Oakland, April 8---The African People's Solidarity Committee (APSC) hosted a forum entitled "Where is the Peace Movement Going?" inviting all of the large mobilizers of recent demos as well as many smaller groups representing movements of the oppressed. Unfortunately, those who have been organizing most of the large demos such as International ANSWER, Direct Action to Stop the War, Global Exchange and other regional ad hoc groups chose not to attend, some of them reportedly boycotting the event. Those represented on the panel were the APSC and their guiding party the African People's Socialist Party (APSP), the Barrio Defense Committee, Filipinos for Global Justice (a coalition representing many Filipino groups in the Bay Area), the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League (RAIL). In addition, Lance Corporal Steven Funk of the U$ Marine Corps managed to dodge jail for one more day to receive a standing ovation after declaring he has refused to report to duty in order to "take a stand against the u$ government."
The purpose of the forum was to get the voices of the oppressed heard within a white liberal dominated movement. Those who participated recognized the legitimacy and the need for revolutionary struggle against this system and the focus on national liberation struggles and self-determination was stressed throughout the evening. Missing from the forum were any representatives of the anarchist movement which is a potential ally to these struggles.
The APSC introduced the topic by focusing on their recent struggle with the April 5th Coalition in Oakland to get Chairman Omali Yeshitela of the APSP on the speakers list. Yeshitela, who spoke on the panel tonight, criticized the white leadership's audacity to select who is going to represent the Black struggle, and in doing so selecting movie stars. The Barrio Defense Committee stressed that police brutality and unlawful arrest have been regular occurrences in Oakland for decades and the so-called peace movement was not speaking out against that. While protesters were shot at outside the Oakland docks on Monday, Mexicans in West Oakland reported that their neighborhood was on lockdown, no one could move in or out. This is because the state knows who to fear when it comes to resistance movements. RAIL pointed out the hypocrisy of many in the mass rallies thanking the pigs for helping out, which is very telling of the relationship between the state and these marches. Everyone on the panel denounced pacifism as a phony philosophy. The APSC pointed out that pacifism steps in when Africans and Indigenous people begin to stand up for their self-determination as a fear mechanism within the white nation. Yeshitela summed up that "we have to convince the so-called peace movement to join the real peace movement that's been going on for 100's of years [referring to liberation struggles of the oppressed]." He recognized that while a majority of Blacks oppose the war only 20% of whites do, but this is not represented at the demos because, "Africans aren't gonna come out and join the struggle for peace for white people." When the war in Iraq ends this struggle does not end.
The following is a transcript of the statement presented by RAIL at this forum:
"Good evening. I am here tonight representing the Revolutionary Anti-Imperialist League. RAIL is a mass org lead by the Maoist Internationalist Movement or MIM. And I extend greetings from RAIL and MIM to all who are participating tonight. As [APSC rep] pointed out, I am disappointed that some of the groups who have been organizing these big rallies did not come out tonight. But I am glad to be here participating with all the groups that are here.
Oh, and I'd especially like to thank the APSC for putting this forum together, because I think it is a very important issue to be addressing.
We are here today because we want to maintain the momentum of this anti-war movement, and this means that we cannot let this become the basis for electing a democrat president in 2004.
When we are out there with the thousands of amerikans opposed to the war, we are not preaching to the choir. We are dealing with people who have come up with solutions such as impeaching Bush or praying for the lives of the innocent and who have continuously thanked the pigs for their assistance during rallies, like they helped us. (Interestingly, these people weren't around yesterday when the pigs repeatedly open-fired on us). Together with these people we represent a minority in the u$ that even oppose the war. Many of us here represent an even smaller minority who have been out here opposing imperialism in all its forms. This recent surge in anti-war sentiment is not a largely revolutionary movement. If we were marching 200,000 strong through San Francisco calling for the overthrow of imperialism we'd be in a whole different world right now.
We saw these divisions on March 20. We saw fellow protesters pulling newspaper racks back onto the sidewalk and warning us not to alienate people. And we saw drivers who were "also opposed to the war," but at that moment were more concerned with getting to work or being late to pick up their kid than they were about stopping the war. If not now when? When it's convenient? Well, thing is stopping the war is not convenient for Amerika. It is a fine privilege to be able to worry about being tardy for work when bombs are falling on the heads of innocent people. A fine privilege paid for by the blood and sweat of billions of oppressed people around the globe.
What we have to tell these liberals who "also oppose the war" is that war is inherent under imperialism. There is an economic explanation to all this killing. It is that our wealth here in the belly of the beast is taken from the exploited majority by force. That's war. In addition, as access to the exploited masses is fought over, wars develop between the exploiters. And amidst all this war the exploited fight back. And this is the war that we must support! For we are not pacifists, we want peace. And there can be no peace, without justice!
As this movement grows, our strategic stage in the struggle remains the same. We are in the belly of the imperialist beast where we face the strongest military in the world and live amongst one of the most reactionary nations of people. People in this country will benefit from this war just like they've been benefiting from war and exploitation since the founding of this nation. They know this and therefore they will not ally with the majority of the world who are fighting for a peaceful, harmonious society. People like to get on the megaphone and talk about how stupid George W. Bush is. Bush is not that stupid, Bush is doing what will benefit him and what will gain the support of his constituents - the majority of the amerikan people.
So as we recognize that peace cannot come under imperialism, we also recognize that we are not in a position to overthrow imperialism from within. Rather we must continue down the path of education, outreach and building support for a revolutionary solution to this system. The oppressed nations within this country are in a unique position of receiving many of the material benefits of imperialism while continuing to be targets of amerika's repression. The national identity of these nations that have a long history of being victimized by amerika remains a basis for revolutionary organizing, and we can see this in the groups represented here tonight. Meanwhile, despite their material interests, even white amerikans can be rallied around the concept that ending war will make everyone safer. But if we fool ourselves into believing that amerika will join us than we will burn out, and worse we will mislead the movement.
So our task is to reach out to our allies in this movement and those sitting on the sidelines who say they oppose the war to take a up a more revolutionary stance and to take a more active stance... [calls for local organizing efforts]... Thanks again for having us."