San Francisco peace rally supports anti-imperialist work

San Francisco--MIM and RAIL attended the annual Power to the 
Peaceful rally in Golden Gate Park in September. Organized by 
Michael Franti, a popular local musician, and other performers 
and activists, the rally attracted a predominantly white crowd of 
thousands with the mission of "Unifying the Peace Community." The 
theme of the event was "Schools not Prisons, Humanism not 
Militarism" Overall, as a gathering place for people interested 
in opposing the Amerikan war machine, and for activists to set up 
tables to sell and distribute information and products, the event 
had a positive impact. MIM unites with the overall message of 
opposition to the Amerikan militarism and criminal injustice 
system. Our main difference with the organizers is what we would 
call their "anarchist pacifism."

This was the fourth annual Power to the Peaceful event, scheduled 
to coincide with the date 9-11. According to Franti "911 began in 
1999 as an international day of art and culture in support of 
political prisoner Mumia Abu Jamal. The eleventh day of the ninth 
month (911) was chosen to call attention to the emergency status 
of Mumia's impending execution. In 2000 the event was expanded to 
show support for all prisoners on death row, and to speak out 
against the exponential growth of the prison industrial complex. 
In 2001 the day of September eleventh took on a wider 
significance as a result of the tragic loss of life which took 
place on the attacks of the day. At our 4th annual 911 Power to 
the Peaceful Festival, we will create a compassionate space of 
healing for ALL those people killed or displaced by terrorism and 
by the war on terrorism."

This was an excellent opportunity to link the events of 9-11 last 
year to the ongoing terror perpetrated by imperialism. And 
several speakers made important points about U.$. policies, the 
criminal injustice system, and other aspects of imperialism. But 
as the mission statement and information from Franti makes clear, 
the goal of the event was not to oppose imperialism. Taking a 
stand against terrorism is only correct if the real terrorists, 
the imperialists, are clearly identified. Supporting peace 
without making it clear that the people waging revolutionary 
armed struggle are in the forefront of this fight for peace is 
deceptive and ends up playing into the hands of the imperialists.

Because of our disagreement with the political message, MIM and 
RAIL activists focused on collecting petition signatures, 
distributing revolutionary literature, and talking to people 
attending the event so we can't report in detail on the speakers 
or performers. As an opportunity to talk to a largely progressive 
audience the event was a success for MIM and RAIL organizers. 
Hundreds of people stopped at the MIM/RAIL table set up in front 
of prominent colorful anti-imperialist signs. Most people who 
stopped were eager to help with the agitation campaigns we were 
promoting and also purchased copies of the latest MIM Notes and 
other literature.

Focusing on two issues at the table, activists drew people's 
attention to an important local campaign with international 
connections and an important international campaign with local 
relevance. The local campaign, demanding the University of 
California divest from Israel, garnered 131 petition signatures 
and overwhelming enthusiasm from the crowd. Younger people did 
not recognize the connection to the call to divest from South 
Africa in the 1980s which was an important and successful part of 
the anti-apartheid campaign. We took the opportunity to explain 
the historical lessons from that battle and the reasons behind 
our current campaign. Several people asked why we were focusing 
on the UC schools, rather than taking on a wider campaign of 
Amerikan divestment from Israel. We explained that we see this as 
a first step, and a winnable battle, in the divestment campaign 
which ultimately targets Amerikan imperialism to pull out 
entirely from Israel. And we encouraged people to research other 
corporate connections to Israel to add to the campaign.

The second campaign focused on at the table demanded freedom for 
Memik Horuz, deputy chairperson of the International League of 
Peoples' Struggle (ILPS), who has been in prison in Turkey since 
June of 2001. He was recently sentenced to 15 years in prison on 
trumped-up charges (see article in this issue of MIM Notes). We 
pointed out the U.$. government's support for brutal Turkish 
fascism. A number of people who stopped to sign the petition 
commented on the importance of Turkey to Amerikan imperialism in 
the Middle East. This drew important connections to the Amerikan 
war machine activities over the past year. Horuz is important to 
us in San Francisco as a part of the internationalist struggle 
that we are waging. For this campaign we collected 120 petition 
signatures, limited by the number of petition sheets we brought 
to the event.

Our main regret is not having more comrades with us to walk 
through the crowd collecting more petition signatures. The Open 
the U.$. Border petition on the table drew about 20 signatures 
and the anti-censorship postcards on hand, protesting censorship 
of prisoner mail, attracted the attention of a number of people 
stopping by the table as well. We are confident we could have 
gathered many more petition signatures and postcards with greater 
forces. We will work to build awareness of the need for this 
anti-imperialist voice at rallies such as this one in the coming 
year.

Bush Did It rally

A more radical and march with a correct focus joined the Power to 
the Peaceful rally after marching through Golden Gate park. A 
RAIL contingent joined the Bush Did It demonstration which was 
organized by the All Peoples Coalition Against U.S. Terror and 
War. The overall message of the rally was that the Bush regime is 
responsible for the attacks on the u$ on 9/11, whether they were 
actively involved or not. Organizers recognized the role of 
imperialism in breeding incidents like 9/11 from the majority of 
the world, which has not benefited from this system.

RAIL hopes that marching into the crowd chanting, "Hey Bush, you 
can't resist. We charge you as a terrorist." and carrying signs 
such as "Fighting Imperialism Is NOT Terrorism" brought a more 
revolutionary message to the broader audience. Contingent members 
followed with hours of outreach and discussion with individuals 
to better explain our differences with the more reformist and 
pacifist tendencies represented at the festival. Getting mostly 
positive responses, we hope those people looking to eliminate 
this system of war will help us to promote the most effective 
solution to war at the next peace rally: revolution.