Fw: Troops Out Now Coalition On Palestine and the September 24 antiwarprotest

["Nello peacelink" <n.margiotta at peacelink.it>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Troops Out Now Coalition


Troops Out Now Coalition On Palestine and the September 24 antiwar protest


As TONC works to revive, and re-energize the struggle to not only end, but 
defeat, the colonial occupation of Iraq, we will walk every extra mile, and 
spare no effort in our efforts along with others to forge greater unity in 
the antiwar movement. The central question is, how can this best be done?

We don't think that you can make the movement "broader" by narrowing its 
appeal and relevance. We believe that the idea that the movement should 
strive to look more white, colorless, and vapid, and that it should be 
fearful of looking too Arab, Black, Latin, and Asian, is a false notion. 
There is no power or future in a movement based on this notion. Either the 
composition, politics and outlook of the antiwar movement in this country is 
going to reflect the world, or it's going to be little more than a 
irrelevant reflection of a distant past.

Clearly the focus of the movement is Iraq.  But we must resist any effort to 
either exclude or minimize the occupation of Palestine as a focus of the 
movement.  We must do this because the struggle for the Right to Return and 
against the occupation of Palestine is central to the struggle of Arab 
people and it is impossible to separate the Palestinian Question From Iraq. 
Trying to separate the occupation of Iraq from the occupation of Palestine 
is, to us, the same as trying to separate the struggle against the war from 
the struggle against racism at home.

Moreover, instead of abetting anti-Arab and Muslim racism and repression, 
the movement must spare no effort in facilitating the widest participation 
of the Arab and Muslim community in the Sept. 24 antiwar protest in 
Washington, and in all of our activities.  The movement reached such a high 
water mark at the antiwar march on Washington in April 2002, when after 
years of struggle within the movement, the antiwar movement embraced the 
struggle of Palestine, and for the first time in history, the streets of the 
capital were filled with tens of thousands of Arabs and Muslims marching arm 
and arm with antiwar protesters.

The movement has moved forwards on Palestine and the Troops Out Now 
Coalition is determined to fight any backsliding.  Our friends in the 
National Council of Arab Americans, as well as others in the Arab and Muslim 
community have engaged TONC on this important issue.  We have told our 
friends and we want to make it clear to all that the Troops Out Now 
Coalition supports the call for unity in the anti-war movement for the 
September 24, 2005 mobilization on the basis of the political program 
achieved on March 20, 2004, the first anniversary of the war on Iraq. We 
support, as a basis of the September 24 mobilization, the Arab American and 
Muslim community in the political slogan: End Colonial Occupation from Iraq 
to Palestine to Haiti, Support the Palestinian People's Right to Return. 
Meaningful solidarity with the Arab and Muslim community will truly make 
September 24 broader and stronger. TONC believes that this is what the world 
wants to see, and what the Imperialists don't want.

TONC hopes to build unity on this basis for September 24 and beyond to 
unleash the full mass potential of the struggle to shut the war down.






Troops Out Now Coalition