Libyan Conflict Erupts on Pennsylvania Avenue

Supporters of the Libyan insurgency have been demonstrating in front of the White House every Saturday between 3:00 and 5:00, but they came early last Saturday.

ANSWER had called for people to come from all over the east coast to protest the bombing of Libya beginning at noon. Local Libyans wanted them to have a warm welcome.

ANSWER claimed the prime photo-op spot in the street, closest to the White House. About a hundred people marched and chanted with printed signs saying "NO War for Oil" and "STOP US/NATO War on Libya."

Facing them about fifteen feet away was a long line of about fifty Libyans waving the flag of the insurgency. They chanted "Our Blood. Our Tears. For Forty Years." Their signs said "Thank You Obama," "Thank You NATO."

Keeping the two sides a safe distance apart were six officers from the US Park Police. Every now and then they had to move the line of Libyans back as it slowly encroached on the de-politicized zone. After an hour, the cops decided it would be easier to demarcate the DPZ and out came sections of barricades which, when linked, left the two groups to harangue each other across a fifteen foot alley populated by photographers.

After calling the demonstration, ANSWER decided to expand its reach to include the Ivory Coast. About a dozen Ivorians joined the picket with signs supporting President GbaGbo and telling "France/UN" to get out of the Cote d’Ivoire.

Demographically the two protests were quite different.

About eighty percent of the four dozen Libyans were women and young children. I asked one why there were so few men and she initially said that this is what the protests looked like in Libya itself. When I pressed her, she said the men were afraid of retaliation against their families.

The ANSWER pickets had gender balance, but no children. Almost all were twenty-somethings, with a scattering of men over fifty. Except for the Ivorians, they didn’t look like they came from Africa or the Middle-East but they did have a lot more dark faces than the Libyans.

Behind the ANSWER picket line was a long table manned by three members of the Nation of Islam, wearing their trademark suits and bow-ties in 90 degree heat. They weren’t chanting or holding signs, but were selling the NOI newspaper and CDs. I didn’t see any buyers. They said they were there because the NOI supports Quaddafi, but didn’t mention that the Libyan dictator has long been a generous supporter of the NOI. In fact Quaddafi and NOI head Louis Farrakhan have been allies for many years.

Another Quaddafi supporter is former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. She has twice visited Tripoli, spoken on Libyan state TV, and been the featured speaker on a recent US tour sponsored by ANSWER.

ANSWER is a front group for the Party for Socialism and Liberation, which split from the Worker’s World Party in 2004. Its Stalinist ancestry perhaps explains its knee-jerk opposition to anything done by the "imperialist powers" – which currently means the US, NATO and France. Its leaflet for this event said "it is time to stand up and oppose the racist logic of humanitarian intervention."

The Libyans said they weren’t mobilized by any organization. They are a loose network of people who know each other and pass on information through e-mail and Facebook. That’s how they knew to come early for their weekly Saturday demonstration so ANSWER wouldn’t have Pennsylvania Ave. to itself.

News and Issues, Issues, Politics, Senior Women Web, Articles, Jo Freeman, Authors

Libyan Conflict Erupts on Pennsylvania Avenue

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