600 ANTI-WAR ACTIVISTS ATTEND JUNE 1 EMERGENCY


NATIONAL ANTI-WAR CONFERENCE IN NEW YORK CITY





Report on the June 1 conference:


- Plans announced for mass June 29 demonstration at


FBI's Washington D.C. headquarters to tell Ashcroft


"Hell No, We Don't Want Your Cointelpro"


- This summer, Commission of Inquiry hearings on


U.S.-backed Israeli war crimes against the Palestinian


people will take place around the country


- Great press coverage of the conference


- List of speakers and topics of the conference.





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PRESS RELEASE


on June 1 Emergency National Anti-War Conference





(June 2, 2002 - NYC) Over 600 activists with


International A.N.S.W.E.R. met yesterday in New York


City and announced plans for a mass June 29


demonstration at the FBI's Washington D.C.


headquarters to protest John Ashcroft's domestic


espionage program that targets political


organizations, mosques and community groups.





A.N.S.W.E.R. — which stands for Act Now to Stop War &


End Racism — was one of the central forces behind the


100,000-strong March for Palestine April 20th in


Washington, D.C. The activists who planned this


demonstration came from around the country Saturday


for an all-day, anti-war conference opposing Bush's


war policies that threaten Iraq, Colombia, and the


Philippines, back genocide against Palestinians, and


take money from people's needs and funnel it to the


Pentagon.





A special section on the conference's Opening Plenary


entitled "Emergency action plan to fight back against


the FBI and Ashcroft" featured Mara Verheyden-Hilliard


and Carl Messineo, attorneys and co-founders of the


Partnership for Civil Justice. "Today we have


launched a national fightback movement to stop John


Ashcroft and the FBI from bringing back the very worst


features from J. Edgar Hoover's reign over domestic


intelligence," stated Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, also a


member of the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition steering


committee.





"Ashcroft's changes have been presented as an


innocuous update of FBI procedures," said


Verheyden-Hilliard. "This has become the preferred


method of presentation by Ashcroft as the Justice


Department shreds the First Amendment and the Bill of


Rights.





"These changes, however, are much more insidious than


simply allowing the FBI to surf the web,"


Verheyden-Hilliard continued. "They are a full-scale


revival of Cointelpro, the notorious government


infiltration program which reached its peak in the 60s


and was aimed at Martin Luther King and the civil


rights movement."





"Ashcroft is facing a growing and powerful anti-war,


anti-racist movement that won't be easily


intimidated," said Larry Holmes, co-director of the


International Action Center, also with A.N.S.W.E.R.


"We're not going to let Ashcroft, the FBI, Bush and


his right-wing gang — with the complicity of the


Democratic Party and Congress — tear up the


constitution, open up a war on political dissent, and


stop the very necessary movement against his


war-mongering, pro-rich madness."





Later in the day -- after a reportback from


A.N.S.W.E.R.'s medical and legal delegation that just


returned from the West Bank and Gaza -- conveners


announced plans this summer for mass public inquiries


entitled Commission of Inquiry hearings on U.S.-backed


Israeli war crimes against the people of Palestine.





Details of the A.N.S.W.E.R. Action Plan will be


released in the coming days.





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The June 1 Emergency National Anti-War Conference was


one of the top stories on NY1. That story follows:





TOP STORY:


Anti-War Activists Hold Conference On War Against


Terrorism


June 1, 2002





To view the 60 second clip that was shown many times


on NY1, go to:


http://www.ny1.com/ny/Search/SubTopic/index.html?&contentintid=21994&s


earch_result=1





Anti-war activists gathered at a conference in


Manhattan Saturday to rally against what they call the


Bush administration's "war machine."





The demonstrators were part of the group ANSWER, which


stands for "Act Now to Stop War and End Racism." The


conference was held at the Fashion Institute of


Technology.





ANSWER members say they want to challenge efforts by


Attorney General John Ashcroft and the FBI to give


investigators new authority to keep tabs on Americans.


They also say they plan to start a movement to stop


any plans for a war in Iraq.





"It is taking everything that we need for schools and


hospitals and food and everything that people need and


robbing it from us and pouring it into a military


budget," Larry Holmes of the International Action


Center said Saturday.





ANSWER also wants to put an end to any racial


profiling of Arabs or Muslims in the United States.





The group is planning to hold a massive rally in front


of FBI headquarters in Washington D.C. later this


month.





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The conference included a wide array of speakers on


many topics, including:





- Elias Rashmawi, Free Palestine Alliance


- Larry Adams, President, Mailhandlers Local 300; New


York City Labor Against the War


- Mara Verheyden-Hilliard, attorney and co-founder,


Partnership for Civil Justice


- Larry Holmes, Co-Director, International Action


Center


- Yoomi Jeong, Korea Truth Commission


- Chuck Kaufman, Nicaragua Network


- Jennifer Wager, IFCO/Pastors for Peace


- Arturo Garcia, Bayan International


- Carl Messineo, attorney and co-founder, Partnership


for Civil Justice; member of A.N.S.W.E.R. delegation


to Palestine


- Dr. Hillel Cohen, public health doctor and


epidemiologist; delegate for 1199 Health and Hospital


Workers Union; member of A.N.S.W.E.R. delegation to


Palestine


- Randa Jamal, Al-Awda NY-NJ, Free Palestine Alliance


- Sara Flounders, International Action Center; member


of A.N.S.W.E.R. delegation to Palestine


- Brenda Stokely, President, AFSCME District Council


1707; New York City Labor Against the War


- Williams Camacaro, member, Venezuela Civic Center,


NYC


- Teresa Gutierrez, Committee to Stop the U.S. War in


Colombia


- Ben Dupuy, Co-Director, Haiti Progres; Secretary


General, National Popular Party in Haiti


- Mahmoud Ahmed, Free Palestine Alliance-Chicago


- Richard Becker, Western Regional Coordinator,


International Action Center; member of A.N.S.W.E.R.


delegation to Palestine


- Gloria La Riva, President, Typographical Sector of


the Northern Calif. Media Workers Union; National


Committee to Free the Five Cuban Political Prisoners


Held in the U.S.


- Leslie Feinberg, author and lesbian/gay/bi/trans


rights activist


- Brian Becker, International Action Center


- Renee Washington, volunteer organizer, All People's


Congress


- Doreathea Peacock, coordinator, Boston Women's


Fightback Network


- Sharon Ceci, Baltimore A.N.S.W.E.R.


- William Guerrero, IAC


- David Sole, Pres., Auto Workers Local 2334, Detroit


- Ed Childs, chief shop steward, Local 26 HERE (Hotel


Employees and Restaurant Employees), Boston


- Lyn Meza, Vice-President, IUE-CWA Local 201


- Mike Gimball, NYC AFSCME progressive caucus, local


375, delegate to NYC Central Labor Council


- Trudy Rudnick, organizer, AFT (American Federation


of Teachers) Local 3882 in NY


- Andre Powell, trustee, AFSCME Local 119, Baltimore


- Dave Welsch, retired Vice-President, National


Association of Letter Carriers (NALC)


- Andy Thayer, Chicago Coalition Against War & Racism


- Roger Wareham, Aug. 17 Millions for Reparations


march


- Subash Kateel, DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving)


- Khadouri Al-Kaysi, Committee in Support of the Iraqi


People


- Ismael Kamal, Sudanese American Society


- Deirdre Griswold, Workers World newspaper


- Peta Lindsay, youth and student coordinator,


A.N.S.W.E.R.


- Daniel Keesler, student, School Without Walls high


school


- Ayman El-Sawa, IAC


- Deirdre Sinnott, A.N.S.W.E.R. organizer


- Alicia Jrapko, Int'l Action Center-SF


- Cherrene Horavuk, CISPES (Committee in Support of


the People of El Salvador)


- Bob Marsh, Iraq Sanctions Challenge


- SOA Watch representative


- Dan Wilson, Philippine Forum, Network in Solidarity


with the People of the Philippines


- Tom Burke, Colombia Action Network


- Rebeca Toledo, Committe to Stop the U.S. War in


Colombia


- John Parker, International Action Center-LA





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International A.N.S.W.E.R.


Act Now to Stop War & End Racism


http://www.internationalanswer.org