Thousands Attend Rallies on June 5 to Pull Out of Iraq;
More Protests Planned
From A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition <ANSWER@InternationalANSWER.org>
http://educate-yourself.org/cn/june5iraqprotestrallies08jun04.shtml
June 8, 2004
20,000+ join June 5 Coast to Coast People's
Speak Outs in DC, SF and LA
More than 20,000 people participated in June 5 Coast to Coast
Speak Truth to Power rallies in Washington DC, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
The demonstrations were sponsored by the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition. While the
main demand of the demonstrations was to immediately withdraw all U.S. and
foreign troops from Iraq, the demonstrations also supported the Palestinian
people's struggle against colonial occupation, including the right to return;
called for an end to the U.S. occupation of Haiti and a restoration of the
democratically elected President Jean Bertrand Aristide, who was overthrown
by a U.S. orchestrated coup; and voiced opposition to the Bush administration's
war against social, economic and civil rights at home.
See below for a link to media coverage of the protests.
In Washington DC, 5,000 people participated in the People's
Speak Out in front of the Bush White House and then carried out a militant
march right to the doorstep of the home of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.
In San Francisco, nearly 10,000 people took to the streets, and in Los Angeles,
7,000 people carried out a spirited march and rally.
Speeches and messages at the Washington DC, Los Angeles and
San Francisco rallies included Michael Berg; actor and activist Danny Glover;
Martinza Castillo, Carlos Mejia and Norma Castillo, all relatives of Camillo
Mejia, a soldier and conscientious objector to the Iraq war; Congresswoman
Maxine Waters; Ron Kovic, author of Born on the Fourth of July; Hussein
Agrama, Free Palestine Alliance; Gloria Jackson, mother of U.S. soldiers
that just returned from Baghdad; Sue Niederer, mother of U.S. soldier killed
in Iraq; Serge Lilavois, National Popular Party (Haiti) Support Committee;
Fernando Suarez del Solar, father of U.S. Soldier Killed in Iraq; former
U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark; Rev. Graylan Hagler, Senior Minister
at Plymouth Congregational Church, President of Ministers for Racial, Social,
Economic Justice; Brenda Stokely, Co-Chair of New York City Labor Against
the War, President of Local 215 AFSCME; Pierre Lavoffiere, Haiti Action
Committee; Mahdi Bray, Executive Director, Muslim American Society Freedom
Foundation; Deborah Potter, S.I.S.T.E.R.S. (Sisters In Solidarity To End
Repression Secret Evidence, Spying, Search and Seizures - a Muslim woman's
organization); Ismail Kamal, Muslim Students Association of U.S. and Canada;
Yoomi Jeong, Korea Truth Commission; Omar Sierra, Alberto Lovera Bolivarian
Circle; Macrina Cardenas, Mexico Solidarity Network; California State Assemblywoman
Jackie Goldberg; West Hollywood Mayor John Duran; Lera Kiswani, Free Palestine
Alliance; Walter Johnson, San Francisco Labor Council; Henry Clark, West
County Toxics Coalition; and many more.
In Washington DC, the mood of the demonstrators was undeterred
by pouring rain and thunderstorms. The demonstrators marched through working
class neighborhoods and were greeted with the support of people as they
came out of their homes, workplaces, coffee shops and restaurants. Then
the crowd marched to the wealthy neighborhood where Donald Rumsfeld lives
in a $3.5 million house. As the crowd approached the neighborhood, the police
put up a blockade to try to prevent the crowd - who came from cities across
the East Coast, South and Midwest, including Charlotte, North Carolina;
Columbus, Ohio; Minneapolis, Minnesota; Saint Helena Island, South Carolina;
West Chester, Pennsylvania; and more - from reaching the Secretary of Defense's
residence. The people refused to accept the police's illegal effort to stop
them and were eventually able to march right up to the doorstep of Rumsfeld's
residence.
The demonstrations received widespread media coverage, both
in the United States and around the world. See below for a link to several
major articles.
The June 5 protests are the first step in a Summer of Protest
and Resistance.
On April 15, the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition called for demonstrations
to take place at the end of June exposing the Bush administration's phony
transfer of sovereignty in Iraq as nothing but a cover for the continued
occupation. Other organizations have now joined in issuing calls for demonstrations
to take place in the days leading up to and on June 30. The A.N.S.W.E.R.
Coalition urges activists everywhere to stage protests, rallies and other
actions in solidarity with the people of Iraq and to call for the immediate
withdraw of all U.S. and foreign troops from Iraq. To list your city's June
30 action on the A.N.S.W.E.R. website, fill out the Event Form.
The third planned step in the Summer of Protest and Resistance
is for a mass mobilization on Sunday, July 25 outside the Democratic National
Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. If elected, Kerry and the Democrats
have pledged to continue the criminal occupation of Iraq and to add tens
of thousands of additional U.S. troops for that purpose.
The Summer of Protest and Resistance will culminate with a
massive protest in New York City on Sunday, August 29, timed to coincide
with the Republican National Convention. The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition and
many other anti-war and progressive groups are planning for huge demonstrations
in New York City on August 28, August 29 and throughout the week of the
conventions.
The anti-war movement is getting stronger and the Bush administration
and the supporters of the Iraq war are getting weaker. We need your help
to carry out all of the organizing work in the next few months.
Please make a generous donation today to help continue the
work of the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition and the anti-war movement. We are grateful
to the many people who have donated in the past and we urge you to consider
making another vital contribution today. If you are one of those who have
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A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
www.ANSWERcoalition.org
info@internationalanswer.org
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