Left Exchange

Comments on the Ann Arbor March Saturday, July 29, 2006

I was glad I attended and want to hit as many Lebanon solidarity demos as I can in the coming weeks. But as is often the case, I feel that the message of such marches is messy to the point of incoherence. I tried to imagine what someone seeing us at certain points would think was the point of the march - and if they weren't sure, their confusion would be very understandable.

I'm not sure how to solve the problem, which plagues most lefty demos. People should of course be free and encouraged to bring their own signs, but the end result is often a mishmash of different messages that hampers the goals of the demo from getting across to others.
SB

We had a conversation right after the march that echoes the points that you make here. I said that we should try imagine an uninformed Ann Arborite sitting on state street eating ice cream as we walked by screaming. What did they think? How did we help them better understand what is going on in Lebanon? Did we convince them or anything? Or did we turn them off completely? We have to think about who our audience is and what is the message that we are trying to convey?

With that said, I want to continue doing things that raise awareness about the horrible acts being committed against lebanon. We must move forward but we must continue in such a way that sends a clear, appropriate, helpful message. As you all know, I am not talking about balloons and bake sales here, but you get the idea.

A

After the killings in Qana, it's hard to retain our cool. I have been an advocate for nonviolent resistance since I was an undergrad. I always had experienced unease when folks defending suicide bombers although I understood their point. I felt we (Arabs) would fair better if we took the higher road. I still never believe in tit for tat and I think when you copy someone's 'bad' behavior, you have now sunk to his/her level. That said, something changed in my thinking in the last 6 months and it solidified w/ the recent Lebanese invasion. If you accept the occupation of your home and the killing of your family, you win nothing. You are forgotten in the present. You might win in the history books, but it is a marginal victory.

A couple of years ago a Palestinian friend and fellow WIB organizer made a sign for one of our demos "Zionism = Racism" and she wanted to know who would carry it; she looked at me. I obviously looked reluctant, so she looked at someone else. I could not carry that sign years ago because I did not want to generalize about a whole people/country. After visiting there, I can confidently shout "Israel is an apartheid state" I knew it but I did not want to believe it because it would comprise many relationships and maybe as a leftie Arab I might be seen as more anti-Semitic than someone else who was harshly critical of Israel. It does not matter. Truth is truth and we have to be vocal about it at whatever cost.

A, I understand your point about the ice cream-eating Ann Arborites, but that kid needs to wake up to the reality that as he enjoys his sweet treat, his country is bombing the living hell out of a country.

I think the yelling was a bit much since we were using that megaphone and we could have been more effective if we were in unison. That said, most demos where people shout slogans are pretty harried and inconsistent...don't know if we can 'herd' folks anyway. I am going to talk to them about their jihad chant since many participants might not have agreed or wanted to chant something like that or Israel out of the ME. I am feeling that way right now and if I WANT to shout it, I CAN, but I should not be leading a chant and 'forcing' others to join me.

Nayj

To me, the question is how do we get our ice-cream eater to understand what's going on. How can a march educate and eventually bring others to action? Or get someone to at least think a bit more and pay more attention to something?

My problem with signs such as "Zionism=Racism" isn't that I disagree with their content, but that 98% of the people who will see it don't know what Zionism is. Ditto for one that says "divest." I completely agree, but most people reading it won't know what it means or, if they do, what exactly it refers to.

As I wrote in my first message, these problems are commonplace at lefty marches; I hope I didn't seem like I was singling out Saturday's demo. I think some of it may stem from the fact that lefties tend to run in the same circles, frequently attending events (demos, talks, etc.) where only the converted are present. As a result, perhaps we've lost some ability to communicate with those in the mainstream.

SB

Or maybe we are sick of trying since they seem so mute and useless?

Seriously, you are right on all counts. I am grouchy on all these issues.
Bottom line: as professors, as activists, as lefties, should we dumb it down? And perhaps that is an elitist Q! If you are a UM student or live in a2, wake up to the intellectual life or find out what divestment means. Signs cannot be so simple like 'peace on earth'. For me WIB became too toned down so that our messages became water-downed, non-threatening and then, for me, ineffective. The war(s) have stepped up, so I guess I feel like we have to step up the rhetoric and level of engagement. The ice cream eater will keep eating ice cream and keep ignoring us, so I don't know if he is my audience. I don't know if my purpose is to educate or to make renegade views more visible (not necessarily more palatable). This is the anarchist in me since I never identified w/ the middle of the road contact-your- senator-democrat-and-vote-for-the-a---- kind of leftie. F my shitty Senators who agree to this war and who will continue to do whatever buy votes. Mine is not for sale (& I know neither are yours).

Notice that not many white lefties are out protesting? Why? This current situation has brought out Arabs, angryarabs (there's a cool blog by that name, btw) and the left has been majority white in previous demos. The White liberal movement is usually visible and usually who takes charge of marches,etc. Folks of color don't like to protest because they have a greater fear of arrest, deportation,etc. Anyway, always, the segregations continue and the solidarities that people claim they have do not happen. Where are all the OTHER minorities too? I agree. Where are the Mexicans, the Chaldeans, the Polish, the African-Americans? Each group fights for its own. [Look closely at all those pix of international demos and you see mostly folks of color or whites.]

White liberals, in general not all, do not want get involved because this drama looks likes its between Jews and Muslims (again). This is a nonacademic, not very intellectual generalization, but it is strange how few non-Arabs are out protesting and if they are, it's a candle light vigil for peace. That does not cut it for me right now.

Nayj