Feb 15 Rally

Naeem,

Excellent write up and contextualisation!

We were blocks away from the action and we knew corralling people into a ridiculously small space was an open invitation to very cold and pent up people...but, you guys had the right idea-bring friends and lots of them....when my friends and I finally decided to eat everyone in all the restaurants for several blocks where swamping them for food, restrooms-we all brought alot of money into NYC for that afternoon-and everyone was carrying signs, radios, and in the spirit that comes from participating in a democratic action...my bro and his friends came in by 5-everyone had pretty much dispersed and so he was a bit dissapointed...any word on the peace parties/fundraisers afterwards?

I missed attending the rallies in the European cities (LHR & ROM) I visited during my recent trip around the world. It’s hard to demonstrate when one is making loads $$$$$$. Who says the economy is down?

Don’t get too gloomy about this possible (?) war in Iraq guys. All this is just BS. Just saber rattling. There is no palpable tension in the air. It ain’t gonna happen. Take my word for it. I know about the pulse of the society. If one is a good businessman then one can sense these things.

To ease your minds, here’s a joke that someone told me on the plane from ROM to BOM the day before yesterday.

A preacher goes to a nursing home to meet an elderly parishioner. As he is sitting there he notices this bowl of peanuts beside her bed and takes one. As they talk, he can`t help himself and eats one after another.
By the time they are through talking, the bowl is empty. He says, ``Ma`am, I`m so sorry, but I seem to have eaten all of your peanuts.``
``That`s okay,`` she says. ``They would have just sat there.
Without my teeth, all I can do is suck the chocolate off and put em back in the bowl.``

Hey, I have been looking all over for our interlocutor Janab Waqar, the Handsome Arab-Persian_Paki. What happened? Did you guys scare him off? I was looking forward to more WAS remarks about the recent events and also the resurfacing of his mentor UBL.

Yoohoo, are you there Waqar mian? Next time I want to go to Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and hopefully meet you pals there, the ones who tolorate Pakis and Indians.

taimurmalik

the ``other`` people have been on the streets protesting, for the past year and a half - and some of us are only begining to realize that when white man is out. tsk tsk

I think USA will attack Iraq regardless of peace rallies. The silent majority of the US population does support an attack on Iraq. The Presidents` aides monitor public opinions very closely, and I am sure they know the percentages on this one, also.

However, what these rallies do is to make Bush think five times before attacking and committing excesses. Had the rallies not occured, Iraq may have been attacked by now. Hopefully, next time, they will make Bush think ten times.

The important thing is for the rallies to be transformed into political changes. One country has already been effected, and that is Germany. Schroeder won the election solely on opposing an Iraq war, with or without UN. He would have lost otherwise. If the land of Hitler can change so much, then maybe the land of Bush can change also.

On this site, the effect is already visible. The four or five people who were writing articles and replies supporting this war, have all of a sudden, stopped making any comments. Infact, now they don`t even support the killing of goats, what to talk of killing of human beings. That is quite a change in attitude. If their minds can be changed, or they can be quieted, then maybe others can be also.

I think some organizations should organize a public opinion poll in Iraq and get a professional survey of how many Iraqis themselves actually want to be, ``liberated`` through a US attack. That should once and for all put the patronizing argument of this war being for the betterment of Iraqis.

The world is truly caught in Tariq Ali`s, ``Clash of Fundamentalisms`` - OBL on one extreme and Bush on the other. It is important for everyone to not let either of these two succeed. More so in case of Bush, because OBL is already exposed, while Bush and his cronies are still able to hide behind a (hypocricy-filled) cloak of morality.

I wish I had been in New York. Or even Seattle.
and what you`ve said at the end Naeem, is what many of us here on the West coast are saying as well, that even if Bush says he`ll press on in spite of the protests (afterall, who are we to him anyway...), the connections that are being made will be a powerful force. It`s as Rahul Mahajan has written, na, they`ve taken the `public` out of `public policy`. I only hope that the momentum continues when and if the war begins (or continues by force, i should say).
Did Archbishop Tutu speak at the New York rally as well, or was he somewhere else?
regards
~~ana

temporal:

I second that.

Besides `the first sep towards success is the feeling that we can succeed!``

And I think its time.

Regards.

for those who can read Urdu:

http://www.jang.net/editorial/index1.cfm?ed_fullpath=http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/feb2003-daily/18-02-2003/editorial/index.html&top_fullpath=http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/feb2003-daily/18-02-2003/top.htm&cont_fullpath=http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/feb2003-daily/18-02-2003/cont.htm

Thank you for this!!

You know this may be another war protest, but for our generation this is globalization at its best. The coming together of people for a common cause to state their point. BRAVO to all that attended and made their point.

One man against the world

Uri Avnery

This war, then, goes much beyond the Iraqi problem. It is not a war against Saddam’s microbes. It is, quite simply, a war for world domination, economic, political, military and cultural. Bush is ready to spill a lot of blood to achieve this (as long as it is not American blood)

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_18-2-2003_pg3_4

#1 by taimurmalik `` While we Asians/Muslims save our energies for future protests. ``

Saving for what?. Why not join the rest of the world now when it is the need of the hour?.

Naeem:

welcome and thank you for the write up...here in TO in -29C we had a great crowd...same in Montreal and other cities...and folks came with their young kids...and...hoping that they would make a difference...

wise words, ``Even if we do not succeed this time with Iraq, the human connections that are being made in this moment will be a powerful force for positive change in the future.``

..t

My Feb 15 was spent between Amsterdam and London.
London cuz i expected a huge rally but what surprised me was the early morning determined almost all white crowd at Dam Sq. in Amsterdam!
And i like the way the French are challenging the Americans!!
While we Asians/Muslims save our energies for future protests.