prison, Louisiana
- Raul Pacheco, guitarist, Ozomatli
- Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director, National Lawyers Guild*
- Michael Ratner, President, Center for Constitutional Rights*
- Michael Smith, Member of the Board, Center for Constitutional Rights*
- Blase and Theresa Bonpane, Office of the Americas
- Tina Richards, Executive Director, Grassroots America
- Eric Mar, San Francisco Board of Supervisors, Chinese Progressive Association*
- Alameda County (CA) Central Labor Council
- After Downing Street
- Progressive Democrats of America
- Voters for Peace – U.S.
- Alliance for Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines
- DAMAYAN Migrant Workers Association
- Gabriela Network/Mariposa Alliance
- Alliance for Global Justice
- Nicaragua Network
- Venezuela Solidarity Network
- Partnership for Civil Justice
- Middle East Children’s Alliance
I’m not sure what you mean when you say that UFPJ “are careful in their condemnation of US action in Afghanistan and Israeli actions in occupied Palestine.”
You counted 25,000 by yourself? wow — good job! I’m sure ANSWER probably doesn’t have any method of determining march sizes after organizing dozens over the last six years, so your guess is definitely as good as theirs. And good source, ISO leader Todd Chretien — what an objective reporter! He says “Ask anyone who has worked with ANSWER, and they will tell you that its organizers always double the number of people at their marches.” I’m sure he asked tons of people, but just forgot to quote them. And you’re spot on with that Wikipedia research about the PSL! They are total “tyrant bedfellows” by pointing out that “human rights” issues in other countries have to be solved by the people of those countries instead of the U.S. government. Just the type of journalism we need! — that 90% criticism, 10% solidarity style is really effective for bringing people to marches.
“issues in other countries have to be solved by the people of those countries”
So much for proletarian internationalism. This quote is exactly what’s wrong with so much of the Stalinoid left.
Sam: at least he is saying people should join him there. It’s not terrible to let people know what ANSWER and PSL’s politics are. None of which you actually refute, but you just reiterate a belief in self-determination believed by anyone in DSA.
Most people don’t have to count 25,000 to know it ain’t 100,000. Please don’t be so smug – it’s obnoxious and makes you come off no worse than the critical solidarity you say is unproductive.
UFPJ heads have not placed a prominence on the Afghanistan occupation– they haven’t brought up Somalia substantially. They were wrong to stop working with ANSWER, and only recently have they shifted towards Palestine.
There are always questions about how much of their policy is influenced by their support of progressive Democrats, but I tend to believe that protests need to be to the left of the Democrats and class independent.
As far as my thoughts on PSL, they are right to oppose certain instances of humanitarian intervention, but spending time defending autocracy is wrong. Holding up police states as examples of socialism, is not my conception of socialism. So maybe I only have 10 percent solidarity to share with the PSL.
Calling the death of 2,000-3,000 people in the Tiananmen Square massacre in China the “June 4th incident” or the “Tiananmen incident” in PSL editorials infuriates me. Your uncritical support for FARC is absurd as well. The list goes on.
It’s a party neither for real socialism or real liberation in my view so support of ANSWER’s activism comes critically.
The point of this post was to inform people otherwise alienated by ANSWER that many democratic socialists and other progressives in the democratic left will be attending. I think I achieved my purpose.
Some in DSA have always had a problem with supporting Palestinian rights. It’s a shame, because it puts DSA outside increasingly an international norm in which it is no longer acceptable to tell people that their criticism of Israel if it doesn’t tow the line of X Group is “anti-Semitism.” It’s not anti-Semitic to not just criticize Israel but not be a Zionist. There are and have always been anti-Zionist Jews. To label them “anti-Semitic” is just a sign of desparation on the part of people who disagree with their viewpoint. I don’t share ANSWER’s particular brand of sectarianism, but I also think that some of their success in organizing ipeople of color comes from the limitations of UFPJ, limitations that are about the organization’s squeamishness about being perceived as 1) too “left” of the Democratic Party (and by whom?) and 2) its hesitancy and ambivalence about Afghanistan and Palestine. Even when if you look at public opinion polls, it’s clear that the US public is ready to hear positions to the left of the Obama administration.
For the sake of historical accuracy: yes, there were people in DSOC — one of DSA’s predecessor organizations — were Labor Zionists who failed to recognize the legitimacy of the Palestinian struggle against Israeli colonialism and occupation. But by the time that DSOC merged with the New American Movement and founded DSA, the combined group embraced a “two states for two peoples” position basically indistinguishable from the longstanding international consensus.
Thank you Jason on putting DSA’s positions in the right context. If one is going to criticize DSA, do it for the right reasons.
Also, just as anti-Semitism shouldn’t be the fallback response against anti-Zionism, I think to deny anti-Semitism doesn’t play a part (or at least come out) in the rhetoric of people who are against Israel is just as foolish.