Who Are These People?

A guest post from my online correspondent George Merideth:

On Saturday, September 15, there was an anti-war rally in Washington, D.C. in La Fayette Park directly across from the White House. CSPAN ran it in its entirety on Sunday.

There is a common Marxist-Leninist thread that ties many of these groups together along with a number of pro-Palestinian/anti-Israeli speakers early on whose names weren‘t audible. Here are some links to info on the organizations, the speakers and the organizations’ websites.

The rally was organized by ANSWER.

· Anti-war front group for the Marxist-Leninist Workers World Party

· A major organizer of the massive anti-Iraq war rallies of 2002 and 2003

· Opposes embargo against Communist Cuba

· Supports convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal

Brian Becker Co-Director was a featured speaker.

· Co-director of the International Action Center

· Member of International A.N.S.W.E.R.'s steering committee

· Member of the Secretariat of the Workers World Party

Co-sponsor of the rally was Muslim American Society (MAS). This group espouses that the US is responsible for provoking the attacks of 9/11.

Mahdi Bray – Featured Speaker - Here’s a clip of Bray enthusiastically showing his support for Hamas and Hezbollah:

· Executive Director of the Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation

· Advisory board member for numerous Muslim organizations

· Has worked in concert with International ANSWER

· Declared that he and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist fundraiser Sami al-Arian are “kindred spirits” on the issue of Muslim political activism

Code Pink

During the last week of December 2004, Medea Benjamin (Code Pink Founder), announced that Code Pink, Global Exchange, and Families for Peace would be donating a combined $600,000 in medical supplies and cash to the families of the terrorist insurgents who were fighting American troops in Fallujah, Iraq. (Emphasis added).

Voters for Peace and Democracy

· Voter-education organization that endorses only anti-war political candidates

· Project of such anti-war organizations as After Downing Street, Backbone Campaign, Code Pink, Democracy Rising, Global Exchange, Gold Star Families for Peace, Peace Action, Peace Majority, Peace Majority Report, and United For Peace and Justice.

Kevin Zeese – President, was a featured speaker:

Colonel Ann Wright

USAR, Ret., Former State Dept. Official 1987 – 2003

Common Ground Collective

Malik Rahim, Founder, speaker

· Former Black Panther

· Convicted felon

· Current Green Party member

· Long-time housing and prison activist in the U.S. state of Louisiana.

· Gained publicity as a community organizer in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Ralph Nader

· Far-left anti-capitalist activist

· Two-time nominee for president

Ramsey Clark – He repeatedly pushed this site: impeachbush.org

· Former U.S. Attorney General

· Acted as counsel for North Vietnamese Communists and Iran’s Islamic dictatorship

· Founder of International Action Center, which is staffed by members of the Workers World Party, a Marxist-Leninist vanguard.

Some of Clark’s quotes from the rally:

“Our country doesn’t like poor people . . . especially here at home”.

"We’ve got to cut our military budget by 50%”.

“We spend more on military arms here than all other countries in the world combined”.

“Nothing is going to stop this war except the impeachment of George Bush and his gang”.

Partnership for Civil Justice

· Sub-unit of the International Action Center, a front for the Marxist-Leninist Workers World Party

· Provides legal services for protesters arrested during demonstrations

· Publishes literature designed to protect the civil liberties of terrorist suspects

Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, Attorney & Co-Founder, was their featured speaker

· Co-founder of the Partnership for Civil Justice Legal Defense & Education Fund

· Attorney for the International Action Center

· Anti-war activist

Gold Star Families for Peace - Listen to what she had to say:

Cindy Sheehan, Co-Founder President (does she really need any introduction at this
point???)

Cindyforcongress.org

Some memorable Cindy quips from Saturday:

“We need to stand up and lie down”.

“These people are the fascist elite.”

“Power to the people. Power to the people. Power to the people. Right on.”

She left the stage to the crowd chanting “Impeach Bush. Impeach Bush”.

She believes she’s a shoe-in for Speaker of the House.

This is not an anti-war movement; this is an anti-American, anti-capitalist, impeach-Bush movement.