The Week of Resistance Begins Today: War Crimes Tribunal (8/26/04)

The Week of Resistance Begins Today: War Crimes Tribunal (8/26/04)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Sara Flounders, Dustin Langley 212-633-6646

The Iraq War Crimes Tribunal: Resistance is Justified www.PeopleJudgeBush.org

Thursday, August 26th- 3:00pm to 9:30pm Martin Luther King Auditorium 65th St. & Amsterdam New York, NY

The War Crimes Tribunal

On Thursday, August 26, activists, attorneys, eyewitnesses, and community organizers will gather to expose the crimes committed by the Bush Administration, including Crimes Against Humanity, Crimes Against Peace, and War Crimes. This Tribunal will kick off a Week of Resistance against the RNC.

“The Tribunal will clearly demonstrate that the war against Iraq is a crime,” said Dustin Langley, a Navy Veteran and Tribunal organizer. “Since the war itself is a criminal act, it is our obligation to resist it. We will not only we expose the illegal nature of the war; we will demonstrate that resistance is justified, whether that resistance is on the streets of Najaf, at protests on the streets of New York City, or among soldiers who refuse to serve in this war."

Participants will include: Fernando Suarez: father of a marine killed in Iraq; Jo Wilding: (from England) in Iraq November 2003 to May 2004, she drove an ambulance during the siege of Falluja; Gerry Condon: Vietnam-era deserter and activist now involved in organizing support for U.S. soldiers who flee to Canada; Michael Hoffman: participant in the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and co-founder of Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW); Manik Mukerji: (India) of the All-India Anti-Imperialist Front; Brenda Stokeley: president of AFSCME DC 1707, a leader of the Million Worker March organization and of NYC Labor Against the War; And many others, including presentations from Japan, Germany, Korea, and Spain.

The Resistance Center

The International Action Center will be open from Thursday, August 26 through Thursday, September 2, as a "Resistance Center." Activists are welcome to come by the Center at 39 W. 14th St. in Manhattan to pick up placards, get the latest information about protest events, check the housing bulletin board, pick up free educational literature, or network with other activists from around the country and around the globe.

"We will be open all week to support the hundreds of thousands of people who are coming to New York City to protest the Bush Administration policies of endless war, racism, and corporate greed," said Peter Gilbert, an IAC activist who traveled from North Carolina to help organize the Week of Resistance. "Protestors will be able to come into the center to pick up legal and medical information, find cheap housing and food, and network with other activists."