[peace-announce] Sun Jun 4 Anti-War Protest in Weston 5 PM?

[davidrolde@comcast.net]

Anti-War Protest in Weston, Sunday, June 4, 5 PM

Protest against US Congressman James McGovern, who is an advocate of US war against Sudan and who will be giving a pro-war speech. 

When: Sunday, June 4,  5 PM
Where: Weston Center:  In front of the First Parish Church, 349 Boston Post Rd.

Don’t Invade Sudan! Stop the US War against Sudan! US Hands Off Sudan’s Oil! No More Foreign Intervention in Sudan!

Stop US support for Israeli apartheid in Palestine! From the River to the Sea, Palestine Will Be Free!

Victory to the Iraqi  & Afghan Resistances! US out of Iraq and Afghanistan Now! Self-Determination for Iraqis and Afghans!

Stop the US and Israeli Crusader War against the Arab & Muslim world! Stop the US Threats against Iran & Syria!

In 2003, after 12 years of brutal US-led war, bombing and sanctions against the Iraqi people in which many hundreds of thousands or millions of Iraqis were killed, the USA invaded and occupied Iraq based on a pretext of lies about “Weapons of Mass Destruction” that didn’t really exist.  Since 2003 US forces have killed hundreds of thousands more Iraqis. Similarly the USA, after 15 years of brutal proxy war, sanctions and even a direct missile attack against the Sudanese people, is now preparing to invade Sudan on a pretext of lies: untrue accusations of “genocide” against the Sudanese government. 

In the early 90s, because the Sudanese government refused to support the Israeli apartheid regime in Palestine and because the Sudanese government refused to support the 1991 US invasion of Iraq,  the US government declared Sudan to be a “state sponsor of terrorism” and instituted sanctions against Sudan.  During the 90s and 00s these sanctions were increased in severity several times to include a complete unilateral US-Sudanese trade boycott, threats to push international sanctions against Sudan through the UN, and threats to cut off US diplomatic relations with Sudan.  These sanctions damaged the Sudanese economy and led to increased poverty in Sudan. The USA, through threats, also forced the Sudanese government to implement IMF reforms such as land privatization that benefited international capitalists at the expense of the Sudanese people. Also during the 90s and 00s, the USA waged a proxy war against Sudan by arming and funding, to the tune of hundreds of millions of do!
 llars, 
the SPLA rebels in the south of Sudan in their civil war against the government of Sudan and against other southern factions. The SPLA militarily took over large portions of the south. Hundreds of thousands or millions of people were killed in the civil war.  Millions of southerners fled to the Sudanese capital of Khartoum because they were afraid of the SPLA and the chaos in the south and not afraid of the Sudanese government.  In 1998, the US government of the Clinton administration, with a missile attack justified on a pretext of lies,  destroyed Sudan’s only pharmaceutical plant, the al-Shifa plant near Khartoum. The destruction of the al-Shifa plant resulted in Sudan becoming unable to produce medicines to treat endemic diseases such as malaria and also unable to produce veterinary medicines needed by Sudan’s large livestock industry.  Thousands of Sudanese have died because of lack of medicine as a result of the missile attack.

In 2004, as a peace deal was being worked out between the Sudanese government and the SPLA to end the north-south civil war, the US government started a propaganda campaign against the Sudanese government regarding the new civil war in Darfur province in western Sudan.  Years of US intervention in Sudan had led to destabilization and impoverishment of Sudan.  In remote Darfur province this led to increased conflict among poor populations and factions for scarce land resources.  Anti-government political factions were encouraged (and possibly armed) by the USA to attack Sudanese government positions in Darfur to start a new civil war.  Tens of thousands of people were killed in this war and hundreds of thousands of people became refugees.  The US government and media blamed the Sudanese government for the war in Darfur, exaggerated the number of deaths and labeled it as “genocide” by the Sudanese government.  Internationally no one else besides the US government shares this a!
 nalysis
.  Despite the fact that almost everyone in Darfur is a Black African Arabic-speaking Muslim, the US media has mischaracterized the conflict in Darfur as “genocide by Arabs against Blacks.” In 2006, even though the war in Darfur has cooled down from its peak in 2004,  the anti-Sudan propaganda campaign in the USA has intensified.  Anti-Sudan pro-war organizations,  notably including many pro-Israel organizations, stage anti-Sudan events on a regular basis. Zionist groups and the US government sponsored a pro-war rally in Washington DC against Sudan last month.  US government officials and US media sources are calling for UN, NATO or US troops to be sent to invade Sudan.  It is possible that the next phase of US intervention in Sudan will be a direct military invasion.  The goals of the US government in Sudan are to gain control over Sudan’s oil and stop China’s access to this oil; to make sure that Sudan, the largest country in Africa, does not become an independent economic!
  or mil
itary threat to US hegemony in the African and Middle Eastern regions; to stop Sudan from opposing Israeli apartheid in Palestine and Israeli influence in Africa and the Middle East; to gain control over Sudan’s uranium and other natural resources; and to gain control over the water of the Nile so that the US will have the option of building dams to cut Egypt off from the water. 

Congressman James McGovern staged an arrest of himself at the Sudanese embassy a few days before the anti-Sudan pro-war rally in Washington DC.  McGovern demonizes the Sudanese government, falsely accusing them of “genocide” and calling for more US intervention against Sudan. This Sunday, June 4, the Weston-Wayland Interfaith Action Group is having their annual dinner meeting at the First Parish Church in Weston. James McGovern will be the keynote speaker. His talk is titled “Bringing People Together …. From Darfur to Baghdad”.  It will be a pro-war speech against Sudan. 

Please join anti-war activists outside the First Parish Church,  349 Boston Post Road in Weston Center, at 5 PM on the public sidewalk for a peaceful protest to tell McGovern and others present that McGovern is wrong about Sudan, that US intervention has been a disaster for the people of Sudan, and that we insist that US and US/Israeli-sponsored intervention in Sudan must stop!