BY ROSE ANA BERBEO AND PETE SEIDMAN
WASHINGTON, D.C. - More than 5,000 people marched and
rallied here June 5 demanding: "Stop the Bombing of
Yugoslavia! Jobs, Education, Health Care - Not War!" The
action began with a rally near the Vietnam War Memorial from
where demonstrators marched to the Pentagon for a closing
rally.
Many demonstrators carried Serbian and Greek flags, quite a few of whom wore buttons saying "Proud to be Serbian" and stickers similar to the targets worn by protesters in Belgrade, Yugoslavia - a smaller number wearing buttons reading "Kosova is Serbia."
All but a handful of the speakers concentrated their remarks on condemning the NATO-U.S. bombing of Yugoslavia while avoiding any discussion of the anti-working class policies, including "ethnic cleansing," carried out by Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
Many participants in the march and rally, however, including many wearing buttons and signs identifying themselves as Serbian, were eager to discuss this with supporters of the Militant newspaper there.
Yasmina Draskovic, an archeologist originally from Belgrade, told the Militant, "The whole thing is a farce. Everything has been planned since the big Yugoslavia fell apart -to break up the former Soviet Union so the United States can take over the world. The Kosovar Albanians have been used. What are they going to go back to? It's devastated. If anything happens, it's going to be the occupation of Serbia and Yugoslavia. All of my life I've been a Yugoslav. I've had to become a Serb under pressure because of what they've done to my people."
Kadira Belynne, a 42-year-old teacher who drove to the march with a carload from Tennessee, said, "It's the right of the people of Kosova to determine their future. I don't think what the United States and NATO are doing is promoting human rights." Referring to the struggle of Native Americans for their rights on coal-rich land in the western United States, she added if Washington really "cared about human rights, they would not be persecuting the Dineh people on Big Mountain. Our government is in collusion with Peabody Coal to drive them off the mountain. That hypocrisy just burns me up."
Charlie Rothwell, a 25-year-old worker who attends community college part-time in Three Rivers, Michigan, said he and some friends started a group called Protest Against Violence and eight of them had flown out to Washington for a demonstration of their own the previous day. That's when they found out about the national march and decided to take part. Rothwell thinks "the U.S. is there to protect their own interests, for money and power. It's part of them repressing us, the underclass, so they can get rich."
The protest was initiated by the International Action Center in New York. Other national organizations that participated in the demonstration included the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Veterans for Peace, Fellowship of Reconciliation, the Bruderhof Religious community, the Congress for Korean Reunification, National Peace Action, Pastors for Peace, International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal, Green Party, Workers World Party, Communist Party, Socialist Workers Party, and Young Socialists.
The rally was broadcast live on CSPAN.
SAN FRANCISCO - More than 3,000 people turned out here for the June 5 march and rally to protest the U.S.-NATO war in Yugoslavia. Participants came from Los Angeles, San Diego, Arcata, Davis, Sacramento, and other areas around California, and expressed a wide range of views.
Mike Schwartz from Los Angeles, told the Militant that he doesn't "buy the so-called peace agreement. It will just lead to more ground troops. Self-determination [for the Albanians in Kosova] is very important, but the U.S. can't give it to them."
When asked by the Militant what he thought of the "peace agreement," 22-year-old Ryan Crewe shook his head and said, "The only solution is among the people themselves. The peace is a false peace." Crewe said he believes that autonomy for the Albanians in Kosova is necessary within the Yugoslav federation, that there should be a peaceful solution and equal debate. Once the bombs stop, this will be more possible.
Jennifer Wilkie came to the demonstration with about 20 other students from the UC Berkeley Coalition to Stop the War in the Balkans. This coalition has organized rallies and teach-ins as well as gone to Berkeley High School to speak to students there.
Nineteen-year-old Meghan Toscano, a student at the University of California at Santa Cruz, said, "I came here to learn more about what is going on. I don't feel I can make an accurate decision about what I think because of all the media and propaganda that I see everyday in the newspapers."
"I believe self-determination" of Kosova is necessary, Toscano added.
Other participants expressed Serbian chauvinism. One young man who was raised in Croatia and in now living in Los Angeles said, "Personally, I'm for Serbs to control everything, but we can't against the U.S. so I'm for UN troops to monitor peace with Serbian and Yugoslavian troops to monitor the border to monitor illegals."
One woman, born in Belgrade, Serbia said, "The U.S. is trying to divide up the country to control it. All nationalities and religions lived in peace before. I don't know about now. I don't support Milosevic; we've been fighting him a long time. I think he's concerned about his power. I was demonstrating against Milosevic and his attacks on demonstrations and for democracy."