------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the Oct. 4, 2001 issue of Workers World newspaper -------------------------
PALESTINIANS HOLD A DAY OF REMEMBRANCE By G. Dunkel New York On a barge moored to the Hudson River front in midtown Manhattan, Al-Awda of New York/New Jersey--the Palestinian Right of Return Coalition--held a "Day of Remembrance and Learning" on Sept. 23. The smoke from the fires still smoldering at the World Trade Center drifted faintly by the barge. A young Palestinian American woman spoke of the tragedy at the World Trade Center. She connected this tragedy with the U.S.-funded and U.S- supplied massacre of 3,000 people by the Israelis, carried out 19 years ago in September in the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps. Larry Holmes, co-director of the International Action Center (IAC), pointed out that "the U.S. government, for all its fancy proclamations, needs racism to prosecute this coming war because racism allows them to dehumanize and demonize Arabs and Muslims." Susan Ross, a member of the Free Mumia Coalition, raised his case and his support for the struggle of the Palestinian people. Amer Jubran, a member of Al-Awda who is facing trumped-up charges in Brook line, Mass., for an anti-Zionist pro test, brought up "the decades of unresolved conflict--political, economic and social repression--which are a direct threat to our lives and liberty. They have left 1.2 billion people in fear for their lives and livelihood. "The 53 years of U.S.-financed Israeli oppression are a good example, but not the only one, of the tensions these conflicts create." (See www.iacboston.org for details on Jubran's story.) Jubran went on to say "Even if the U.S. threatened to devastate the whole world, these conflicts could not be resolved without justice." Samia Halaby, the coordinator of Al-Awda here, gave a brief overview of Palestinian history and showed how the Anti- Racism Conference in Durban marked the growing support Palestine had throughout the world, a growing unity based on working-class solidarity. She ended with the chant, "The people, united, will stop the war." IAC co-director Sara Flounders remind ed the audience that we not only had to listen and learn, but decide what to do. "The policies of this government put us and the whole world in danger." She urged people to attend the major anti-war march Sept. 29 in Washington, D.C., and all the other protests coming up Oct. 7 and Oct. 12-13. Among the other speakers were: Ashanti, a former Black Panther; Mimi Rosenberg, a fired WBAI producer; and Eric Tong, representing the Oct. 7 coalition. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this document, but changing it is not allowed. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For subscription info send message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Web: http://www.workers.org) ------------------ This message is sent to you by Workers World News Service. To subscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To unsubscribe, E-mail to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To switch to the DIGEST mode, E-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Send administrative queries to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
