CALL FOR OCTOBER 25 ANTI-WAR ACTIONS WORLDWIDE

Momentum is growing inside the United States for a
successful national demonstration in Washington on October
25 against the occupation of Iraq and to bring the U.S.
troops home now. The ANSWER Coalition is asking the world
movement to consider making this same date - October 25 -
a date for worldwide actions against the occupation.

From mid-to-late August-a time when there is usually a
low level of political activity in the U.S.-there were
surprisingly significant protests in New York, Chicago,
Richmond, Va., and Taos, N.M., most demanding and end to
the occupation of Iraq. The Aug. 23 demonstration in
Washington commemorating the 1963 Civil Rights March gave
its biggest applause to anti-war statements. In addition,
a Newsweek poll showed more people now opposed the
continued occupation than supported it.

The Iraqi people’s refusal to accept U.S./UK domination of
their country has made the continued occupation unpopular
among the rank-and-file U.S. troops, their relatives and
the U.S. population in general.

The ANSWER Coalition has been working for the past two
months to build a strong national march on October 25 in
Washington. By late August some 2,000 organizations and
individuals, including Not In Our Name, NY Labor Against
the War, the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
and the San Francisco Labor Council, had endorsed this
initiative. The latest step toward a successful
demonstration was the decision as August ended by the
other major national coalition, United for Peace and
Justice, to accept an ANSWER invitation to jointly sponsor
the demonstration.

This means the October 25 action will be the first
national demonstration supported by the entire U.S.
anti-war movement since the Pentagon took Baghdad last
April. It will come a month after important local
actions-expected to be strongest on the West
Coast-September 25-28 to end the occupations of Iraq and
Palestine, part of internationally supported protests on
the anniversary of the second Intifada.

A major U.S.-based protest of the occupation Oct. 25 will
undoubtedly have a strong impact on the worldwide anti-war
movement. Already movements have called actions for Oct.
25 in Belgium, in Canada, in northern Italy, Japan, and in
Madrid, Spain, where a "Donors’ Conference" of countries
aiding the occupation is set Oct. 23-24. These are just a
beginning. Last year’s global demonstrations that began
Oct. 26, grew on Jan. 18 and peaked with the Feb. 15-16
actions, involved at least 10 million worldwide and were
repeated in March and April, showed what is possible.
Now this movement should consider if it can use the
U.S.-based action as a catalyst for protests in other
countries. Can October 25 be the next powerful
international day of protest?

John Catalinotto