A "RALLY AGAINST GLOBAL TERRORISM"?

WE SUPPORT A VIGIL FOR GLOBAL JUSTICE

On January 16th a rally took place in Berkeley to protest Congresswoman Barbara Lee's support for International Law.  In response to this, peace and justice organizations joined a vigil to be held to support the universal application of international law, to honor the legacy of Dr. King, and offer real solutions to end the violence in the Middle East. 

Talk to Tom Joad      

NEW    Media Coverage (and photos) of Vigil for Global Justice and Rally for Segregation Wall

 Read a Letter from a Jerusalem Jail, here.  An detailed response to a misleading story in the Berkeley Voice. Finally, a list of newspaper stories and opinion pieces that relate to the vigil can be found here.  The list will be updated after the Vigil, so be sure to check back. Photos can be found here.

A group of those who support the occupation policy of the Israeli regime, including its building of a Wall in Palestinian land, are proposing to rally, complete with the remains of a bus that was bombed in Jerusalem last January.  This Rally was held on January 16th, 2005 at Martin Luther King, Jr. Park, downtown Berkeley. 

Background and Analysis

This rally, dubbed a ''Rally Against Global Terrorism" was organized by a local Berkeley woman, Susanne DeWitt.  The display of the bus, she has said, "is about terrorism, period."  She even says it is an appeal to peace.  Certainly this bus that was attacked in Jerusalem, carrying civilians, is a powerful and tragic reminder of the violence that engulfs the region.  Eleven people died in that bombing and this should be remembered and mourned.  However, what is the underlying political agenda of Ms. DeWitt and the other promoters of this rally?  Is it really supporting a way to end the violence?

International Law?  Organizers of "Rally Against Global Terrorism" oppose it.

This becomes clear when one listens to DeWitt's other pronouncements, and looks at the right-wing politics of supporters of the rally.  Rather than address the root causes of violence in the region, this is a rally in support for more militarism and abandonment of international law.  DeWitt has voiced support for the apartheid Wall being built in the West Bank.  The Wall will separate thousands of Palestinians from their land, resulting in the complete strangulation of communities.  Indeed, the Wall, though incomplete, has already done this, as whole Palestinian communities have become unlivable. The Wall, because it attacks a civilian population to attain political ends, is in fact an act of organized State Terror.    (More on the Wall here)  This is why in July 2004 the International Court of Justice (also known as the World Court), ruled that the "The construction of the Wall being built by Israel, the occupying Power, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem, and its associated régime, are contrary to international law”.  (Full Statement)  Groups in support of the Wall were furious that the International Court has ruled against this brutal land grab, so AIPAC (a key lobby on behalf of Israeli interests) pressured the U.S. Congress to pass a resolution in support of the Wall, and in essence ignore international law.  This resolution passed Congress overwhelmingly, but with some votes of dissent, including one by our own Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

This is an attack on Barbara Lee's support for international law.

It was a direct result of Barbara Lee's vote to not go on record opposing the action of the International Court of Justice that motivated DeWitt to bring this bus, as she stated in a “Berkeley Voice” article printed on August 27th, 2004.  DeWitt wanted "to take it to downtown Oakland and park it right in front of her field office".  She will content herself for now to taking it to Martin Luther King Park, in downtown Berkeley, the home of many of Lee's most vocal supporters; who especially support her stance in support of justice over militarism. 

Right-wing groups supporting this Rally

A key supporter of the tour of the bus being brought to Berkeley and to various locations around the country is a group called "Christians for Israel", an extremist right-wing outfit with supporters like well-known bigots James Dobson and Gary Bauer, that opposes any Palestinian State, simply because in their view this land was given by God only to the Jewish people.  Therefore they would oppose any negotiated solution that gave any land to Palestinian people.  This organization opposes Sharon’s proposal to remove illegal settlements in Gaza.  They also oppose the “Road Map” proposed by President Bush.  James M. Hutchens, who will be a featured speaker at the Berkeley Rally, makes clear that anyone that anyone "who promotes a Palestinian state have placed themselves in alliance against God".  So it would be fair to say that “Christians for Israel” are more extreme, and less flexible, than even Ariel Sharon or President Bush. 

The “Rally against Global Terror” is also supported by local groups, such as the “Israel Action Committee of the East Bay” and their allies, all of which support the military occupation of Palestinian land.  They support U.S. taxpayer funding (and that means Berkeley taxpayers too) of the occupation, in service to this ideology.  In other words, they support the status quo of brutal military occupation, the taking of land from Palestinian families, the demolition of homes, the destruction of agricultural crops, the bombing of ancient cultural buildings in the West Bank, the hundreds of checkpoints that delay or make impossible the movement of people in their daily activities, the killing of civilians, of even school children sitting at their desks (see the story of Huda Darwish here). 

A "Rally Against Global Terror" or an Apology for State Terror, War and Militarism? 

This is what they propose, support for more of the same? They offer nothing but more militarism, more occupation?  Demand more of our tax money sent to support this, to be done in our name, for years and even decades to come?  What this Rally is really about is  encouraging fear and hatred, that will lead to despair, hopelessness, and acquiescence to the present policies that are leading us to the abyss.  And this on the week we celebrate the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr., in a park named after him?  Can they see no other way out of the madness? 

 A Way Out of the Madness, The Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

It is not hard to imagine Dr. King today echoing those words if he were to speak to our current situation.  It would likely be his response to the U.S. occupation in Iraq.  He would see the U.S. destroying places like Fallajuh, creating tens of thousands of homeless refugees, and confronting those who are excusing it as combating “global terrorism”, in much the same way atrocities were done in his day in the name of combating "global communism".   Would Dr. King support the endless U.S. subsidy of billions of dollars, year in and year out, to the Israeli military that destroys family homes in Palestine , even as so many remain homeless in the United States?  Or would he call for sanity to prevail, for us to walk a new path as a nation, and end this subsidy to Israel that creates endless violence? Would he not raise his voice and invoke the wisdom of the prophets of old, insisting that the way to end the violence is to “let Justice flow like a river”?  Finally, wouldn't we expect Dr. King to stand with Congresswoman Barbara Lee and support international law and to support for the rights of everyone, including Palestinian farmers who have lost land and communities that have been destroyed by the Apartheid Wall?   The legacy of Martin Luther King is most importantly to support justice as the way to peace, rather than military action.  It is a mockery of his memory that a rally supporting militarism be conducted at such a time and place. 

On Sunday, January 16th, join us in a Vigil for Global Justice as the way to Peace.  Noon to 3pm

Martin Luther King Park, Downtown Berkeley  (near Berkeley Bart)

Sponsors and Endorsers include: Justice in Palestine Coalition; Middle East Children's Alliance; East Bay Peace Action; United for Peace and Justice, Bay Area; Women in Black, Berkeley; others to be announced.

It will be held concurrently with the above described, and misnamed, "Rally against Global Terror".  It will include a powerful display of the full story of the violence in Palestine/Israel, and an offering of a better path to a real peace, that only comes with justice.  We will hold photos of Palestinian Children killed by the occupation, and will have signs available for everyone. 

All those who support this vigil are strongly urged not to interact in any way with our opponents or their property. 

Monday, January 17th, the Rally moves to San Francisco.  We will again have a presence for Justice.

Join the Justice in Palestine Coalition for a silent counter-vigil from 11:30-3p.m. on the southeast corner of Grove and Larkin at the Civic Center Plaza in San Francisco. There will be signs at this vigil with images of Palestinian children who have been killed by the Israeli military.