Alison Thorne
In an attempt to silence dissent against the war in Iraq, flag-waving followers of KVI-AM radio hurled racial epithets and threatened violence in a multi-ethnic Seattle neighbourhood on April 30. The protest was sparked by a single sign posted in the window of New Freeway Hall, home of the Freedom Socialist Party (FSP) and Radical Women, reading "Victory to the Iraqi resistance".
A KVI-AM shock-jock had called for protests against the hall after seeing the sign, which is posted under a large banner proclaiming, "End the US occupation of Iraq" and a picket sign saying, "Bring the troops home now!".
More than 50 people turned out with only an hour's notice to defend the hall, a long-time centre of free speech. Throughout several hours of protests on both sides of the street, the multi-racial community where the hall is located made their anti-war views known. They honked loudly for an FSP banner that read "Stop the war on working people at home and abroad".
"The message is clear: we are supposed to shut up and fall in line behind the war. If we don't, these militia types promise to make our lives hell. It's not very sophisticated, but we've seen it before when we've organised against the Aryan Nations", said Chris Smith, who works at the hall.
"But the sign is staying", he added. "We have an obligation to those who are dying in Fallujah to speak out. For us, the Iraqi resistance is composed of striking workers, women who are fighting imposition of sharia laws, the unemployed fighting for jobs, and people in Baghdad sending food to those under siege in Fallujah. The resistance is not just military, it's many, many ordinary Iraqis."
Luma Nichol, Seattle FSP organiser, explained, "We don't believe that the US government wants to bring liberty and democracy to Iraq". "[It has its] own agenda — oil, making money for Halliburton and other firms. There is no evidence that the US has the interests of the Iraqi people at heart."
The support for Freeway Hall was broad. Local Somali small business people shut up shop and joined the rally. They mingled with high school students, pacifists, anarchists and activists from the group Hate-Free Zone. The local anti-war coalition turned out as did representatives from the Workers World Party, the Revolutionary Communist Party and the International Socialist Organization.
Solidarity messages came from as far away as Pakistan, England and New Zealand. Dougal McNeill for the International Socialist Organisation in Wellington said: "As the bloody reality of war and occupation become clear to workers in the United States and around the world, the right scrambles around for excuses and distractions ... don't be intimidated by the pro-war, anti-choice right wing. You're taking a stand, and the right one!"
For more information, email <FSPseattle@mindspring.com>.
From 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ Weekly, May 19, 2004.
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