“We’re Not Cowboys—Stop the Roundup!” San Francisco Protesters Tell INS

By Elaine Pasquini

More than 300 Bay Area activists rallied in front of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) office in downtown San Francisco on Jan. 10, the deadline for “special registration” for all men over the age of 16 who entered the U.S. before Sept. 30, 2002 as non-immigrants from Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Although the speakers at the rally were of diverse ethnic backgrounds—Palestinian, Lebanese, Filipino, Japanese and African—they were united in their efforts to protect human rights and civil liberties.

“We must stand with our Muslim brothers and sisters who are arrested and taken away and we must ensure the INS does not incarcerate innocent people,” exclaimed Rev. Cecil Williams of Glide Memorial Church.“Each person counts, and we have to make sure our civil liberties continue.”

Cheers and thunderous applause greeted the message to Washington from Tom Ammiano, former president of San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors and 2003 mayoral candidate: “It’s not American, Mr. Cheney, to discriminate against Arab Americans!” Ammiano assured the demonstrators he backed their demands for an end to the “special registration” arrests and detentions, release of detainees who were arrested when they came to register, and repeal of immigration laws that rely on racial profiling.

The rally was organized by the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, National Lawyers Guild and Not in Our Name.

Ambassador David Fischer Speaks on Iraq

San Francisco State University Diplomat-in-Residence Ambassador David Fischer spoke Jan. 16 at San Rafael’s Dominican University on President George W. Bush’s proposed war on Iraq.The Marin Chapter of the World Affairs Council of Northern California hosted the evening program.

During his long diplomatic career, Fischer served as consul general in Munich, U.S. ambassador to the Seychelles, and as the State Department’s director for East Africa, in addition to posts in Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and Tanzania.Following his retirement from the Foreign Service he was president of the World Affairs Council of Northern California from 1991 to 1998.

Fischer began by charging that Saddam Hussain does have biological or chemical weapons and would not hesitate to use them. Since chemical weapons are small, easy to hide and difficult to detect, he claimed, U.N. weapons inspectors will have difficulty ever declaring Iraq free of weapons of mass destruction. And, he opined, Saddam Hussain would build nuclear weapons if he could obtain the necessary components.

Fischer reminded the audience that in 1998 the Clinton administration planned an invasion of Iraq after the Baghdad regime violated U.N. resolutions by not cooperating with weapons inspectors. The full-scale invasion was shelved, he said, because the American public did not have the will to respond and the international community was not prepared to enforce the U.N. resolutions.The events of Sept. 11, however, changed how America viewed the world, Fischer argued, and opened up new opportunities to the Bush administration which were not available to the Clinton administration: “Sept. 11 made use of force possible against Iraq.”

Nor, Fischer noted, is George W. Bush the first president to plot a regime change in Baghdad. Pursuant to the Iraq Liberation Act, he told the audience, the Clinton administration in January 1999 appropriated $97 million in U.S. military assistance to support the overthrow of Saddam Hussain.

The bottom line, the former ambassador maintained, echoing the current administration’s war cries, is that, after 12 years, diplomacy has failed, sanctions have failed, and it is doubtful whether Saddam Hussain can be contained and prevented from using biological or chemical weapons without the use of force. Fischer acknowledged that, as a career diplomat for over 30 years, he preferred diplomacy to military action. However, he warned, “ diplomacy has limitations and must be backed by credible force. If you threaten use of force, which is sometimes necessary, you must be prepared to carry it out. There must be a credible alternative if diplomacy fails.”

Fischer admitted the importance of United Nations support for Washington’s war plans, pointing out that Saddam allowed the return of the new team of inspectors last year because of U.N. Resolution 1441. While chances of an internal coup against Saddam Hussain are doubtful, the Iraqi president’s exile—as in the cases of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos and “Papa Doc” Duvalier of Haiti—is a plausible alternative, Fischer insisted.

Asked by a young audience member from the Marin Academy what would happen if the U.S. retreated now, Fischer replied,“I don’t think it’s a viable action.It would be catastrophic if we totally withdrew from the region.”

Responding to a question on how a war on Iraq would affect the Israeli-Palestinian situation, Fischer said he believed it would force the U.S. to impose a peace agreement on the parties, which would require a military peacekeeping force similar to the one in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula for the past 20 years.“The road to Jerusalem may lead through Riyadh or Baghdad,” he mused.

Tens of Thousands Protest War on Iraq

From the newly restored historic Ferry Building to the golden dome of City Hall, downtown San Francisco was a mass of humanity Jan. 18 as an estimated 200,000 Americans gathered to protest President George W. Bush’s proposed war on Iraq.

As was the case during the Oct. 26 anti-war demonstration, the 1.7 mile march down Market Street from Justin Herman Plaza to a rally at Civic Center organized by International ANSWER was a three-hour trek. Some 50 unions, peace groups and other organizations assembled and marched united behind their respective banners, including a Jewish Voice for Peace and Marin Peace and Justice Coalition. Several marchers wore eye-catching costumes—a giant butterfly, a peace sign, Uncle Sam and George Bush impersonators—and a few wore nothing at all. But the majority of the crowd consisted simply of mainstream Americans who, on any other sunny Saturday afternoon, might be shopping at the local mall.Their handmade, one-of–a-kind signs were descriptive and self-explanatory: “Small Business Owner for Peace, Citizens with Portfolios for Peace, Quakers for Peace, Deaf say Peace, Knitters for Peace make Socks not War, Patriots for Peace, Laid-off Workers Against the War, Employment not Deployment, War = $ for the Rich and Death for the Poor, Making War for Peace is like Fornicating for Virginity, Every Human Being is Someone’s Precious Child.”

At the Civic Center plaza, musicians Bonnie Raitt and Joan Baez entertained the crowd with songs, including one in Arabic, and “Let Us Break Bread Together.”

More than a dozen speakers addressed the massive audience gathered on the lawn and sitting in the trees lining the plaza. Each speaker urged President Bush to exercise diplomacy and not drop bombs on Baghdad.

“It’s not too late for the administration to heed our call,” Rep. Barbara Lee (D-CA) told the cheering crowd. “It takes leadership to resolve conflicts peacefully. It does not take leadership to drop bombs.”

“From this time forth,”proclaimed actor Martin Sheen, “may all our thoughts, words and deeds be a nonviolent resistance to all violence.Let my country awake.”

Marin Students Plan Anti-War Activities

Some 25 students from nine local high schools attended the first Marin Student Peace Conference Feb. 1 at San Rafael’s Marin Academy. Following a morning teach-in on Iraq, the students spent the afternoon brainstorming in order to launch a coordinated youth movement against the proposed war on Iraq.Roni Krouzman, activist and author of Democratic Organizing for a Democratic Society, led the strategizing discussion and listened to students’ thoughts and ideas. Krouzman has assisted students in Marin County and around the country in building peace clubs and consolidating their anti-war efforts.His presentations have focused on U.S. foreign policy and empowering citizens to become a force for change.

Mark Stefanski, Marin Academy science instructor and adviser to the school’s newly formed Peace and Justice Coalition, encouraged the students to talk to their instructors about their ideas and anti-war projects. “Most teachers are against the war,” he noted.

At the end of the conference, the students made signs and marched down Fourth Street, the upscale neighborhood’s main shopping thoroughfare, to cheers and honking horns from passers-by.

To obtain a copy of Democratic Organizing for a Democratic Society contact Roni Krouzman at <rkrouzman@hotmail.com>.

Elaine Pasquini is a free-lance photojournalist based in Ignacio, CA.