Americans Against the War

By Dr. Osama El-Kaffash

Translated by Abdelazim R. Abdelazim

On October 26, 2002, a tremendous demonstration thundered across the streets of Washington, the U.S. capital. Time magazine estimated that more than 100 thousand demonstrators were crying out against a possible attack on Iraq.

The demonstration led to an uncontrollable chain reaction and sparked many other demonstrations across the major American cities: Los Anglos; Chicago; Detroit; San Francisco; San Louis and Boston.

Column articles, very popular personalities, academics, politicians, religious men, military persons and citizens, they were all demonstrating in non-ordinary means against an attack on Iraq

At the time of those demonstrations, Bush’s popularity decreased to its lowest levels. A mild opposition to an attack on Iraq emerged from even within the American government. Moreover, European governments felt encouraged to express their objections to the war. Being a strong supporter to such a possible attack, Tony Blair was hit by a wave of anger from within his party and his cabinet. What is important is that the personalities opposing the war do not just represent the ordinary opposition; but they represent the average citizen.

Each of those opposing the war is motivated by a unique incentive. Some hold religious attitudes; others political, humanitarian or even economic. Yet, it is clear that a broad and diverse opposition front against attacking Iraq has really been established and that interaction with, supporting and capitalizing on this front is to be applauded.

If we keep watching such movements and demonstrations from very far, we will not be able to see their real features and, consequently, will not be able to identify and co-operate with them. Instead of watching them on TV and the Internet, we have to get ourselves acquainted with their activities and the reasons behind their anti-war orientation. Let this be our initiative to interact and communicate with those people. This is the urgent mission that we have to carry out.

Celebrities Against War

Sean Penn

Sean Penn is an actor, director and scenarist. Last year, he was nominated for Oscar more than once for his film I'm Sam, in which he performs the role of a man struggling against mental disability and challenging the American law to regain his paternal right to raise up his daughter. Penn is Madonna's ex-husband and had been infamous for being violent and quick-tempered before becoming a peacemaker many years ago. He has also a strong antipathy towards the death penalty.

One of his most important and famous films is Dead Man Walking, in which he depicts a sentenced- to-death character who awaits execution and meets with a Catholic nun to confess to her.

Penn is of Irish origin and had once supported the Republican Army before turning into a vehement supporter of peace movements. He lately visited Iraq and declared his utter antipathy towards a possible attack on the country. Penn's attitude stems from a humanitarian and religious perspective. His influence is embodied in his brilliant position in Hollywood and the American entertainment industry, being one of the key players there. Many humanitarian actors, like Richard Bradite and Goldy Hon, sympathized with Penn's attitude. Penn has recently been interviewed by Larry King in his famous CNN program to illustrate his point of view on the issue and reveal his reasons for visiting Iraq.

Click here for more information about Sean Penn: http://us.imdb.com/Name?Penn,+Sean

Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou is a writer, poetess, director and dramatist. She was one of the most fervent activists of the civil rights movement in the sixties and is now one of the most prominent Afro-American personalities in the US. Maya Angelou lived in Egypt for three years, which gave her an insider's view on the current Arab issue. She has recently expressed to Opera Winfry in a meeting that she thinks that the US is responsible for the September 11 attacks.

Maya Angelou's opposition to war is an expression of her original humanitarian attitude. Her influence lies in her being one of the most respected black leaderships in the US and in her close relationship with several personalities who are influential in the American public opinion, like Opera Winfry and Montel Williams, the famous announcer.

You can reach Maya Angelou at http://www.mayaangelou.com/

Ralf Nader

Ralf Nader was the Green Party nominee in the latest American election. His participation weakened Al-Gore's stance, Al-Gore being the Democratic Party nominee.

Nader is of Arab origin. His radical views oppose many of the intervention policies maintained by the American government. He was, and still is, against the war in Afghanistan. Nader's attitude is the outcome of his pacifist and political views. He represents the new left wing, environmentalism and pacifism in American politics, a line that is not marginal nowadays.

You can reach Nader at http://www.nader.org/

Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky is the most famous Professor of Linguistics in the world. He is a radical politician, well known for his bitter opposition to the American government. His anti-Israel and anti-American political views are far more than widespread. His opposition to an attack on Iraq arises from his general anti-war attitudes. What is important is that he looks upon the whole thing as a lie maintained to cover the economic failure of a government that adopts the policy of making the poor poorer and the rich richer. Chomsky visited Cairo in 1995.

You can reach him at http://www.chomsky.com/

Santia Julian

Santia Julian is a retired lawyer and a religious man living in Miami, USA. His opposition to war is based on a religious foundation. He works hard to get all the religious personalities in the USA in unison against war. From an ethical and religious point of view, he is as well active in opposing nuclear weapons and all kinds of wars. He refuses to be branded as anti-government and considers himself an anti-war activist. Julian works from Coral Gables Church Congregation in Miami.

You can reach him at http://www.opposed2iraq-war.freeservers.com/

Judith Meeker

Judith Meeker is a teacher. September 11th turned her into a human rights activist and triggered spirituality and inner powers. She founded the Covers for Peace society to oppose the war in Afghanistan. She led the rally in front of the White House and the food strike in Lavite Garden, Washington. She is currently leading demonstrations all over the United States.

You can reach her at http://www.peaceroots.org/

David Fox

David Fox is a 33-year-old Professor of Geology at Minnesota University. His opposition to war stems from an economic and political ground and sees that Iraq has nothing to do with terrorism. He wrote A Message Against War, for which he collected the signature of 230 academics from Minnesota University. This, in turn, led to a campaign all over the US and the academic world, through which he collected 31 thousand signatures against war worldwide. Fox represents the rational academic voice to which the American society gives considerable importance.

The website built to display his message is http://www.noattackiraq.org/

You can sign Fox's original message there.

Charles Sheehan-Miles

Charles Sheehan-Miles is an American veteran who fought in Iraq in 1991. He does not oppose war but sees no real necessity to launch it. He demands to abort any possible attack against Iraq, and works to get all veterans in unison against war. Sheehan represents the man in the street whose past experiences make his views acceptable to the American society. His website is home to a network of the ordinary American opposition based on economic, political and religious perspectives:

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/

Sheehan has got many admirers whose fondness of him led them to produce T-shirts bearing his website's logo. Contacting this group paves the way to the real public opinion in the U.S.A.

Dennis Kucinich

Dennis Kucinich is a congressman who vehemently opposes war. Assuming position for the Ohio constituency on January 5, 2003, he declared in his speech that Iraq has never committed any act of aggression against the US and that no concrete evidence exists that links Iraq to Al-Qaeda. He also believes that a war with Iraq would be a waste of money and an obstacle to development. Dennis Kucinich represents the opposition inside the American government.

You can reach him at http://www.house.gov/kucinich

Allaire Bar Yer

Allaire Bar Yer is a Jewish American journalist and writer. Since September 11th, he has been strongly denouncing all kinds of American hostile attitudes. He led the January 21st demonstration against an attack on Iraq calling for a peaceful resolution to the Iraqi crisis. He sees that besieging Iraq would lead to the mass destruction of the whole region (Middle East).

Bar Yer manages the international political campaign called: Let's Move towards Peace.

You can reach him and support his campaign at http://www.moveon.org/

How to Contact Them

Several other American personalities oppose the war; amongst them are Lion Laros, Wallace D. Muhammad, Rebecca Alsoit, Louis Farrakhan and many others. The campaign against Iraq, though escalating, is met by opposition. The question now is how we can interact with such an opposition. It might be essential to bear in mind that most of these personalities do not fully oppose the American policy and that addressing them or communicating with them as anti-government is extremely foolish. It could lead to adverse effects or even complete refusal to talk, interact and cooperate.

It is necessary for communication to be practical, maintained via the Internet. These entities need our support and we are in need of their reactions.

A practical dialogue thus should be established. We can cooperate with academics backing Fox's campaign. We can support Nader, Chehan, Lion, etc.

Many ideas can be generated to create such a dialogue. Only public pressure could convince the American government that a strong opposition really exists all over America herself. This could make all the difference for the government.

No much effort is required! Just visit the websites. Perhaps you may be asked to sign their online documents.

Electronic Resistance to War

Peaceteam2003@yahoo.com

This group email address represents a congregation of more than a million persons opposing war all over the world. They call upon hundreds of thousands of Europeans and Americans to travel to Iraq to stand as human shields against the instigation of war.

http://www.rhinosblog.info/

This is an opposition website maintained by an American Jew called Gary Rhine (rhino@kifara.com). He publishes articles in collaboration with all anti-war web sites in the US. Rhine supports the right of the Palestinian people to live in a state of their own, but he is against the Intifada! His website also publishes opinions most of which are unacceptable to the Arab reader. Nevertheless, we can cooperate with him in his campaign against war.

http://www.voice4change.com/

This is a radical website that calls for peace. It contains articles by Micker, Rhine, Lion and others. It represents the new American left wing, which adopts spirituality and the propagation of noble values. Note, once more, that not all the views displayed on the site are necessarily fully acceptable. They represent the perspectives of the site’s owners with whom we may cooperate. We can as well interact more effectively with them through the Internet if we mutually agree to participate in the practical movement only.