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A week after the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C., that killed over 5,000 people and left U.S. leaders promising retaliation, some Berkeley residents shifted their focus from grief to political action. 

Around 500 activists gathered at the downtown Berkeley BART station Tuesday evening for an “emergency response to the drum-beats of war” and a show of solidarity for Muslims, people of Arab descent and Sikhs.  

A series of speakers rebuked the recent statements and the apparent policies of the U.S. government. Gloria LaRiva of the International Action Center called “Cheney, Powell, Bush – all those criminal politicians.” 

LaRiva said that everywhere she has traveled – including Iraq, North Korea and Palestine – people have told her that while they love American people, they hate the American government. 

“It’s time for us to show that we hate our government as well,” she said. 

Medea Benjamin, of the human rights group Global Exchange, showed the crowd a newspaper photo of Pakistani demonstrators with a sign that read, “Americans, think why you are hated all over the world.” 

“This is a very profound picture,” Benjamin said. “Probably millions of people have seen this photo, and let’s hope it does make them think.” 

Jakada Imani of Standing to Organize Revolutionary Movement issued a call to solidarity, asking the crowd to repeat the word three times. 

“There’s not enough cops, guns or bombs to get us when we all stand together,” he said. 

Imani said the United States government brought the attack on its own citizens through what he characterized as its racist policies overseas. 

“Now those people over there are fighting for their freedom, and I’m not safe here in my own home,” he said. 

Speakers also deplored the violence committed against Muslim and Sikh Americans. 

A number of local Muslims, including two Berkeley High School students, said that they have recently been the victims of verbal harassment. They all reaffirmed their opposition to terrorism. 

“Arabs and Muslims are among the strongest opponents of violence and barbarity, if only because we are so often the target of it,” said Osama Qasam, of the San Francisco chapter of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. 

“It’s hard for me, on a personal level, to try to prove to people that I am innocent, that I am just a human being,” said Abdul Rahman Zahzah of Students for Justice in Palestine. 

“Forty people do not represent 200 million Arabs, or even more Muslims.” 

Hira and Neelam Qureshi, sisters who are students at Berkeley High, said that they and their family have been in constant fear since the bombing, and so have many of their peers. 

Hira Qureshi said that last Tuesday night, her younger brother received an anonymous phone call asking him if he knew who was responsible for the hijackings. When his mother picked up the phone, the voice on the other end said “I hate Pakistanis.” Fearing for their safety, the Qureshis until recently sent their younger children to stay at a friend’s house. 

“It’s so hard for us to walk on the streets,” said Hira. “We can’t let our little brother and sister play outside.” 

“God bless America, God bless Pakistan,” said Neelam. “We are helping America combat terrorism.” 

Two Sikh students at Berkeley High also reported having been harassed at school.  

Vice Mayor Maudelle Shirek and Councilmember Linda Maio were also among the speakers. “The current terrorism is the result of frustration at the disparities of wealth and living conditions between the haves and the have nots,” Shirek said. 

Talking with reporters before her speech, Benjamin said that the government should handle the attack as a criminal matter rather than a cause for war.  

“We can’t commit ground troops because we will be decimated, as the Soviets were before,” she said. “We can’t use missiles, because we will kill innocent people. To me, in this case, justice means bringing the people responsible before an international criminal court.” 

“With the intelligence services of the United States and countries around the world, it’s very hard for me to imagine that we could not catch the people who committed this crime.” 

Penny Rosenwasser of the Coalition of Jews for Justice agreed. 

“If we can get people out into space, surely we can come up with creative ways to track down whoever’s responsible and bring them to justice,” she said. “It’ll take time, but we have to be patient.” 

“I think that’s the rational, sane response in a democracy that’s committed to human rights.” 

After the speeches, activists took their demonstration on a wide tour around the streets of Berkeley. They marched down University Avenue to Sacramento Street, headed south to Dwight Way and back up to Shattuck Avenue. 

“Off the sidewalk, into the street – overthrow the corporate elite,” they chanted. Drivers in cars passing by honked their horns and gave the demonstrators the thumbs-up sign. 

During the march, a volunteer of the International Action Center handed out fliers for an upcoming event in San Francisco.  

The IAC volunteer, a Berkeley resident who wished to remain nameless, said she started thinking of the crisis in political terms “the day it happened.”  

“The political implications were overwhelming,” she said. 

After returning to the downtown BART station, marchers held hands and formed a large circle. Some played musical instruments while others danced.