Wetlands Works February/March 2002
Wetlands Activists Hold Marathon Protest Against Trapping, Incarceration of Torture at Major Fur Sale
On Sunday, January 6, Wetlands educated consumers about the cruelty of the skin trade at a fur sale at the Park Central Hotel—for eight hours! The event began with a picket at 12, continued with a leafleting at 2Pm, and reached its climax with a lively and well attended protest at 6PM.
League of Humane Voters Holds Major Forum to Educate Animal Activists on Political Action
The movement for animal rights has made great strides in shifting public opinion over the last half century towards our treatment of nonhuman animals. A majority of Americans no longer accept practices such as sport hunting and the slaughter of animals for fur. But until the animal rights movement develops the political clout to turn public opinion into law, a small but influential minority will ensure that these barbaric abuses will continue. It is time to expand our energies from the picket line to the ballot line. On Thursday, January 31, the League of Humane Voters and In Defense of Animals jointly organized a forum with over 100 in attendance. Speakers included IDA’s Joyce Friedman and Barbara Stagno, along with LOHV’s Adam Weissman, Inessa Vishnevkine, Jill Lauri, and Peter Muller. The event raised hundreds of dollars for LOHV and generated enthusiastic new volunteers committed to taking the battle for animal rights into the political arena.
Tens of Thousands Mobilize for World Economic Forum
On the last weekend in January, the world’s financial and political elites gathered at the Waldorf Astoria for the World Economic Forum. Normally held in Davos, Switzerland, the forum moved to New York to escape aggressive protests in Europe and to cynically exploit post 9/11 New York for public relations value.
In response, New Yorkers and activists from around the continent mobilized for a weekend of protest to show the corporate CEOs and economic policy-makers that the people won’t let their tiny elite body set the agenda for our world. During five days of massive protests, activists challenged sweatshop labor, corporate globalization, ecological destruction, corporate-sponsored vivisection, the xenophobic war on terrorism, and the threat to people’s governance posed by corporate power.. Events included two mass marches, labor rallies, numerous smaller protests, conferences and forums, and a street carnival. Among the corporate targets of these actions were The Gap (a sweatshop user whose owners invest in redwoods destruction), labor-exploiting Cointreau, investors in notorious vivisector Huntingdon Life Sciences, fur-seller Bloomingdales, and many others. Wetlands activists were heavily involved in the organizing of many of these events
Mayor Bloomberg chose to use the weekend to show that policing under his administration could be just as thuggish as under his predecessor, administration, as police made 200 arrests and held arrestees for as long as two days. Throughout their weekend, the media showed their true colors, giving mostly uncritical coverage to their corporate bosses, while focusing coverage on non-existent protester violence.
Another World is Possible, the largest coalition mobilizing for the weekend, issued the following call to action for the weekend:
Protest the World Economic Forum in NYC, January 31-February 4, 2002
The World Economic Forum is an annual gathering of the world's
richest and most powerful CEO's and politicians. This year it is
meeting in New York City. In its mission statement, the WEF claims
that it is committed to "improving the state of the world" In
reality, they have come to make their plans to increase mass layoffs,
to slash education and health services, to reduce wages and working
conditions, to degrade the environment, to wage war on civilians and
to assault the civil rights of all who dare to oppose them.
This year the WEF says their meeting will focus on finding ways to
"reverse the global economic downturn, eradicate poverty, promote
security and enhance cultural understanding." Translation: They'll be
looking to rescue failing corporate giants, exploit working people,
clamp down on dissent, and puree the diverse communities of our world
into a single, American-style consumer culture.
It is obscene that Pataki and Giuliani are shelling out millions of
dollars for the WEF at the same time they plan drastic cutbacks to
public services. It's an insult to the community solidarity New
Yorkers showed in the wake of Sept.11.
The WEF is in for a surprise: The movement for global justice is
alive and well and growing, and ready to stand in the way of their
five-day corporate cocktail party! We call on anti-globalization,
student, immigrant, community and union organizations and all working
people to join with us to protest the World Economic Forum and to
pose our positive alternative to their destructive plans. WE DEMAND:
DUMP THE DEBT
Wipe out the debt that is strangling the world economy. Cancel
international, municipal and personal debt. Human needs come first.
REBUILD NEW YORK, REBUILD THE WORLD
Take the money that now goes to pay the debt, fuel the military and
bloat the rich, and use it to fund democratically-controlled projects
to build the housing, schools, hospitals and transportation needed in
New York and in every nation of the world. This will create tens of
millions of jobs and wipe out unemployment.
STOP DESTROYING THE EARTH
Corporate greed is destroying species, deforesting whole nations and
wasting resources at a pace unseen in human history. In their place
we get growing deserts, pollution, new strains of disease, and
Frankenfoods. Restore the environment!
STOP FUELING TERRORISM, STOP THE WAR MACHINE
Terror networks like al-Qaeda were built by the US government and its
allies. US terrorist training camps like the School of the Americas
are in full operation and they continue to create new networks of
terror. Stop all arms production and supplies, stop all military aid
and action. Stop the cycle of terror.
NO APARTHEID FOR IMMIGRANTS! HANDS OFF OUR CIVIL RIGHTS!
An attack on the civil rights of immigrants is an attack on the civil
rights of us all. No Military Tribunals! No racial profiling! Free
all the detainees! General amnesty for all immigrants! We need our
rights if we are to fight for a new world free from the tyranny of
corporate greed.
We're calling for five days of mass rallies, of creative, passionate,
and diverse actions against the WEF. Join us in building a coalition that's as diverse as New York City itself. ALL are welcome as we tell the "Masters of the Universe" that they don't have the answers to our problems. Join us in the streets as we visualize solutions that build a better world where the people are in control. Your ideas, your bodies, and your creative energy are all needed!
JOIN US FOR MASS PROTESTS AGAINST THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM!
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