Call For A United Antiwar Movement

Call For A United Antiwar Movement -- We Must All March Together on September 24!
[For individuals and organizations wishing to sign this statement, please see below.]

September 24, 2005 has been set as the date for national demonstrations by the U.S. antiwar movement. We will return to the streets of the nation's capital, and elsewhere, with a force determined to challenge the continuation of a brutal and immoral war and occupation. That the Iraqi War is the central issue in world politics today is not in dispute. Neither is the fact that there is a rapidly growing opposition to this war in the United States and across the globe. The potential for a truly massive turnout that can open the door wider than ever to our movement's expressing the will of tens of millions is within reach.

But we have been asked to divide our energies on September 24 between two competing antiwar coalitions, UFPJ and ANSWER. Both have announced mass mobilizations in Washington, D.C. on that date, but in different locations.

There can be no justification for such a division. It is unthinkable that we can most effectively confront the warmakers by marching separately in what will inevitably be portrayed as two rival protests. People who want to end the war and occupation will never understand.

Is the destruction of Iraq and its people to rage on while our movement divides its energies? While billions are spent daily to make Iraq a virtual colony? While the same billions are looted from social programs at home? While U.S. soldiers die for corporate profits and while the American people are rapidly learning that the war was a lie from start to finish?

We cannot offer those who oppose the war and occupation a divided house. The divisions in our movement must give way to united action. There is still time!

We the undersigned propose that both coalitions join in support of these unifying demands: Bring the Troops Home Now! Money for Jobs, Education, Health Care and Housing, Not for Wars and Occupations!

This appears to be a sound basis for unity, in accord with what both coalitions have always championed.

The ANSWER coalition has called for a number of additional demands going beyond Iraq including: End Colonial Occupation from Iraq to Palestine to Haiti; Support the Palestinian People's Right of Return; Stop the Threats Against Venezuela, Cuba, Iran, and North Korea; and U.S. Out of the Philippines. The unifying demands in bold above provide the framework for advancing these demands, which can be reinforced by speakers, banners, contingents, signs and leaflets. It is understood that both ANSWER and UFPJ, through their own coalitions, would be free to express their demands as they see fit.

We are convinced that new forms must be employed to ensure that we do not constantly repeat the present divisive scenario so that the democratic expression of the ranks of the antiwar movement, which urgently call for unity, can be brought to bear.

Our differences pale before the power we can marshal with a united, independent and massive movement that visibly expresses our strength and unity.

We offer our good will and experience to help resolve the differences now and move forward united and stronger.

We propose to meet as soon as possible with representatives of the national antiwar coalitions to resolve all outstanding issues. There is no time to waste.

Issued by the Emergency Ad Hoc Committee for A United Demonstration in Washington, D.C. on September 24, 2005

Initiators

[Titles and organizations for purpose of identification only]

Kevin Akin - State Chair, California Peace and Freedom Party

Mike Alewitz - Labor Art and Mural Project

Jahahara Amen-RA Alkebulan-Ma’at - Foundations for Our Nu

Alkebulan/Afrikan Millennium (FONAMI)

Khalil Barhoum - Palestinian Scholar

Patricia Behrend - Co-Chair, National Network on Cuba

Alan Benjamin - Member, Office and Professional Employees International

Union Local 3; Member, Executive Board, San Francisco Labor Council

AFL-CIO; Member, Steering Committee, United States Labor Against the

War

Dennis Bernstein - Producer, Flashpoints, KPFA Berkeley, CA

Peter Camejo - Green Party

Dr. Colia Clark - Longtime civil rights activist, co-organizer with Medgar

Evers of Mississippi NAACP Voter Project in early 1960s; fighter for

reparations and against war
Greg Coleridge - Program Director, Northeast Ohio American Friends

Service Committee; Coordinator, Northeast Ohio Anti-War Coalition

Alan Dale - Member, Iraq Peace Action Coalition (Minneapolis/St. Paul)

Karen Dawson – Philosophy Student, Burlington, VT

Chris Farrand - President, Graphic Communications Union Local 546M

Mike Ferner - Member, Veterans for Peace; Former Member, Toledo City

Council

Conny Ford - Secretary-Treasurer, Office and Professional Employees

International Union Local 3

Christine Gauvreau - Organizing Committee, Connecticut United for Peace

Kathleen Geathers - Coordinator, Women for Racial and Economic

Equality

Paul George - Director, Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, Palo Alto, CA

Jerry Gordon - Former International Representative, United Food and

Commercial Workers Union; Member, Steering Committee, United States

Labor Against the War

Andy Griggs - Board of Directors, United Teachers Los Angeles; Member,

Steering Committee, United States Labor Against the War

Milly Guzman - Latinos Contra La Guerra

Jeremy Haiken - Organizer, UNITE HERE Local 217

Fred Hirsch - Vice President, Plumbers and Fitters Local 393

Abdeen Jabara - Past President, American-Arab Anti-Discrimination

Committee

Walter Johnson - Secretary-Treasurer Emeritus, San Francisco Labor

Council AFL-CIO

Vicki Knight - Convenor, Women Speak Out for Peace and Justice

Tom Lacey - Northern State Chair, California Peace and Freedom Party

Jeff Mackler - Founder, Mobilization for Peace, Jobs and Justice; West

Coast Coordinator, Lynne Stewart Defense Committee

Mel Mason - President, Monterey Peninsula Branch-NAACP, CA

Justine McCabe - International Committee of the Green Party, U.S.

Robert Meeropol - Executive Director, Rosenberg Fund for Children

Saladin Muhammad - Black Workers for Justice

Hasan Newash - Director, Palestine Office, Michigan

Bill Onasch - Retired Vice-President, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1287;

Chair, Kansas City Labor Against the War

Carolyn Park - Member, American Federation of State, County and Municipal

Employees Local 1938; Delegate to the Cincinnati AFL-CIO

Jan Pierce - Retired International Vice President, Communications Workers

of America

Ralph Poynter - New York Community Activist

Jack Rasmus - Chair, National Writers Union, San Francisco Bay Area

Chapter

Don Rojas - Journalist; Past General Manager, Station WBAI

Ed Rosario - Business Agent, Amalgamated Lithographers of America Local

#1; Member, United States Labor Against the War

Meg Scata - Organizing Committee, Connecticut United for Peace

Dallas Sells - Director, Ohio State Council UNITE HERE Union

Chris Silvera - Secretary-Treasurer and Chairman, Teamsters National

Black Caucus

Michael Smith - New York Chapter, National Lawyers Guild

Lynne Stewart - Attorney

Clarence Thomas - Co-Chair, Million Worker March Movement

Jerry Tucker - Former International Executive Board Member, United Auto

Workers Union

Nalda Vigezzi - Co-Chair, National Network on Cuba

Barbara Walden - Vice Chair, Ohio State Labor Party

Leonard Weinglass - Civil Liberties Attorney

Kevin Zeese - Director, Democracy Rising

Howard Zinn - Professor, Radical Historian, Progressive Political Theorist,

Social Activist and Author

Signers (Partial List)

[Organizations and individuals wishing to subscribe to the above statement are urged to write UnityForSept24@aol.com no later than July 31 asking that your name be added to the list. Please be sure to include city and state, phone number and email address. Description of individuals below are for purpose of identification only.]

Frank T. Adams - Author and developer of worker-owned businesses,

Asheville, N.C.

Aspire, Create, Envision a Better World Network Mission (A.C.E.) -

Daniel E. Moore, Founder and President

Gene Akins - Organizer, Dallas County Green Party

Natylie Baldwin - Pittsburgh, CA

Jeanette Boraby – Toledo, OH

Lyn M. Broach - Akron, OH

Morton K. Brussel - Professor Emeritus of Physics, UIUC; Member

AWARE (Anti-War Anti-Racism Effort), Urbana, IL

Kandal Burghardt - Perrysburg, OH

Rebecca R. Burrill - Ed.D, Belchertown, MA

California Peace and Freedom Party

Andrew D. Coates, M.D. - Albany, NY

Jocelyn Cochran-Biggs - St. Louis, MO

Lance Cohn - Logan Square Neighbors for Justice and Peace, Chicago, IL

Jerry Colby - President, National Writers Union, UAW Local 1981; President,

Champlain Valley Labor Council, AFL-CIO; Member, Executive Committee,

Vermont State Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, Cambridge, VT

Aaron Davis - President, Chapter 118 Veterans for Peace, Salt Lake City, UT

Cyndie Davis - Member, Northeast Ohio Anti-War Coalition and Cleveland

Peace Action, Lakewood, OH

Lucas A. Dietsche – University of Wisconsin Student Senator, Superior, WI

Larry Duncan - Co-Producer, Labor Beat TV Show; Member, Chicago Labor

Against the War, Chicago, IL

Miriam L. Eldridge, Ph.D. - San Jose, CA

Riva Enteen - KPFA Local Station Board, San Francisco, CA

Maureen Farris – Akron, OH

Delvis Fernandez - President, Cuban American Alliance, San Luis Obispo,

Joe Flanders - Member and Past President, Intl. Assn. of Machinists Local

1145

Matt Gibson - Christchurch, New Zealand

Greg Giorgio - Good Friday Peace Coalition; U.S. Labor Against the War;

Intl. Solidarity Commission of Industrial Workers for the World, Altamont,

Stan Goff – Author, Activist, Raleigh, N.C.

Dayne Goodwin - Wasatch Coalition for Peace and Justice, Salt Lake City,

Linda Greene - Unionville, IN

Haiti Action Committee -- San Francisco Bay Area, CA

Laura M. Hamptom - Toledo, OH

Carol Hannah - Peace North, Hayward/Cable, WI

Clare Hanusz - Attorney and Mother, Honolulu, HI

Ruth Harer - Member, Office Professional Employees Intl. Union Local 3,

Retiree, San Francisco, CA

John Harris - Coordinator, Iraq War Veterans Tour (Boston January 29^th-

February 6^th 2005), Boston, MA

Mark T. Harris - Writer, Bloomington, IL

Scott Harris - Producer of Between the Lines Radio newsmagazine, WPKN

Radio, Bridgeport, CT

Judy Herkimer - Treasurer, Green Party of Connecticut, Cornwall Bridge,

Charlie Hinton - Haiti Action Committee, San Francisco, CA

Martha Hubert - San Francisco, CA

Mary Beth Hustoles - Salem, OR

Independent Community Activist Network (ICAN) working on military

hands off students’ school records, Seattle, WA

Dahr Jamail - Independent Journalist covering Iraq for the past two years

Pranav Jani - Asst. Professor, English, Ohio State Univ., Columbus, OH

Al Kagan - African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library

Administration, Univ. of Illinois, Urbana, IL

Dan Kaplan - Exec. Sec., American Federation of Teachers Local 1493,

Community College Federation of Teachers, San Mateo, CA

David Keil - Boston March 20 Coalition, Teacher, Framingham State

College, Framingham, MA

Kathy Kelly - Co-Coordinator, Voices in the Wilderness, Chicago, IL

Amy Kemery – Madison, WI

Stephen Vincent Kobasa - Trident Resistance Network, New Haven, CT

Latinos Contra La Guerra – Hartford, CT

Verdena Lee, D.O. - Kent, OH

Jeff Leys - Organizer, Voices in the Wilderness, Chicago, IL

Elizabeth Marlow, MSN, CNFNP, CDE - Alameda County Health Dept.;

Health Care for the Homeless Program, Oakland, CA

David McDonald - Peace Action Committee of the Green Party of the U.S.;

Seattle, WA

Lisa Milos - Parent Organizer with Military Out of Our Schools, San

Francisco, CA

Bob Montgomery - American Federation of State, County and Municipal

Employees Local 3092, Newton, MA

Andrea Moore-Emmett - President, Utah National Organization for Women

(NOW); Salt Lake City, UT

Dorinda Moreno - Santa Maria, CA

M.J. Muser – Not in Our Name/Cleveland Chapter, Cleveland, OH

Mark Nelson - Plumbers and Pipefitters Local #140, Salt Lake City, UT

Northeast Ohio Anti-War Coalition - Cleveland, OH

Prof. Bertell Ollman – Department of Politics, New York University, NY, NY

Patricia Osbom - Ottawa Hills, OH

Ted Pearson - Lincoln Park Neighbors United for Peace; Chicagoans

Against War and Injustice; National Alliance Against Racist and Political

Repression; Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and

Socialism, Chicago, IL

Jack Power - Cleveland, OH

Arline Prigoff - Secretary, California Capital Chapter, Coalition of Labor

Union Women, Sacramento, CA

Gloria E. Quiñones, Esq. – East Harlem activist, NY, NY

Alison Ramer - Boston Mobilization, Boston, MA

Kenneth Reiner - Author “Corporism: The Systematic Disease that

Destroys Civilization,” Long Beach, CA

Ann Richardson - Sonoma, CA

Adam Ritscher - Steering Committee, Northland Anti-War Coalition, Duluth,

Valentin Rosario – Coordinator, All Connecticut with Vieques, Hartford, CT

Mark C. Rosenzweig - Director, Reference Center for Marxist Studies; Co-

editor, Progressive Librarian, New York, NY

Andrew Ross - Professor of American Studies, New York University, New

York, NY

Donald Rucknagel, M.D. – Cincinnati, OH

Tony Savino - Photojournalist, New York, NY

Donna Schall - Grandmother, Stow, OH

Bill Schwalb - Activist, San Francisco, CA

Kim Scipes -- Member, National Writers Union and longtime fighter for

international labor solidarity, Chicago, IL

Laurence H. Shoup - Author, Member Steering Committee, National Writers

Union Bay Area Chapter, Bay Area, CA

Buddy Spell - National Liaison, Louisiana Activist Network, Franklinton, LA

Chris Stegman - Editorial Board, EverGreen Voice, Green Party publication

in Olympia, Washington, WA

Joyce Stenberg - Teacher/Parent, Irvine, CA

Christopher Storey - Knox College, Galesburg, IL

Manuel and Meryl Sunshine - San Mateo County Peace and Freedom

Party, Pacific, CA

Linda Thompson – Connecticut United for Peace, American Federation of

State, County and Municipal Employees Retirees MD. Chapter 1

Matt Tower - Sparta, NJ

Tom Twiss - Librarian, Pittsburgh, PA

US-Japan-China Comparative Policy Research Institute - San Jose, CA
James E. Vann - Former Co-Chair, National Committee for Independent

Political Action, Oakland, CA

Maxina Ventura and Children - San Leandro, CA

Rae Vogeler - Madison Area Peace Coalition, Madison, WI

David Walters - Member, Intl. Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245,

San Francisco, CA

Nat Weinstein - Socialist Viewpoint magazine, San Francisco, CA

Margaret Wise - New York, NY

Dorothy Walden - Superior, WI

Bruce Wolf - Executive Board Member and Education Committee Chair,

Office and Professional Employees Intl. Union Local 2, Takoma Park, MD

Dean Zimmermann - Minneapolis City Council - Ward 6, Minneapolis, MN

Michael Zweig - United University Professions, American Federation of

Teachers Local 2190; Member, Steering Committee, United States Labor

Against the War, Stony Brook, NY