May 15, 2005
My day with the other Muslim activists
Following up on my belated promise, here are some photos and a narrative from the Free Muslims Against Terrorism rally yesterday in DC. I also shot several videos, which I don't have the bandwidth to post, but my comrade in arms Steve Barnett has offered to host. We'll get those up later. For now, enjoy this almost unique coverage! (And welcome, Instapundit readers!)
I should note I got to the rally about 90 minutes after the scheduled start, and I see from the link above, I missed professor and MSNBC commentator Walid Phares' speech. Who knows what else I missed, so you should take my summation of the rally's success with a grain of salt. (Another note: my comments have gone screwy recently, and it's not letting anyone post - my apologies. Please e-mail me with comments and I'll try to post them when I get this fixed.)
I was a bit disappointed when I arrived, having expected to see at least a hundred people. (Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism president Kamal Nawash estimated "12-1200" attendees in his permit application, according to this Post preview story about the rally and Nawash.) My estimate is 50 were there, actually in the plaza and not sitting on the perimeter. (Again, this was 90 minutes after the scheduled start.) A few counter-activists showed up, but as far as I could tell, weren't bothering anyone...for a while (see below). Most of the attendees were white, but not by much. Nawash isn't very popular with the official Muslim leaders in the DC area, but I can't think of anyone they'd support who presses Muslims to unequivocally condemn terrorism, leaving behind the occasional rationalizations and guilt trips.
On the whole, this rally was a good start. From the folks I talked to, it sounds like there were major organizational problems that will be on everyone's mind for the next rally. The DC chapter of ProtestWarrior didn't come, the New York chapter head told me with irritation, adding he could have mobilized a hundred of his members in an afternoon. I didn't see any self-identified Republican or Democratic representatives (the Fairfax Area Young Republicans were listed as a sponsor). There seemed very little coordination between all the groups, and no union-like ability to mobilize everyone's members. Frankly, I barely saw any promotion of this rally in the blogosphere. We have to do a much better job next time...and flood the 'sphere with pictures and video.
Kamal Nawash, president of the Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism - he's also fond of fedoras
Lots of people had camcorders, some that looked fairly professional
The head of the Arizona chapter of the group
This is fairly indicative of the crowd a couple hours in, although this is just the left front side of the plaza
Lots of non-Muslim representatives showed up too - this Chinese man leads a group opposing the Chinese government, and he was invited to speak near the end of the rally, and did well
Not sure where this man is from; you can also see a little of a veiled woman, who moved whenever my camera came near, in the background
A Sudanese speaker, who advocated more peaceful activism and less military action to support freedom in the Middle East
Nicole Sadighi, freelance Brit-Iranian journalist and speaker at the rally; she contributes to National Review and some dissident Iranian publications, and has a very regal British accent
This woman was handing out copies of "Libertarian Viewpoint," basically an extended party brochure in tabloid format, with a flyer decrying the coming wars against Iran and Syria; I have trouble believing she's actually a representative of the party, but maybe they're really that nuts now
This Kurdish speaker got a lot of applause, although the clapping went silent when, echoing the Sudanese speaker, he said Iraq can never truly succeed until American troops leave
Jason Sager, NYC chapter leader, ProtestWarrior (nice Che-mocking outfit); Judith Weiss, Kesher Talk
The right front side of the plaza, around 3:30
A few Jews showed up and seemed to get along well with the Muslims
One of the organizers gave the libertarian woman an earful after getting in a heated argument with an attendee - the ruckus drew several camera-toters, including Jason Sager
I think this speaker is Syrian, but doesn't he remind you of David Cross?
David Kelley from the Objectivist Center, one of many non-Muslim speakers; he went way past his allotted time and, despite looking over several times at an organizer who clearly wanted him to end, kept going
The Detroit leader of the Free Muslim Coalition Against Terrorism
I'm sure ProtestWarrior will have lots of video from Jason Sager's footage