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Anti-War Teach-In Draws More Than 200 to D.C. Church
by Marc Borbely

October, 2001
volume 38, number 8

More than 200 people attended a "teach-in" on Thursday, September 20, with a panel of peace activists, organized by Dave Zirin with the support of the Washington Peace Center.

The Rev. Graylan Hagler, pastor at Plymouth Congregational UCC, and one of the speakers at Thursday's event, preached a fiery sermon of forgiveness and against hypocrisy and blind retribution. The crowd, packed into the basement of the Meridian Hill Baptist Church, interrupted frequently with long, strong applause.

Hagler told of a mother whose young girl was on one of the airplanes that was hijacked and destroyed. She told the press that no, she was not angry, Hagler said. She rejected the idea of vengeance and revenge, because vengeance belongs only to God.

He told of his own, mostly black congregations response to his message. "Our folk -- we understand posses," he said. "Our folk -- we understand lynch mobs."

He challenged activists, especially white males -- "since the Bush administration's policies are white male policies," to stand for peace, to say "no, there has to be another way." Moms too, Hagler said, need to stand up and say "no, my child ain't going to fight the war."

Hagler also urged a reconsideration of the word terrorist. Whether someone is a terrorist or a freedom fighter, he said, depends on perspective. Somebody's terrorists are always somebody else's freedom fighters, he said. "Iraqis exposed to years of bombing by the United States would likely have a different idea of which side represented the terrorists."

Another of the speakers, Sameena Nazir, a program coordinator with the International Human Rights Law Group, disagreed. "There is no reason not to call those who hijacked the planes last week terrorists; there are some realities we should accept," she said.

At the same time, Nazir cautioned, peace may require dialogue with groups like the Taliban. As a women's rights activist, Nazir said, she finds the Taliban's edicts on women especially troubling. "I am not going to like them, but I have to still talk to them. The international community, which has ostracized the Taliban, must begin to speak with them again. We have to swallow some of our ego and communicate with these people."

Progressive people in Pakistan are facing a tough choice, Nazir explained. "On the one hand, they condemn the terrorist actions against civilians in the United States. On the other, they fear that more civilian lives will be lost if the United States makes good on its threats to retaliate. As a result, there are no anti-terrorist demonstrations: No one wants demonstrations to be interpreted as pro-bombing." Nazir told the audience that she thinks of what one Pakistani friend told her: that to Pakistanis, the death of an Afghan civilian is as condemnable as the death of a U.S. civilian.

Nazir said she very happy to see there are so many peace-loving people in Washington. She said she would send the news back to her colleagues in Pakistan. The only reports they receive are that everyone wants to bomb them, she said.

When everyone on the panel -- Hagler, Nazir, Sam Husseini of the Institute for Public Accuracy, Michele Bollinger, a Washington school teacher and member of the International Socialist Organization, and Tracy Moavero, of the Peace Action Education Fund -- had finished their presentations, audience members asked questions and made comments.

Attendees spoke overwhelmingly about the need to organize and activate. Event organizers and others spoke to this need, directing people to a list of events and campaigns already in motion. The event raised approximately $600, according to one of the event organizers, the beginning, evidently, of a longer campaign against war.

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