On Monday, November 27th, World Can’t Wait – Hawai`i sponsored a talk by Dahr Jamail at The Church of the Crossroads in Honolulu. More than 225 people listened intently as Dahr described what was happening in Iraq – the death squads, the lives of the Iraqi people under occupation, the luxurious embassy and bases. He spelled out moves against Iran. He laid fault on U.S. imperialistic policy, and had no illusions that the Democrats would be better as long as that policy was in place. He had no easy answers except that the U.S. leave, and no prediction that the outcome would be peaceful if it did. His talk underscored World Can’t Wait’s warning that “It’s Worse Than You Think It Is!”
When asked during question/answer period what people could do, Dahr
said: “One thing you can do is work with World Can’t Wait! This is the
organization that sees the urgency and is acting on it.” He urged the
audience to take risks, and called for more education, debate and
discussion about the crises in the world.
Dahr Jamail related easily to the audience. His talk was simple and
straightforward, and he didn’t pull any punches. He answered questions
from the audience for about an hour – and some people remarked
afterwards that he could have gone on until midnight.
Numerous organizations set up tables in the church courtyard,
including World Can’t Wait, Code Pink, Progressive Democrats of Hawaii,
AFSC, Japanese-American Citizen’s League, GI Rights Hotline, Friends of
Sabeel, Revolution Books, and The Martin Luther King Coalition. People
stayed long after the event had ended to pick up information at the
tables, and talk with activists.
Dahr Jamail also spoke at two University of Hawai`i classes, and was
interviewed by Hawai`i Public Radio, the University of Hawaii radio
station, and Honolulu’s weekly newspaper. An hour-long interview will
air on community access TV. His stay was largely organized by World
Can’t Wait, with the help of a lot of other organizations.