Fight Back News Service is circulating the following article from Workers World.

New York – In a city that is home to more nationalities than any other in the world, all seemed represented in the crowd of thousands who came to demonstrate in the City Hall area on Sept. 11. They were there to express solidarity with the Muslim community in the struggle over the building of an Islamic Community Center near the World Trade Center site.

Answering the call of the Emergency Mobilization Against Racism & Anti-Muslim Bigotry, people from Boston, Washington and in between joined thousands of New Yorkers in a display of the strength of the anti-racist movement that embraced young and old, people of all the colors of the city and region, gay and straight. The demonstrators exuded a spirit of unity and cooperation by chanting, marching and then chipping in their labor to clean up at the end of the day’s action.

International Action Center co-coordinator Sara Flounders, one of the rally chairs, told Workers World that “10,000 people joined today, coming from dozens of communities in the city. They represented neighborhood organizations, religious groups of all kinds, political and anti-war groups and human rights groups. Many workers wore their union caps or tee shirts.”

Just naming Flounders’ co-chairs gives a modest idea of the breadth of the rally’s support: They were Sayel Kayed of American Muslims for Palestine; Dr. Asha A. Samad-Matias of the Safrad Somali Association and the Muslim Women’s Coalition; Lucy Pagoda of the May 1st Coalition for Worker and Immigrant Rights; and Amadi Ajamu of the December 12th Movement. Another 48 diverse speakers and cultural groups gave greetings or performances.

At 3 p.m. the pro-unity gathering far outnumbered an anti-Muslim protest organized by the much-publicized Tea Party. In addition, hundreds of anti-racist protesters, many with home-made signs, were surrounding the Tea Party and showing their opposition to its message of hatred. Just two weeks earlier the anti-Muslim crowd had been getting the main media attention and was pouring money into advertising for their action.

In late August the IAC had put out an initial call for a counter-rally; soon more than 100 organizations had come together and formed the Emergency Mobilization. With little time to organize and less money, the ad hoc group was still able to get out 100,000 pieces of literature in the two weeks before the rally.

“We had to organize on a shoestring budget,” said Flounders, “putting the bills for leaflets and posters and signs on people’s credit cards and hoping we could pay for the demonstration. It was worth it. We showed that a broad section of the city won’t let the racists invade and dominate 9/11.”

The message from the nearly 50 speakers on the stage of the Emergency Mobilization action was a strong one of solidarity and unity — solidarity with the Muslim community in the United States and unity of all the forces who came that day in the struggle against all forms of racism and scapegoating, against U.S. wars abroad and for jobs, education and social benefits at home.

One of those speakers, Larry Holmes of the Bail Out the People Movement, told Workers World, “We brought out the real New York City — a city of workers and peoples of color from all around the world. This mobilization started because we were forced to defend our Muslim sisters and brothers. It will continue because we have to open up the struggle against war, against racism, and for jobs, education and health care. There is much more to fight for and now we all know who we can count on.”

#NewYorkNY #WorldTradeCenter #Islamophobia #MuslimCommunityCenter #EmergencyMobilizationAgainstRacismAntiMuslimBigotry #WorkersWorld

Unfortunately, there are some, who walk the corridors of wealth and power, that have responded to this crisis by trying to manipulate our sadness, fear, and concern. Motivated by greed, they tell us to hate other peoples – that war and racism will somehow make things better.

While the smoke was still rising from the ruins of the Trade Center, fast buck artists set up fake charities to line their own pockets. Airline executives ran to government, and got $15 billion. Money in hand, and their big salaries safe, they announced the layoffs of nearly 100,000 airline workers. Congress is now besieged by lobbyists from the hotel, insurance and every industry you can think of, looking for bailouts or a piece of the different “stimulus packages” under debate.

There are those who want to use our grief to promote the ugly twins of racism and national chauvinism. Senators talk about need to pull over people “with diapers on their heads”. Across the U.S., a wave of violence and harassment has been unleashed against Arabs and Muslims. This includes assaults on mosques, beatings, and even murder.

There is a new attempt to legitimize racial profiling. No one should be fooled. The TV networks' talking heads, who advocate targeting the millions of Arab Americans who fly on airlines, are borrowing from the book that makes it a crime to drive while black.

At moments like this, it's critical that we keep our eyes open. We need to take a hard look at what is being done to us and what is being done in our name. Behind the talk of “bipartisan politics”, an agenda that is both narrow and reactionary is being pushed through at government's highest levels.

The Social Security surplus is being gutted for corporate handouts and the military. Rolling back environmental protection measures is presented as a matter of national security. An assault is underway on our civil liberties. Politicians from both parties are leading us to an unending war.

George Bush responded to September 11 by calling for a new “crusade.” After saying “we know that God is not neutral,” Bush, the crusader, is setting fire to the cities of Afghanistan and sending in troops. That puts us in a position where we need to deal with some hard questions.

Near the top of the World Trade Center there was a restaurant called “Windows to the World.” The cooks, waiters, and dishwashers who worked there were members of the hotel and restaurant workers union, and were among the victims on September 11. How could it possibly honor their memory to unleash a humanitarian catastrophe in Afghanistan? The answer is clear, it cannot. Yet, this is exactly what's happening. The victims of the U.S. bombing campaign are Afghani families in homemade air raid shelters and places of worship.

Millions of people in Afghanistan are running out of food. Starvation is walking a land haunted by hunger. Having one plane drop 5000 pound bombs, and another drop a few “ready to eat meals” into a mine field, is a propaganda ploy – similar to the “food for peace” program used in Viet Nam.

The logic of U.S. intervention in Afghanistan is this: Bomb the cities. Turn the population into refugees. Follow it up with a war on the ground, or a war in the mountains to be more precise. The result will be a mounting death toll – mainly Afghani, but Americans as well – the tragedy of New York compounded 100 times.

As serious as this is, there is every indication that the Bush administration is planning a broader war; beyond Kabul there is Baghdad and Lebanon. Since September 11, Washington has threatened both Iraq and the brave men and women who pushed Israel out of southern Lebanon.

It is vital that U.S. intervention is halted in Afghanistan. If it is not beaten back there, a highway of death and destruction will be opened across the Middle East. Under the cover of a “war on terrorism”, we will witness more U.S. intervention in the Third World. “Either you are with us or you are with the terrorists”, says Bush.

U.S. foreign policy around the world created a climate that caused the events of September 11. To say this is to make a statement of fact. It is not an issue of “justifying” any more than when a weather forecaster predicts a coming storm. Latin America is a checkerboard of U.S.– supported death squads, especially Colombia. Israel is carrying out assassinations with U.S. backing and dollars, and one and a half million people have been killed by sanctions in Iraq. The shock and anger that people in the U.S. felt on September 11 is the same emotion that is felt by the mothers of Iraq, when their children die of U.S. enforced starvation.

At the end of the day, corporate America does what's profitable for corporate America. We are dealing with a class of people where “justice” means “just us” rich folks. The world is a worse place for it. They take the land, labor, and natural resources of others. They are hypocrites who are unfit to bring anyone to justice, and to call on them to do so is like calling on an arsonist to put out a fire.

Build the Anti-War Movement

It is vital that we seize the time and build a powerful movement against the war on Afghanistan. While doing so we need to forcefully speak out against any attacks on Arab and Muslim people here. We need to defend our rights.

The stakes are incredibly high for people in the Middle East, south Asia, and for those of us who live here. The events of September 11 have placed us, the American people, at a crossroads. We can march with Bush on the road to war and racism or we can begin a determined struggle for peace through justice. The war is the leading edge of right-wing reaction and is being used to roll back what we have won through past struggle.

A just world is possible, but it cannot be built on empires of oil and dollars. All us who favor peace and progress are facing a test. If we are confident and bold, and willing to take the truth to the American people, we will not fail.

#UnitedStates #AntiwarMovement #Editorial #Afghanistan #Editorials #RacismInTheCriminalJusticeSystem #911 #WorldTradeCenter