PROTEST THE ECONOMIC FORUM IN NEW YORK

Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2001

MASS DEMONSTRATIONS CALLED IN NEW YORK CITY OUTSIDE OF THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM: JANUARY 31-FEBRUARY 5

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2002: MASS MARCH AND RALLY
A.N.S.W.E.R. - Act Now to Stop War & End Racism

We call on thousands of people to take to the streets of New York City between January 31 and February 5 in a protest coinciding with an annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

This meeting includes political leaders and hundreds of representatives of the world's biggest transnational corporations, banks and media conglomerates, from Chase-Manhattan to GM to Siemen to AOL. It represents the world economic and military structures that have impoverished people throughout the Third World and inside the United States. It is these corporate and banking elites and government officials who are promoting the war against the people of Afghanistan. They will derive huge profits from the sale of military weapons of mass destruction under the rubric of combating "terrorism." They seek to consolidate their hold over the oil-rich Caspian region and the Middle East.

Since September 11, hundreds of thousands of workers from the airline industry, the hotel and restaurant industry and more have lost their jobs. Unemployment and mass layoffs are now sweeping through all sectors of the U.S. economy. The corporate and banking elites which dominate the U.S. government have crafted legislation and emergency aid to bail out corporate investors and insurance companies, while providing absolutely no assistance to working people who have lost their income and are now facing evictions, foreclosures and deepening poverty. Hardest hit have been the lowest paid workers, especially those in the service sector.

It is obscene that these modern day corporate robber barons and the government officials who do their bidding will hold their celebrated annual meeting at the Waldorf in New York City while hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers are being forced onto the unemployment lines. New York City officials will roll out the red carpet for the rich and powerful while working and poor people go without a guaranteed income, health care or a roof over their heads.

The demonstration is being called by International A.N.S.W.E.R., a national coalition that was formed in response to the headlong rush to war and racist attacks following the horrific events of September 11. A.N.S.W.E.R. has the support of more than 500 organizations and prominent individuals and scores of organizing centers in cities and towns across the country. Its national steering committee represents major national organizations that have campaigned against U.S. intervention in Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East and Asia, and organizations that have campaigned for social and economic justice for poor people inside the United States. (For details see www.InternationalANSWER.org.)