In an anti-war sit-in in Sanaa, journalists denounce US-UK war on Iraq:Iraq needs no liberation [Archives:2003/629/Community]
March 31 2003
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A number of journalists and writers from different political and social backgrounds staged an anti war sit-in for about three hours in the headquarters of the Yemeni Journalist's Syndicate (YJS) in Sana'a last Saturday.
During the sit-in, journalists protested the US-led war against Iraq and called upon the government and public to work on stopping it.
A number of speeches were delivered by journalists and politicians during the event, in which they offered their total support to the Iraqi people.
The chairman of the YJS, Mr. Mahboob Ali said during his speech that the US-led “aggression targets the entire Islamic and Arab nations.”
“Defending Iraq is a duty and obligation of all Arabs and Muslims,” he said.
“Striking the Iraqi TV Satellite Channel and the radio station is against international law. The main objective of the USA in this war is to terrorize and commit genocide against the Iraqi people.”
Mr. Mahboob called upon the Arab regimes to take decisive and solid steps to support their brothers in Iraq and exert economical and political power against the US and Britain to stop this war because he speculates that it would eventually reach them as well.
Mr. Mohammed Assabri, a political writer and analyst said in his speech that “journalists have a pivotal role to play during this critical time. It is crystal clear that the media's influence comes before any military battle on the ground.”
“The US administration is currently controlling international mass media in the world to serve its own interests and to promote its war against Iraqi people. America has recently attacked the Iraqi satellite TV channel and radio stations in a desperate attempt to silence the only voice of the Iraqis, who are resisting this invasion bravely. There is no doubt that this war would bring about the worst type of colonization ever witnessed in history.” he said.
“We at the YJS have a humane and national obligation to help Iraqi people simply because as Arabs, we are part of Iraq and Iraq is part of us. Opposition as well as independent newspapers have to commit themselves to unveil the disgraceful crimes committed against humanity by the US invaders in Iraq As for the so called 'freedom for Iraqis', when in history did the US willingly desire to liberate any nation just for the sake of liberation? What we see today is an attempt by the US not only to enslave Iraqis, but also to commit genocide against them.” he concluded.
Later on, a speech by Mr. Ahmed Qasem Dammaj, the Chairman of the Yemen Writers and Authors Union highlighted the passive role of the UN towards the Iraqi issue and stressed that the US war is only a beginning of a series of attacks on other Arab countries. “The US aggression targets not only Iraq, but the entire Arab world,” he said.
Similarly, Mr. Abdulbari Taher, a prominent writer and political analyst, said that the regimes of the Arabian Peninsula have earlier called for Jihad in Afghanistan and therefore should also rally in support for Jihad calls against the US invasion in Iraq.
“We observe that by all measures, the US public's stance in defending Iraq is better than that of the Arabs ublic reactions taking place now in Iran and in Pakistan are far much stronger than those in Arab countries including Yemen” Taher said.
“We should build up faith in ourselves because our cause is just. We should join hands in support of Iraq and its people with genuine sincerity and without hypocrisy or deceptions,” he concluded.
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