Oakland Marks the 11th Anniversary of the US-Afghanistan War & Occupation with a Destructive Half Hour March
The eleventh anniversary of the US-Afghanistan war and occupation was marked with a destructive anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist, anti-colonial march though downtown Oakland Sunday night. More than 200 Afghans and their allies gathered at Oscar Grant Plaza at 6PM, before taking the streets an hour later.
Prior to the march, the activists held an hour long rally and speak out about the injustices caused by imperialism and the horrors of the war in Afghanistan.
The march was in the spirit of the radical SDS (Students for a Democratic Society) marches in the late 1960′s. A poster that reads, “Bring the war home” was used as a propaganda tool online. Organizers urged marchers to wear hoodies or hijabs. The destruction seemed to be their (Afghans) anger over the unjust occupation of their homeland manifested in the streets in the form of attacking financial institutions and other imperialist property. I described the march as a “30 minute human tornado of social justice,” on twitter.
The property destruction reached at least three banks, an AT&T building, a Kaiser Permanente office, an OPD substation, the OPD internal affairs department, a downtown security office, the Oakland Tribune, City Hall, a gentrifying new apartment building in “uptown,” a fence surrounding a former Occupy Oakland encampment, and other pro-capitalist, pro-war, pro-imperialist, owed property.
Police were no where to be seen, until the final moments when the protesters dispersed after some finished up by busting out the windows and front doors of City Hall.
Large amounts of police were reported to have been in the area about 30 minutes after the marchers dispersed.
No arrests were made, and no injuries were suffered.
This action will end a four day series of anti-capitalist, anti-colonial marches aimed at disrupting Columbus Day celebrations. On Saturday, 20 protesters were arrested after police violently attacked their anti-colonial march in San Francisco.
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Video by Tom Vee:
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Thank you for posting this video. It is an important historical document. I hope you will keep it online indefinitely. Whether pro- or anti-Occupy, people need to watch and listen to this.
I know we normally oppose each other, but I agree with you here.
But, it should be understood (for historical context) that this was not organized by Occupy Oakland, though it’s possible that some in the march have attended OO actions. This action was called for by ‘The Afghans for Peace,’ and was their protest against the war on their homeland. Though the destructive actions were obviously autonomous acts.
Even with this being a fact, there will still be some who will paint every protest or action as an ‘Occupy’ action, and I feel that is very disrespectful to the Afghans who organized and participated in this march, and to their struggle to end the war in their home country.
Their message was clear. They’re pissed off at the Americans who have allowed a war on their homeland to go on past a decade.
Wait, was it the Afghans for Peace who broke windows?
Or was it the militants who had been affiliated with OO who hijacked yet another populist action for their own purposes?
actually, responsibility for the destruction was taken by at least one person publishing a statement revealing the excuse for the destruction : retaliation for sfpd violence against protesters.
whether or not folks from afghans for peace were involved in the use of destructive tactics, it’s clear that at least some of the destruction was done by those co-opting a previously planned action for their own uses.