Rain Or Shine: Organizers Say October 17 Anti-War Rally Is A Go!

BOSTON/Copley Square - Organizers with the October 17 Mobilizing Committee and United for Justice with Peace held a press conference on Thursday to introduce several of the speakers scheduled for the anti-war march and demonstration that begins at noon this Saturday in Copley Square and to emphasize that the event will proceed in spite of a weather forecast calling for chilly temperatures and rain. Rally organizers said they expect to draw 1 000 or more people to the Square in support of calls for the United States and its allies to withdraw combat troops from Afghanistan Pakistan and Iraq immediately. Participants will hear from a variety of activists; including representatives from groups working on economic issues (home foreclosures) foreign policy in Latin America (the Honduran coup) and the conflict between Israel and its Palestinian neighbors. But the keynote speech will be given by "Zoya" an Afghan activist from the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan (RAWA). The Kabul based activist is on a bi-coastal speaking tour of the U.S. including Saturday’s Copley Square rally Newton MA on Sunday Medford MA and Portsmouth NH on Monday and then Los Angeles and San Francisco CA. [Ed. Note: please see RAWA / Afghan Women’s Mission schedule for more details] Due to a history within Afghanistan of reprisals against woman who criticize the status quo “Zoya” is a pseudonym and no photographs or videotaping of her face were allowed during the press conference nor at events at Harvard Law School and MIT. RAWA a human rights and political advocacy organization established in Kabul in 1977 runs home schools for women and children throughout the country and until recently a hospital for Afghan refugees in Pakistan. Lack of funds forced health care providers to scale back the scope of the hospital but some clinical services continue to be provided at the Khewa refugee camp about 30 miles from Peshawar Pakistan. The organization supports an immediate withdrawal of U.S. and NATO forces from Afghanistan. Speaking on Thursday morning in the Guatemala Room of the Community Church of Boston in Copley Square Zoya emphasized a point she has been making throughout her tour: namely that she and her RAWA colleagues believe that “liberation and democracy can not come from the outside from foreign countries.” OMB Audio: “Zoya” excerpt from October 17 Mobilization Committee / United for Justice with Peace / New England United press conference at Community Church of Boston on Thursday October 15 2009. According to organizers another priority at Saturday’s rally will be to show solidarity with supporters of Honduran President Manuel Zelaya removed from office this past summer in a military-backed coup. Tito Meza of the Chelsea MA based Proyecto Hondureno organization said there’s confusion over the political situation in Honduras amongst immigrants living in Boston in part “because the media in Honduras has projected an image of Zelaya as…too tied to [Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez] and Fidel and maybe Stalin and the Soviet Union…” Meza also was critical of the Obama administration saying the U.S. could be doing more to protect people demonstrating on behalf of President Zelaya currently taking refuge in the Brazilian embassy in Tegucigalpa. OMB Audio: Tito Meza of Proyecto Hondureno at Thurday’s press conference. In addition to the various speakers Saturday’s anti-war rally and march will feature the music of Mista Mayday performing with the New London CT based hip-hop/jazz ensemble Above/Below Boston’s Bojah and the Insurrection and The Constitution Brass Band with musicians from Boston and Vermont. Folksinger and political satirist Roy Zimmerman will serve as the rally’s master of ceremonies. The rally stage will be set up in front of Trinity Church. People attending the demonstration in Copley Square may be surprised to see fencing around the grassy area between the plaza and the Boston Public Library. According to rally organizers a mis-communication amongst various staffers at the Boston Parks Department led to grass seed being spread out over the square. But Cole Harrison coordinator of the Afghanistan/Pakistan Task Force of United for Justice with Peace said the Parks Department assured him that city workers would remove the fence if the number of people attending the rally is so large that crowds overflow onto Boylston or Dartmouth Streets. Bookmark/Search this post with: Delicious Digg StumbleUpon Reddit Newsvine Facebook Google Yahoo Technorati