The Wall
Several L.A. groups held a End the Wall rally today in Santa Monica, including ANSWER, who I volunteer with. The Wall, of course, is the grotesque 400 mile long behemoth Israel is building now to surround and isolate Palestinians.
From a newsletter:
This massive barrier, which runs deep into Palestinian territory, is made up of a series of fortifications 200 to 300 feet wide, including a 27-ft. high concrete wall, razor wire and electrified fences, roads and trenches, guard towers and electronic surveillance stations.
The photo shows the part of a cardboard wall constructed for the demo – to symbolize the real wall – with posters and photos on it.
Although ANSWER was just one of the groups involved, counter demonstrators from the JDL, among others, had signs attacking ANSWER specifically. One said “ANSWER is a terrorist organization”. I gasped, looked at a lead ANSWER organizer and in mock horror said, “Why didn’t you TELL me we were terrorists”?
A few days ago in an Op-Ed, the neandertals at the Wall Street Journal said ANSWER is “evil” and “is engaging in outright sedition” – no doubt because we do not bow in fealty to King George and his mad imperial visions or believe predatory hyper-capitalism is the best of all possible worlds.
ANSWER appears to be seriously pissing off the right in this country. So they’ll red-bait us, call us names, do anything to obscure the simple fact that the antiwar message of ANSWER resonates with millions of people – people who are tiring of the endless wars of George Bush and endless scarcely concealed propaganda from mouthpieces like the Wall Street Journal.