Bay Area rally opposes u.s. militarism and anti-Arab attacks

September 12 -- About 500 people gathered in Oakland tonight to stand in 
opposition to increased U.$. militarism and anti-Arab attacks and 
discrimination. There was a strong message put forward by the speakers that the 
u.s. government is to blame for these attacks on the U.$. 

As one speaker said "Lives were lost because of our economic policies…the way 
they treat people in the Third World with their military…has made us one of the 
most reviled countries in the world." He went on to implore that "we should be 
angry at our government that starves children…poisons water…sterilizes women… 
destroys democratic governments…funds other government to destroy, murder and 
maim other people…" 

A speaker from the Arab American Anti-discrimination Committee talked about 
reports coming in from around the country of attacks on Arab people, businesses 
and mosques. Arab stores are being looted, mosques are receiving death threats, 
and a woman was shot in Arizona yesterday. She talked about the importance of 
fighting back with a global context reminding people that this same terror is 
faced by Third World people daily, perpetuated by the U.$.: "Don't forget our 
people in Iraq, Puerto Rico… where bombs rain down every day." 

A member of Students for Justice in Palestine echoed this message stating his 
disgust with the Amerikan media for the scenes of Iraqis and Palestinians 
celebrating the attacks on the u.s. without giving the context. "Palestinians 
are experiencing the same terror, the same horror, not just for one day, but for 
the past year" [and MIM would add, for many years.] 

"Iraqis have been living for the past ten years under sanctions…their water is 
contaminated, medicine is not allowed in" [and MIM would add that they are also 
still being bombed by the u.s.] The rally also carried a strong pacifist message 
with many speakers opposing violence of any kind. MIM disagrees with this line. 
It is clear that the imperialists will not put down their guns, stop their 
bombing, end their murder and terror, without a fight. 

It is up to the people to wage winnable battles as we build for this fight. But 
we must be clear that it will take a revolution to end the terrorism of u.s. 
imperialism. And it will take communism to bring peace to the people of the 
world. 

Unfortunately this rally, and others like it across the country, are small 
compared to the widespread support for military action by the u.s. and sweeping 
anti-Arab sentiment by Amerikans. In response to the attacks on the World Trade 
Center and the Pentagon white amerikans are rallying around national chauvinism 
with increasingly fascist rhetoric. Activists need to understand the material 
basis for this reaction. The white working class has an economic and national 
interest in supporting u.s. imperialism and militarism. We should not be 
surprised by a reaction that is far from new. The vast majority of the Amerikan 
people supported bombing Iraq. Former Klan leader, fascist David Duke carried a 
majority of the white vote in the race for governor of Louisiana in 1991. And 
recently whites have thrown strong support behind increasingly repressive anti-
immigrant legislation and prison expansion. 

Revolutionaries have a responsibility to understand who are our friends and who 
are our enemies. The majority of the worlds people are on the side of anti-
imperialism. But the majority of the people within u.s. borders are siding with 
the imperialists. We should try to convince these people that only by opposing 
imperialism will they achieve peace. But we should not be surprised when they 
rally around the amerikan flag and demand increased U.$. militarist attacks on 
the people of the Third World.