American Protests: Real Change maybe in the Making
One of the phrases in the American National anthem refers to the US as "the land of the free". But events linked to the wave of popular protests that have spread across the United States puts this notion of "the land of the free" under increased scrutiny.
In a recent development, nine people have been arrested in Richmond, Virginia after they (along with many others) camped out in a park to protest the economic situation in the country. This is not the first time police have resorted to arrests as tens of people from the occupy Wall Street movement were arrested earlier this month in New York.
Organizers of these protests say that the arrests in Richmond and New York reveal the double standards in US rhetoric on civil liberties and democracy. Kanane Holder, who is one of the organizers of "Occupy wall street", says that there is "this lullaby of the American dream". When people go to McDonalds she says they feel this "American dream". Wherever American officials go she says , they speak of democracy and letting people have their say. "The US prides itself on democracy and freedom" she adds.
But she points out that now when people in America are exercising these very same rights some of them are arrested. She goes on to say that this movement is not a coup and that none of the protesters are armed. Why then are they arrested? She answers that people now are increasingly knowledgeable of the system and that knowledge is power so there is an attempt to counter this power by arresting people. Holder implies that by resorting to arrests there is a plan to take advantage of American social traits. What exactly does this mean?
Well in western society, as she correctly argues, police are viewed as the good guys.
When children are asked what they want to be when they grow up, many say they want to be a policeman. Hence when policeman or "good guys" are seen arresting protesters that would make these protesters look like the bad guys. So, Holder says it is a way to alienate the protesters and the protest movement. But a question quickly comes to mind here: if this is the plan, is it succeeding in alienating the protesters? On the contrary, just like the Arab spring had the domino effect of spreading from country to country the American fall is spreading from state to state.
On another level, this protest movement is also increasingly touching on foreign policy issues that are intertwined with the American economy. Of course this means foreign aid and American wars abroad .Holder says that the protesters are looking at any unnatural flow of money which includes American aid to "Israel", the largest recipient of foreign US aid. If this protest movement continues with the same momentum the subject of foreign aid will come up more and more which means "Israel" may come up more and more. In fact it foreign aid has become a subject of the upcoming US elections as one of the questions being asked in presidential debates is about cutting foreign aid including aid to "Israel".(of course whenever US foreign aid is mentioned "Israel" then naturally comes into the picture).
Ron Paul one of the Republican candidates even responded affirmatively to cutting aid to "Israel". There have been some interesting opinions even expressed in the American media which is known for its pro "Israeli" orientation. Recently, the famous Washington post columnist Walter Pincus, (who is a Jew by the way) also argued in favor of cutting US aid to "Israel". So despite the arrests and despite the fact that people have been protesting for a long time, it seems there is no turning back especially as this movement has succeeded in inspiring more people across the country and in pushing certain matters into the sphere of political debate. These protests could be the beginning of real change in the making and the Obama slogan of "change" and "yes we can" might as well now be used to refer to the American protest movement.
Source: moqawama.org
