WILL ANTIWAR MOVEMENT SPLIT MEND? - ANSWER ANSWERS UFPJ ANNOUNCEMENT OF SPLIT WITH ANSWER .<This is forwarded from [EMAIL PROTECTED] <yahoo.com>> <MY COMMENTS BELOW ARE IN CAPS & "BRACKETS". PLEASE FORGIVE THE CAPS. THEY DON'T MEAN THAT I'M SHOUTING. THEY'RE ONLY MEANT TO HELP DISTINGUISH MY COMMENTS FROM THE ORIGINAL STATEMENT OF A.N.S.W.E.R.> <ASTERISKS ** INDICATE KEY POINTS FOR COMMENT> . <THIS IS FROM A SEARCH ON "ANTIWAR" AT BLOGGER.COM> .December 16, 2005 A.N.S.W.E.R. responds to UFPJ Category: Anti-war Bob @ 2:29 pm .From A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition Steering Committee (full text online) in response to an email United for Peace and Justice sent out on their listserv saying they'll never join forces with ANSWER again. I guess they'll have to change their name, as the **`United' now seems a misnomer. .This split has been there since the Iraq War started. Now it's in the open. The ANSWER response makes me proud to be a member. It sums up the important issues facing the antiwar movement and **calls for unity towards common goals despite whatever differences may exist between groups. <ACTIONS SPEAK LOUDER OF THE TRUTH THAN WORDS SUCH AS THESE> . .A.N.S.W.E.R position on unity in the antiwar movement (Emphasis added. Circulate widely.) ."Ten weeks after the September 24 demonstration brought more than 300,000 people to Washington DC in a massive show of strength by a united antiwar movement, the leadership of the United for Peace and Justice (UFPJ) has publicly announced its **unilateral intention to effect a long-term split in the antiwar movement. This is the second time in seven months that UFPJ has publicly **proclaimed its intention to split the movement, coupled with a **false and ugly attack on the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition. . <A.N.S.W.E.R. SAYS THE SPLIT WAS UNILATERAL, APPARENTLY TO MAKE UFPJ SEEM TOO MUCH LIKE THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION WITH ITS UNILATERAL WAR ON IRAQ. I THINK THE "FALSE" AND UGLY "ATTACK" WAS UFPJ'S COMPLAINT THAT A.N.S.W.E.R. USES UNPEACEFUL TACTICS & DOESN'T HONOR ITS AGREEMENTS, SUCH AS AT THE SEP 24 RALLY. MY SENSE IS THAT UFPJ WITH ITS BROAD-BASED COALITION AND EFFORTS TO GET CONSENSUS FOLLOWS MORE THE FEMALE CULTURE PARADIGM OF PEACE AND UNITY [AS IN ITS NAME], WHILE ANSWER FOLLOWS MORE THE MALE CULTURE PARADIGM OF AGGRESSION, STEALTH, PSYCHOLOGICAL WARFARE AND DOMINATION. DON'T JUDGE MY COMMENTS AS ONE-SIDED JUST YET. BOTH CULTURES HAVE POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE TRAITS.> . The UFPJ leadership, from its inception, has been on a **relentless path of splitting the movement. . **The foundational political issue in the controversy between the two coalitions was over the inclusion of Palestine, the **centrality of the Arab-American and Muslim community in the leadership of the movement and the occupation of Haiti. At its essence, the **issue was one of an anti-imperialist perspective. Another underlying and related issue, usually in the background but very vital to strategic perspective, is UFPJ's increasing orientation toward and **flirtation with the Democratic Party. In the core of UFPJ's leadership are political parties and organizations that worked tirelessly for John Kerry and the election of Democrats. Their vision of "left-center unity" means to support the Democratic Party. **The Democratic Party leadership and almost all of the politicians in Congress cannot possibly embrace an antiwar movement that openly supports the Palestinian people and their right to return to their homeland. **The Democratic and Republican party leadership are both fervently committed to Israel and its ongoing suppression of the Palestinians. **According to this orientation, working with A.N.S.W.E.R. means it will be impossible to get the Democratic Party or members of Congress "on board." <I BELIEVE THE CONTROVERSY WAS OVER ANSWER NOT HONORING ITS AGREEMENT TO START THE MARCH AT 12:30 WITH HURRICANE VICTIMS SUPPORTERS LEADING THE MARCH, NOT MUSLIMS. I BELIEVE UFPJ IS SENSIBLE TO SEEK TO REFORM THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY, AS IT HAS A RECENT HISTORY AS A PROGRESSIVE, ANTI-IMPERIALIST PARTY. TO ABANDON THE PARTY WOULD LIKELY MEAN GREATER ANTI-MUSLIM IMPERIALISM AS REPUBLICANS GAIN MORE CONTROL. I BELIEVE DEMOCRATS SUPPORT BOTH PEACEFUL ISRAELIS & PEACEFUL MUSLIMS, WHILE REPUBLICANS TEND TO SUPPORT IMPERIALIST ISRAELIS & ARMAGEDDON ETC> . For our part, the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition considers it **harmful to try to tailor the message of the **progressive movement to please the long-awaited but fictional support from the politicians. **During the Vietnam war, Congress only cut funding for the war in 1974 - a year **after the last U.S. soldiers left Vietnam. The leadership of the Democratic Party and the Republic Party are **unflinching supporters of the war machine and they **share the strategic designs for U.S. global domination through the agencies of the Pentagon, IMF, World Bank and other auxiliary instruments like the WTO, the FTAA, and NAFTA. . <I THOUGHT THE VIETNAM WAR ENDED IN 1975 AFTER CONGRESS CUT FUNDING. I BELIEVE ANSWER IS RIGHT IN SAYING TOO MANY DEMOCRATS, ESP. THE LEADERSHIP, TEND TO SUPPORT THE WAR MACHINE TOO MUCH, AS GORE & LIEBERMAN ET AL HAVE DONE.> . ... . We are also aware that the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition is **routinely singled out for attack from right-wingers in the media, as well as an insignificant and small coterie of **liberal literati who sit comfortably on the sidelines **slinging mud and defaming A.N.S.W.E.R. as hundreds and thousands of **real activists go out every day passing out leaflets, postering, meeting with new people and conducting all the other unseen tasks that are necessary for the functioning of a truly mass movement. It is a predictable pattern. If we organize an event of 100,000 or more the chorus starts to sing simultaneously, with great excitement, from exactly the same worn out hymnal. **Conservative and liberal self-appointed elites use the same old, tired, factually-inaccurate **red-baiting caricatures to slander the movement we have all been working day and night to build during the past four years. We do not normally respond to those routine attacks because it is a diversion from building the real movement. Besides, it is a cottage industry that feeds off itself. . It is a source of **embarrassment for the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition that the antiwar movement in the most privileged country, led by a government whose actions have created so much suffering and consequent anger from people around the world, is **unable to come together to shoulder the responsibility placed on us. ** Splitting the peace movement on an unprincipled and sectarian basis in the U.S. is an act that will enter history shrouded with the indignation of the victims of empire and war. . **Abrogating our responsibility to unity is an option the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition will not take. **We will never abandon those struggling against the bombs and jet fighters made here in the United States. . <AGAIN, WORDS ARE CHEAP & ACTIONS TELL MORE TRUTH THAN WORDS ALONE. IT'S A TYPICAL MALE CULTURE TACTIC TO COVERTLY CAUSE A PROBLEM & THEN SEEK LEADERSHIP [DOMINATION] ON THE PRETENSION OF SEEKING TO SOLVE THE PROBLEM. ANSWER SEEMS TO HAVE CAUSED THE SPLIT BY NOT HONORING ITS AGREEMENTS WITH UFPJ & NOW SEEMS TO BE SEEKING LEADERSHIP OF THE PEACE MOVEMENT. REMEMBER THE MALE CULTURE HAD THOUSANDS OF YEARS TO LEARN TACTICS FOR HUNTING PREY, SUCH AS DECEPTION, WHICH IT LATER USED TO HUNT "ENEMIES" AS IN WAR.> . It is unfortunate that we have had to divert energies to respond to this effort to split the movement, but we are also confident that the many hundreds of thousands of antiwar **activists in the country **will choose the path of unity to stand together regardless of whether a **small leadership grouping **directs people to be divided. There will be **Spring demonstrations against war and racism including the March 18-20 days of action (www.pephost.org/march18-20). We still believe that unity is the best way to proceed and that the most important work is to bring as many forces as possible together based on the inclusion, not exclusion, of targeted communities. . <AS I HEAR IT, UFPJ HAS A BROAD BASE OF LEADERSHIP WITH HUNDREDS OF GROUPS INVOLVED, NOT A "SMALL LEADERSHIP GROUPING". IT'S ANSWER THAT HAS A SMALL & SECRET LEADERSHIP CORE GROUP. THE SECRET NATURE OF ANSWER'S LEADERSHIP IS FERTILE GROUND FOR INFILTRATION & MANIPULATION BY ENEMIES, I.E. IMPERIALISTS, FASCISTS ET AL. ISN'T IT LUCKY FOR THE NEOCONS THAT THE PEACE MOVEMENT JUST HAPPENS TO RUPTURE JUST AS THE NEOCONS' POPULAR SUPPORT WANES?> . In the weeks and months ahead, the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, working with allies in **oppressed and targeted communities, with **young people in the high schools and universities and in the **workplace, and with all those who are fighting for peace and justice, will seek to build the broadest, most . <THESE SEEM LIKE GOOD ORGANIZING TACTICS.> . **militant mass movement to stop the war in Iraq and the war against working class communities at home. Different groups may have different slogans on their banners, but they should try to **overcome the forces of division so as to march shoulder to shoulder against the real enemy. . <THE HORSE'S MOUTH: ANSWER ADMITS IT SEEKS TO BUILD A MILITANT MOVEMENT, NOT A PEACEFUL MOVEMENT. IT APPARENTLY INTENDS TO REPLACE THE PRESENT RULING MILITANT SYSTEM WITH ITS OWN MILITANT SYSTEM. THAT'S THE MALE CULTURE SPEAKING AGAIN. IF IT TRULY WANTS TO "OVERCOME THE FORCES OF DIVISION", LET'S SEE IT GIVE UP ITS OBSESSION WITH MALE CULTURE DOMINANCE & SECRETIVENESS.> No comments yet. . <OH YES THERE ARE.>
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