Proud of the Counter-Demonstration

The counter-demonstration at yesterday's disgusting Neo-Nazi rally on our Capitol steps made me proud of Madison. It was large, peaceful and multi-faceted, combining (nonviolent) outrage at the hate group, information about and support for local activism, and humor. (Thanks to the counter-demonstrators who came dressed in pink fuzzy bunny suits, for helping to dispel some of the gloom.) Plus, it was much more racially diverse than most activist events in Madison.

I understand and respect the individuals and groups who called for community members to ignore the Neo-Nazi action. Their concerns included that a counter-demonstration could bring more media attention for the hate group, and that the Nazis might provoke counter-demonstrators to violence. But I find one frequently-voiced sentiment from this group misinformed and patronizing. As Madison police detective Alix Olson told the Capital Times:

I hope the protesters will go a step farther and do something against hate. You've got to make a commitment beyond just coming here and shouting them down.

In my experience, people attending a three-hour counter-demonstration are very likely already part of various positive community efforts. At yesterday's event, I saw people active in peace groups, third party politics, independent media projects, neighborhood organizing, health education, immigrant rights organizing, LGBT activism and student activism. Statements like Officer Olson's suggest that counter-demonstrators like to make noise, but have little understanding of how to affect positive social change. Nothing could be farther from the truth.

Which Do You Want First?

Let's start with the bad news (via Feminist.org):

A new report by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) is shedding light on the extent of violence against women in Afghanistan. ... [A] resurgence of the Taliban in recent months has brought an increase in militia bombings, burnings of girls' schools, and the killing of teachers. Under the Taliban regime, education for Afghan women and girls was banned. Attacks on girls' schools began immediately following the reopening of the schools by the new Afghan government in 2002, but the current situation has reached crisis proportions, undermining the rights that Afghan women and girls were just beginning to enjoy.

... and wind up with some good news (via Democracy Now!):

Two weeks ago, two producers working for Fox News in Amman, Jordan resigned in protest of the network's coverage. In their resignation letter, Serene Sabbagh and Jomana Karadsheh wrote, "We can no longer work with a news organization that claims to be fair and balanced when you are so far from that." They went on to write, "Not only are you an instrument of the Bush White House and Israeli propaganda, you are war mongers with no sense of decency, nor professionalism." ...

SERENE SABBAGH: [F]rom the onset of the war in Lebanon, I was devastated at the way that Fox was handling the coverage from Lebanon in the U.S., and I felt there was bias, the slant, the racist remarks, the use of the word "we" meaning Israel, and it was just unbearable up until basically the massacre at Qana. And as a mother of three, watching the images, the raw images of children being pulled out of the rubble, and then I switched to Fox News to hear some of their anchors claiming that these little kids that were killed, these innocent victims that were killed, were human shields used by Hezbollah. And one of the anchors went as far as saying they were planted there by Hezbollah to win support in this war. And it was unbelievable. For me, that was the breaking point, and this is when I decided, me and my colleague Jomana, to hand in our resignation.