U.S. Out of Iraq!
Bring the troops home now!
End the Colonial Occupation of Iraq, Haiti, Palestine and everywhere!

Gather at 7 pm
at 8th Ave. and 31st St.
for a Permitted Rally
at Madison Square Garden

Tonight - Thursday at 7:00 p.m. - people are gathering outside of Madison Square Garden at the moment that Bush is making his acceptance speech. This rally is a permitted event. It is an important opportunity for us all to show that we will not be silenced - not by the police’s crude efforts to mute the protests this week and not by the lies emanating from the Garden and so willingly repeated by the corporate media.

This demonstration will also demand the immediate release of all those who have been arrested in the previous days of protests. During the past week of the Republican National Convention, the police in New York City set out to stifle the powerful images of dissent that are resonating throughout the City. The NYPD and government, working at the behest of the wealthy Mayor and the Bush administration, have been sweeping the streets of peaceful protestors, targeting people not because they have engaged in unlawful activity - but because they are advocating a political point of view. There have been nearly 2,000 arrests. By the hundreds, arrestees have been dumped in the NYPD’s holding area, a former industrial garage where people are being denied access to food, water and medical treatment, and are being forced to sleep on concrete floors contaminated with unknown chemical materials which are causing health complications for those held.

Although under New York law persons must be either released or arraigned within 24 hours, hundreds of people have been held well beyond that time, and are not being allowed to see a judge or a lawyer. The government is holding people in preventive detention so that their voices will not be heard to counter the lies coming from the Bush Administration and Madison Square Garden.

The A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition condemns this disgusting abuse and repression by City authorities and urges everyone to stand in solidarity with those who have been arrested.

The demonstration is initiated by the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition and is sponsored by a growing number of progressive and community organizations including the Free Palestine Alliance, Haiti Support Network, Al-Awda: The Palestine Right to Return Coalition, The Palestine Right of Return Congress, NYCLAW (New York City Labor Against the War), Muslim Students Association - National, Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation, Global Women's Strike, African Services Committee, James Earl Chaney Foundation, Alliance for a Just and Lasting Peace in the Philippines, Nicaragua Network, Mexico Solidarity Network and others. It is also endorsed by the National Council of Arab Americans (NCA).

Please consider making a much needed financial contribution. You can donate online using the secure server by clicking here. If you wish to make a tax-deductible contribution of $50 or more, mail a check payable to A.N.S.W.E.R./AGJ to: A.N.S.W.E.R., 1247 E St. SE Washington DC 20003. You can also make a tax-deductible credit card donation of $50 or more by calling 202-544-3389.

To get involved in the local activities, contact the A.N.S.W.E.R. office in New York City at 212-533-0417 (please take note of this number for all inquiries).