Anti-war Activists Gather to Protest Senator Feinstein's Uncritical Support of Israel

I'm so glad that folks were out there challenging feinstien's support of israel today; but this oost makes it seem like it was all chrrretian supporters, and it wasn't. don't forget that chretin is not an idnependatn actor; he is of the ISO and presumably is accountable to who ever calls the shots in the ISO. It's good that he is speaking out about israel, but it's not ok to ignore the rest of the folks who are also speaking out and make it all about one man. That will get us nowhere, and it will turn folks whoa re not fans of the iso (ther are many) against this counter movement.

Sad to say, the Answer coalition and the ADC both ignored this important anti-pro war rally. The
Answer coalition refused to put out a notice about this event informing all those opposed to the
war and this was also the case with ADC. Was it because Feinstein and Newsom were
supporting this pro-war rally?
It seems it is better to organize protests at the Israeli consulate rather than going after US
politicians who are actually voting money for the war and personally profiting from the war.
Feinstein's husband Richard Blum who is also chair of the UC regents has actually received
hundreds of millions of dollars of war contracts in Iraq.
It is also interesting about the silence on the role of Barbara Lee who refused to oppose
the pro-war resolution in Congress. While Congressmen Pete Stark voted no, Barbara Lee
apparently does not know the difference between a pro-war resolution and an voting "present.
The control of the Zionists of the Democrats right here in the bay area is another sign that
those who opposed war and imperialism have failed to do their job.

In a statement issued Sunday, Peace and Freedom Party senatorial candidate Marsha Feinland sharply criticized California's two U. S. Senators for their blank check support of Israeli attacks on Gaza and Lebanon.

"It is shocking but not surprising that every U.S. Senator voted for Resolution 534 supporting Israel's current attacks on Lebanon and Gaza," Feinland said. "It is shocking that no one in the Senate is appalled by the violence to civilian populations and the damage to vital infrastructure, or even dubious about the necessity of such ferocity.

"But these are the same politicians who have consistently supported Israel's illegal occupation and control of Palestinian territories. They also supported our country's bombing campaign aimed at Iraq's civilian population and infrastructure for over a decade. So the Senators' callousness to needless human suffering and their unquestioning support for Israel come as no surprise."

Feinland went on to state her alternative policy. "Instead of encouraging Israeli aggression, the Senate should take steps to promote peace in the Middle East. We could start by halting arms sales to Israel, Egypt and other countries. We could stop all aid to Israel until it ends its illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. And we can end our own occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and close all U.S. bases in the Middle East and Central Asia."

Sad to say, the Answer coalition and the ADC both ignored this important anti-pro war rally. The
Answer coalition refused to put out a notice about this event informing all those opposed to the
war and this was also the case with ADC.

More likely because they don't want to burn out their constituency- three rallies at the Consulate, and the attendence numbers began rapidily dropping....they are trying to build up steam, not lose steam for the main event August 12.

Am sending a message of appreciation for all the pro-Palestinian and pro-peace activists who have organized countless protests since the pre-invasion of Iraq to show their opposition to US/Israeli militarism, apartheid, genocide, corporate theft of resources, etc..

However, more action may be needed besides the usual sign waving protests where everyone drives home afterwards. Nobody likes being critisized on their tactics, sure protesting beats doing nothing other than typing on computers..

Having remembered the book by Ward Churchill "Pacisfism as Pathology" and increasing curiousity to learn about militants in British occupied India who secretly destroyed British munitions outposts in the countryside has led me to question the mainstream peace movement's button sales and permitted banner marches..

"Churchill rightly points out that several peaceful movements which pacifists use as examples of the effectiveness of their strategies were successful only because of the violence inflicted on the system by those outside the nonviolent movement. For example, Gandhi's allegedly peaceful triumph in the struggle for the independence of India was overshadowed at that time by nationalist and religious violence which made the country ungovernable both during British colonial rule and afterwards."

more on Churchill's book @;
http://www.spiritoffreedom.org.uk/profiles/rob/pacifismaspathreview.html

Ward's main position in this book is that concerned people will need to give up their comfort zones and directly engage the military/industrial complex of the US corporate government..

"The insistence of non-violent resistance and symbolic civil disobedience as the only acceptable forms of protest by North Americans is certainly one of the ideological areas which needs to be explored, challenged and debated."

The ANSWER coalition and it's leadership could have put out a notice about the SF pro-war rally.
This was a political decision on their part and they decided to remain silent. Maybe you are burned
out but many are not and also many are very angry about the role of Feinstein and the rest of the
Democrats.
The fact that you are doing damage control for them obviously proves the
point. Instead of directing confronting and mobilizing against the pro-war and pro-Zionist politicians you are waiting for a
"bigger" demonstration that the media will ignore on August 12. The media did not ignore the small
counter demonstration yesterday because one of the most important supporters of Israel in the
Senate was there. There should have been thousands in opposition to the war mongers.
Start Learning the Lessons and Challenging the Democrats

No matter how big or large any demonstration is, it is sure to end. Then we must ask, what long range agenda do we have? For many of us, there is the ballot. The only serious way to challenge the Democrats and their twins, the Republicans, is to refuse to vote for any of them at any level of government as they are the twin parties of capitalism, war, the death penalty and support of their military base in the Middle East to protect US oil profits, the stinking hellhole called Israel. We have 2 alternative peace parties on the California ballot:
(a) the socialist Peace & Freedom Party, with lots of candidates. See http://www.peaceandfreedom2006.org
and
(b) The Green Party
If you think this is boring, just imagine what it would be like if 80% of San Francisco voters regularly voted for either P&F or the Greens instead of the Democrats. We could then honestly call ourselves a progressive city instead of just another capitalist bastion of support for the rich and their wars, which the Democratic Party machine at City Hall certainly is. It is not Feinstein who is the problem as we all know where she stands. It is the allegedly "progressive" voters of San Francisco who routinely vote for the entire Democratic Party ticket, all of whom support Israel's 58 year occupation and its genocidal policies for that entire period of time, giving the leading Democrats 80% of the votes in any general election. 12% to 15% goes to the Republican Party. Half the adults in SF and the rest of the nation never vote, and most of that half is the workingclass, those who sell their labor for less than $76,000 a year, usually much less.
WE HAVE TO IMAGINE PEACE PARTIES RUNNING THIS SOCIETY because that is the only viable solution to the nightmare we experience with these endless wars, and their concurrent drain on our economy and increase of fascism at home.

The other long term option is labor organizing to get rid of this private profit society which benefits from these blood for oil wars.

As to this particular miserable little government war rally of idiots (a few hundred to 1,000 were reported to show up), they are not worth so much attention. I would rather see hundreds of thousands at the August 12 demonstration. After all, we have 750,000 people living in San Francisco, 7 million living in the Bay Area and 11 million living in Northern California. If the Bay Area is so progressive, we ought to be able to get 1 million people in the streets to march for peace on August 12. Those who would like to see bigger peace demonstrations and are able to poster, leaflet, phone call, etc. can start working toward that goal. We sure need it. That will make possible throwing the Democrats and Republicans out of office for good.

How come no photos of the Palestinian Youth who showed up and saved the counter-demo. Chanting,militant at the baricade for three hours these youth got the attention of the Zionists. Thank you.

I know people were surprised that ANSWER was not at the counter-demo but I was surprised to see ANSWER critisized by other progressives in the "Add Comment Section." Nobody organizes like ANSWER and nobody works as hard at organizing as ANSWER...while we do a million things that have nothing to do with social change the ANSWER organizers are doing the opposite..organizing,working night and day to bring the movement to the people...let us be more respectful...lisa roellig

Do you think those wonderful young people who stood in the hot sun for 3 hours to scream at the war voters are able to help our peace parties walk precincts with leaflets calling for:
1) No US Aid to Israel
2) Stop US/Israeli War Crimes, including the attacks on civilians in Lebanon and Gaza, the 58 year murder, torture and false imprisonment of Palestinians and theft of Palestinian land
3) Vote for either Peace & Freedom Party or Green Party the only 2 parties that oppose US/Israeli war crimes
In San Francisco, that would mean voting for Krissy Keefer, Green Party candidate for Congress to replace Nancy Pelosi, co-author of the House resolution praising Israeli war crimes. See http://www.krissyforcongress.com/
For US Senate against Dianne Feinstein, we have two choices: Marsha Feinland of the Peace & Freedom Party and Todd Chretien of the Green Party. For more P&F candidates, see http://www.peaceandfreedom2006.org

Anyone who can afford the cost of those huge flags can pay for precinct lists and leaflets. We have around 500 precincts in San Francisco. If you just walk precincts east of Twin Peaks (Pelosi's district), you will have achieved a milestone in history.

As stated above, San Francisco regularly gives up to 80% of its vote for the leading Democrat in the general election, and these voters consider themselves to be "progressive." When Medea Benjamin ran in 2000, Benjamin got 10% of the vote; Feinstein got 72%. When Feinland ran in 2004, she got 2% of the vote; Boxer got 82% of the vote. In 2004, P&F candidate Leilani Dowell got 3% of the vote; Pelosi got 82% of the vote. Israel was just as much a war criminal then and the Democrats were just as pro-Israel then as now. So long as there is no grassroots organizing, these politicans will continue to ignore us because they know they can be easily re-elected. We need precinct walkers with leaflets that expose the US/Israel war crimes.