Rally for sanity

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by Patrick Lejtenyi

"Crusade"--the European version of jihad--is a loaded term, especially for Muslims. The idea of Western armies streaming into the Holy Land fuelled by religious zeal, armed to the teeth and looking for blood makes any sane person think twice. Now, with the United States threatening to do just that, local groups are organizing against the growing calls for massive retaliatons of biblical proportions. The Emergency Coalition Against War Hysteria and Racism will be holding a rally on Sunday, calling for sanity and a change in foreign policy, which they feel has been at least partially responsible for the September 11 attack.

"We want a change in policies that foster violence," says rally organizer Scott Weinstein. "War is not going to stop [anti-American violence], it's just going to inflame it more. Two or three or five wrongs don't make a right."

The rally, he says, is by no means ideologically closed. Weinstein also wants to make a point about the increasing anti-Muslim and anti-Sikh violence that has been on the rise in Canada following the attack.

"This is a demonstration against war and racism," he says. "We want the broadest participation possible. People can come with their own agendas and their own signs."

The rally begins at Guy and de Maisonneuve and marches in the direction of the U.S. consulate and the federal Complexe Guy-Favreau on René-Lévesque.