The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.63/No.14           April 12, 1999 
 
 
N.Y. `Antiwar' Picket Becomes Reactionary Action  

BY ROSE ANA BERBEO
NEW YORK - A rally and march called on March 27 to protest the U.S.-led bombing of Yugoslavia turned into an overwhelmingly Serbian nationalist, right-wing action involving about 2,000 people in midtown Manhattan.

The demonstration, called by the leftist International Action Center, was dominated by people carrying signs with slogans like, "Kosova, the Serbian Soul," "Only Unity Saves the Serbs," "Stop Bombing Serbian Holy Lands," "Clinton, Kosova is Serbia's Jerusalem," and "KLA - Terrorist Organization Funded by Heroin, Cocaine, and NATO." The demonstrators also chanted "Yugoslavia!" and "Serbia!"

Across the street, about 400 people, most of them young, waved banners with the Albanian double-headed eagle emblem, and chanted "U-S-A!" and "U-C-K!" (the Albanian initials for the Kosova Liberation Army). Their signs and chants clearly supported the imperialist bombing of Yugoslavia. Several of these protesters engaged in provocative actions like running back and forth to confront the Serbians. Dozens of cops kept people tightly within barricades.

At least a dozen individuals and several groups of people who had come planning to join the rally to protest the bombing were repelled by what was clearly a show of support for the Milosevic regime's slaughter of Albanians in Kosova. Not a single sign in the anti-bombing demonstration called for self-determination or independence for Kosova.

Marching along with the Serbians was a contingent of about 10 middle-aged men, all wearing suits, hats, and dark glasses who carried signs reading, "Pat Buchanan for President." Buchanan is an ultrarightist demagogue who recently launched his third presidential campaign.

Some would-be demonstrators who were turned off by the display of right-wing nationalism, bought copies of the Militant newspaper. Some stopped to have discussions with supporters of the paper who set up a table about a block away from the action.

On March 29 some 2,000 Albanians rallied in front of the United Nations to show support for the U.S.-led NATO bombing and military intervention in Kosova. Similar pro-imperialist demonstrations, organized principally by Albanian students, took place last year as the struggle for the independence of Kosova intensified.

 
 
 
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