Anti-war movement spread widely in Boston October 27th by bosmim@mim.org and a comrade BOSTON, Massachusetts, October 27, 2001--Although the anti-war population is still a minority within u.$. borders, the movement demonstrated tremendous energy on October 27th. There was both a major teach-in at Tufts University and a demonstration downtown. Simultaneously, MIM witnessed smaller organized efforts around the city to oppose the war. About 350 people attended a march from City Hall to the Israeli consulate and then the Northeastern University (Reserve Officer Training Corps) ROTC. Boston MIM ran out of MIM Notes to distribute to the marchers and fascinated onlookers. Organized essentially by the Workers World Party, the march did have a militant internationalist spirit for the most part. The largest number of posters decried the war as "racist." The most visible organizations involved in leading were the International Action Center and International A.N.S.W.E.R-Boston. The rally had some aspects regarding the u.$. situation that MIM did not agree with, but most of the talk was about the hypocrisy of this war, in creating refugees and then claiming to feed them and in killing millions and then getting upset and surprised when enemies created by the CIA kill thousands of u.$. citizens. There were three megaphone-holders and a truck. Some of the main chants were "War now? Hell no!" "What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? Now!" Also modified from the Vietnam War but applicable to today's bombing as well: "George Bush, what do you say? How many kids did you kill today?" One poster read: "War is good for business. INVEST your SON." Some counter-demonstrators also attended. Most were white veterans from the freerepublic.com. One Black, homeless veteran also made a point of getting into the crowd. He repeatedly said in the typical "love it or leave it" hostility, "if you don't like the country, then leave the country!" He didn't explain how it is possible to leave a country that thinks it owns the whole world and serves as a global cop. Since the veteran used an analogy of a robber coming into your house as why bin Laden should be pursued militarily, an "RCP-USA" activist asked him about the united $tates going "exploiting and ripping off" people around the world. The Black veteran said, "no you can't support that, but you can't do anything about that." He went on to say if the United $tates did not fight for control of oil, "you'd still be living by candles." The opposition was standing on the sidewalks, quietly, holding signs "First justice, then peace." Why did they bother to come? They said almost nothing. Was it a reminder? Or threat? Two young men, looking very similar, probably brothers were watching the rally from the distance. They looked very ordinary, typical working class with a fake military jacket and baseball hat. Again, the same slogan: "6000 + dead, don't forget." Their faces were impenetrable and stiff. However, even in silence, the message was clear: "We are here to remind you that Americans do have a right to control the whole world; those who doubt it, will pay for it." This day these men were just silent figures. What if their faces are faces of tomorrow's fascism? A comrade also passed by the reactionaries and they asked: "When are you going to become an Amerikkkan," and the comrade said, "I thought Americans were for freedom." The counter- demonstrator said, "that's right." So the comrade said, "then how come the united $tates is the leading prison-state in the world?" The counter- demonstrator did not understand, so the comrade repeated it several times till the counter- demonstrator simply said, "no it isn't" (the leading prison-state in the world.) This typical Amerikan nationalist trash brags about freedom it knows nothing about. "We had nothing to do with the CIA. It was your government in power, but still you come here to blame the communists for what happened," the comrade further explained. Perhaps this nationalist trash should demonstrate against Bush since he gave the Taliban over $40 million. Maybe they should stand outside Bush Sr.'s house for training and arming bin Laden in the 1980s. Instead, who does this trash blame--the peace demonstrators. The counter-demonstrators carried signs saying, "War IS the solution!" Yet, at least one speaker made the point against "fighting terror with terror." One poster in the pro-peace crowd also said, "you are either with us or the terrorists." MIM would say that violence can only eliminate violence when it is well-planned and organized, as in the U.S. Civil War or in Mao's People's War. The U.$. war in Afghanistan does not qualify, because it comes with no forward-looking plan to eliminate the causes of conflict in the Middle East and Central Asia. Such a plan is not possible in the profit-system. As the march went on, some people honked for or against. A postal worker gave a thumbs down while honking his government truck's horn. Two park rangers from the Boston Common also applauded the counter-demonstrators as they went by. Outside the government though, the reaction of the population to the demonstration was curiousity and, maybe, surprise. It was such a beautiful day, and so many people were sitting in cafes, or just walking on the street. As usual, the oblivious and shopping labor aristocracy attended to normal weekend business. Probably, these sorts of people wondered why and what for somebody decided to demonstrate against bombing in a far away country on such a nice day. After all, our government knows better what to do, the shopping labor aristocracy probably was thinking. Yes, they were curious, but only to an extent that it didn't disrupt their normal weekend activity. One woman smiled and pointed to her shopping bags as an excuse for why she couldn't take MIM Notes: her hands were obviously full. She was happy with the world as it is. However, employees of Armani boutique showed vivid interest in the demonstration. MIM intended to take pictures and to hand them a paper. However, due to technical reasons the picture taking took too long; thus, the newspaper, unfortunately, did not reach the Armani workers before they went back inside the shop. We hope to do better next time. At the Israeli Consulate, a vice-president from the International Union of Electronic, Electrical, Salaried, Machine and Furniture Workers- Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO (IUE- CWA) spoke to the rally. The union has many workers at General Electric, which is a war goods producer. However, even the IUE-CWA vice-president had to point out that her union did not support her statement and that she was there as an individual. MIM Notes attempted to interview her, but she did not want to be quoted for attribution --again because of the delicacy of her situation, which to MIM says that this sort of situation should not exist to begin with. MIM will address the IUE- CWA and general labor organizing situation in another article, because MIM believes that internationalists-- people who value Afghani lives as highly as their own--should not work for unions that end up endorsing wars such as these. The "RCP-USA" brought a map of the world as a banner to lay on the sidewalk. It showed all the places in the world that the United $tates used massive terror in. Posters we saw carried included: "global oppression can't deliver justice." One individual carried a poster showing an Amerikan flag dripping blood. "God bless, no, forgive America." MIM hopes that after the defeat of u.$. imperialism, the world will be able to forgive Amerikkkans. It remains to be seen. Note: http://www.iue-cwa.org/