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<DIV>god i'm sorry, i dont know what happened with that email, my email is freaking out.<BR>eric, the radical youth alliance</DIV>
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<DIV>as far as the permit goes.. i hope that, if for some reason one is not obtained, that we have a march anyways. i understand the importance of having one, but it is certainly better to have an illegal march than no march.</DIV>
<DIV>solidarity,</DIV>
<DIV>eric, the radical youth <BR></DIV>
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<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> O29-bounces@massglobalaction.org [mailto:O29-bounces@massglobalaction.org] <B>On Behalf Of </B>Keith Rosenthal<BR><B>Sent:</B> Wednesday, October 05, 2005 10:47 PM<BR><B>To:</B> o29@massglobalaction.org<BR><B>Subject:</B> [O29] demands, obtaining a permit<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Hey,</DIV>
<DIV> I'll just be brief: the demands for the protest have been voted on in a trickle over the past two months. I believe the first one was "troops out now" several months ago, followed by "recruiters out of our schools," last month, followed by a demand on relief for the gulf coast disaster victims two weeks ago. Second, i don't think a demand on anti-arab racism is that much different in its importance, relevance, or appeal, than a demand on military recruiters or funding human need not war. In fact, the scapegoating and attacks on arabs and muslims has been clearly central to the war justifications, with barbaric repercussions for arab people in this country and in the middle east. Right now, many Arab-Americans are afraid to fully get involved in antiwar activity because they are being wiretapped and "preventively detained" by the government. One key way to build this protest, which, we agree, is an urgent and pressing matter, is to be as inviting as possible to the huge antiwar community that arabs and muslims comprise. </DIV>
<DIV> Anyway, i certainly will be raising this chant and making placards for the march with demands against anti-arab racism and i would strongly encourage others to do the same.</DIV>
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<DIV> On another note: what's the status of the permit? Is there a phone number, fax number, or e-mail we should be flooding with requests that a permit be granted to us immediately and that the city stop their <EM>de facto</EM> attempts to deny us our first ammendment right to assembly and free speech? </DIV>
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<DIV>solidarity,</DIV>
<DIV>keith </DIV>
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<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><BR><BR><B><I>rrm48@aol.com</I></B> wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Hi ,<BR>I know that saying "ditto" to a previous post is not good form on <BR>Lists. But as one who, because I have to work, wasn't able to attend <BR>the meeting on Monday I find Christie's Email to the point-- The main <BR>demands for this action were decided back in August. I think it's <BR>obvious that defence of the Muslim and Arab communities will be a big <BR>part of Oct 29th. There will be banners, and certainly speakers, who <BR>will bring this up. This kind of "Yeah, but what about..." could be <BR>endless (What about Haiti, Palestine, Hands off Venezuela, Defend <BR>Anti-Recruitment Fighters etc. etc.). There are many rooms in the house <BR>of "Bring the Troops home Now"; Money for Human Needs not for <BR>Occupation; Recrutiters Out of the Schools." When people get there <BR>those rooms will be filled. As Christie says, at this point we have a <BR>demonstration to build. By Oct 29th doubtlessly there wil be even more <BR>issues (i.e.) Relief to New Orleans not Troops to fight the flu!"<BR>Bob Montgomery<BR><BR>-----Original Message-----<BR>From: Chrystie Hopkins <CHRYSTIE@MENISCUSMAGAZINE.COM><BR>To: Keith Rosenthal <KEITHMR81@YAHOO.COM>; o29@massglobalaction.org<BR>Sent: Wed, 05 Oct 2005 20:36:29 -0400<BR>Subject: Re: [O29] Arabs and Muslims, "Middle America, " and building <BR>our movement<BR><BR>Hi Keith,<BR>As one of the people who participated in the vote on Monday, and who <BR>voted "against", I thought I should respond.<BR><BR>I voted "no" based on procedure. It was my understanding that the <BR>demands that the October 29 Coalition set for this rally occurred over <BR>two months ago. There is still so much to do to get this rally to where <BR>it needs to be and our energy needs to be focusing on pulling this <BR>thing together, not voting on additional demands. We do not even have a <BR>permit yet for the Common, we do not have a finalized list of speakers, <BR>and we need to raise $13,000. We should all be focusing on making this <BR>rally happen rather then all of this in-fighting and drawn out <BR>political discussions. We can have all the demands we want, but without <BR>a permit, or funds, there will be no organized rally.<BR><BR>I do not think that anyone that was at the meeting on Monday disagrees <BR>with "Stop the racist scapegoating of Arabs and Muslims". The vote was <BR>on whether or not we were going back and re-examining our list of <BR>demands. Clearly, with three weeks to go, we need to move on. I am sure <BR>that there are other ways that we can bring any additional demands, <BR>especially this one, to the forefront of our rally.<BR><BR><BR>Chrystie<BR><BR><BR>On 10/5/05 3:36 PM, "Keith Rosenthal" <KEITHMR81@YAHOO.COM>wrote:<BR><BR>Hey All,<BR><BR>I just wanted to throw a couple of thoughts out there regarding the <BR>vote and discussion at Monday's O29 meeting concerning demands for this <BR>protest -- specifically the demand: "Stop the racist scapegoating of <BR>Arabs and Muslims" also, since the political discussion around the <BR>demand was short and choppy in the meeting, i wanted to respond to <BR>several things here.<BR>I think it was a mistake that this demand was voted down in a tie vote <BR>(9-9), and some of the justifications presented for why it should be <BR>voted down have the potential to set a bad precedent for our movement. <BR>it was stated that we "don't want a radical protest, which will only <BR>draw 1,000 people," "that we have to reach out to middle America," and <BR>that we should learn the lesson of the Vietnam antiwar movement which, <BR>"got the hard-hats to stop beating up the students, but instead join <BR>the students." i think this perspective is erroneous and somewhat <BR>mythical.<BR>First of all, i don't think we should have a laundry list of demands <BR>on the flyer, nor do i think we should talk about everything under the <BR>sun on the flyer. but i don't think a demand around arabs and muslims <BR>is "beyond the pale," too radical, or will bring less people out to the <BR>march. in fact, i think it can draw in more people pissed about the <BR>Patriot Act, Guantanamo mistreatment, and, of course, will draw in <BR>Arabs and Muslims, who just recently have been making pleas to Romney <BR>to stop the plan to wiretap local Mosques! where is the antiwar <BR>movement on this question of the supposedly imminent and overwhelming <BR>threat that "Muslim and Arab extremists" pose to "our freedoms"? the <BR>demand around Palestine at the September 24th protest certainly did not <BR>make that historic march any smaller, so why would a demand to stop <BR>anti-Arab racist scapegoating make our march any smaller?<BR>Second, we ought to be less afraid right now of being "too radical." <BR>the single-most important figure in revitalizing mass antiwar activity <BR>recently has been none other than that "raving radical" Cindy Sheehan, <BR>who supports Palestine, the Iraq resistance to occupation, refuses to <BR>vote for pro-war Democrats, and calls the current war "imperialist." <BR>she is resonating with people because the reality is that right now, in <BR>the aftermath of the sinking occupation of Iraq and the Hurricane <BR>Katrina disaster, most regular people are growing increasingly fed up <BR>with this war and with everything having to do with the current <BR>government. right now, people are increasingly fed up with even the <BR>Democratic Party for not taking a firm enough stand against Bush and <BR>the war because of their concern to not alienate "swing-voters in <BR>middle America."<BR>Finally, who is this mythical "middle America," and how do we win <BR>them? the reality is that right now, a majority of people are against <BR>the war and against Bush. according to polls, 1 out of 3 people <BR>consider themselves part of the antiwar movement -- that's 100 million <BR>people nationwide. in boston, that's roughly 200,000 people. once we <BR>get these people organized, it will be easy from there to win the other <BR>antiwar 1/3 to our side. also, who are we trying to win to this <BR>movement? soccer moms (like cindy sheehan)? sure! arabs, muslims, <BR>blacks, gays, women, students, latinos, workers, etc., (i.e., the <BR>majority of people)? we must!<BR>And if i may ask, which hard-hats are beating up antiwar students <BR>today? it's my understanding that the AFL-CIO is against the war in <BR>Iraq (this includes organized construction workers, i believe). <BR>remember, we are the majority! soldiers and military families are <BR>increasingly on our side. now is not the time for conservative, <BR>cautious moderation, but rather for bold, confident, and aggressive <BR>steps forward.<BR>During the vietnam war, these so-called "hard hats" (do you mean <BR>workers, soldiers, what?), were not won over to the side of the <BR>"students" because the "students" moderated their message. rather, they <BR>were won over to the antiwar movement because they simply grew more and <BR>more disgusted with the war and the government and felt they simply had <BR>to do something about it. in other words, people were going through a <BR>process where they were beginning to think much more critically about <BR>the government, if for no other reason than because of the increasing <BR>reality of what the government was doing to the Vietnamese people and <BR>to the US soldiers. this is precisely what is happening right now. the <BR>way we are going to win these people is not by moderating our message, <BR>but by taking every opportunity to expose every lie, smokescreen, and <BR>brutality that this government is carrying out in the name of this war <BR>. . . and in all of our names. in so doing, we will give expression to <BR>growing millions of people disgusted by the government and simply <BR>waiting for someone to confidently address the government's barbarity, <BR>blow-for-blow (e.g., Cindy Sheehan).<BR><BR>In conclusion, i warn against the broader framework, justification, <BR>and implications used to defeat the demand on anti-arab racism at <BR>monday's meeting. it sounds dangerously similar to the logic employed <BR>by Kerry supporters in the last election that we have to moderate our <BR>message to appeal to "swing-voters in middle-America" in order to win. <BR>not only did that strategy, in fact, lead to a defeat for our side, but <BR>it also taught movement activists how to hold their tongues instead of <BR>raising their voices. as the 2006 congressional elections begin to be <BR>talked about, we would do well to remember this lesson, and refuse this <BR>time around to repeat our mistakes. the way to grow is to confidently <BR>fight for our principles and to win more people to them -- in tandem <BR>with their own developing criticisms of the war and the government -- <BR>and not by "moderating ourselves," "politically disciplining <BR>ourselves," or "holding our noses."<BR>Again, this is not to say that we should have a laundry-list of every <BR>possible demand on the flyer. but this is to say that we have little to <BR>lose and much to gain by adding clearly relevant demands and letting <BR>our movement take an increasingly critical posture towards the <BR>government's various policies and ideological buttresses. and we ought <BR>to be wary of making arguments that would set a precedent for our <BR>movement to balk and moderate itself in order to appeal to some <BR>mythical "middle-America" at the expense of standing up for our beliefs <BR>and for those who are most oppressed and victimized by this war and <BR>this government.<BR><BR><BR>Solidarity,<BR>Keith Rosenthal<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>--------<BR>Yahoo! for Good<BR>Click here to donate <HTTP: store.yahoo.com redcross-donate3 />to the <BR>Hurricane Katrina relief effort.<BR>--------<BR>_______________________________________________<BR>O29 mailing list<BR>O29@massglobalaction.org<BR>http://massglobalaction.org/mailman/listinfo/o29_massglobalaction.org<BR><BR><BR><BR>--<BR>Chrystie Hopkins<BR>Managing Editor<BR>Meniscus Magazine<BR>www.meniscusmagazine.com<BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>_______________________________________________<BR>O29 mailing list<BR>O29@massglobalaction.org<BR>http://massglobalaction.org/mailman/listinfo/o29_massglobalaction.org<BR><BR><BR></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV>
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