NEW YORK (FinalCall.com)--Activists gathered in St. Mary�s Church in Harlem Sept. 7 to discuss what they called President Bush�s use of the September 11, 2001 tragedy as a way to expand an "imperialist" design to control the resources of the world.

They also blasted the president for spending money on weapons and a war on terror as the domestic needs of Americans, including New Yorkers, go unmet.

A report released by Governor George Pataki and Mayor Michael Bloomberg Sept. 4 found there are 80,000 New Yorkers out of work because of the attacks on the World Trade Center. Another report released in late August revealed that there were over 24,000 homeless people in New York City, many of them children.

The war on terror waged by the Bush administration will cost an estimated $60 billion.

Housing activists say New York City�s courts are filled with people being evicted from homes because they have lost their jobs.

"Behind the smoke and mirrors are disturbing realities: the deepening crisis of world and domestic capitalism, widening economic gaps between the U.S. elite and the working class and the repression of civil liberties," Nellie Nester Bailey of the Harlem Tenants Council, which was one of the meeting�s sponsors, told The Final Call.

A who�s who of New York activism was seated on the stage at the meeting, including Elombe Brath of the Patrice Lumumba Coalition; Samia Halaby, Committee for the Popular Defense of Palestine; Carlito Rovira, Vieques Support Committee and Jim Haughton, trade unionist and chairman of Harlem Fightback.

"Harlem is a community where our sons and daughters will become the fodder of Bush�s war machine. Our president proposes social policies that discourage our young people to go to college, instead they are drawn to serve in the armed forces because there are few, if any, alternatives," said Ms. Bailey, explaining the importance of the gathering activists called "A Third World Perspective: Harlem 9-11 Remembrance Teach-In For Global Peace & Justice."

She said the forum held four days before the first anniversary of the 9-11 tragedy was needed to get the truth out about the reality of the "war on terrorism."

Samia Halaby explained connections between working class Blacks in Harlem and the people of Palestine. "We have both been robbed of our culture. This enables President Bush and his friends to make a profit by stealing our resources," she said. Just as Native Americans have become refugees in their own land, living on reservations, so have the Palestinians, she said.

"The U.S. dares to attack Palestinians with helicopters that make reference to Native American culture such as the Apache and the Tomahawk," Ms. Halaby added. She urged people to "open their hearts" in solidarity by working with all movements for liberation.

Ibrahim Ramey, a longtime Pan African and Muslim activist, argued that the Bush administration�s plan for Homeland Security would drain badly needed resources from communities like Harlem. "Bush�s war plan budget denies the right of decent homes and jobs for the poor," he said.

Blacks must also get involved in the struggle to abolish nuclear weapons, Mr. Ramey said. "Right now in California the Department of Energy is building a multi-million dollar biological weapons testing facility," he told the audience. Even a soldier/president such as Dwight D. Eisenhower, who warned of the dangers of the military industrial complex, realized every missile and every bomb made is a "theft" of the resources of the American people, Mr. Ramey.

"The training ground for the war against Iraq will be Vieques," warned Carlos Rovira. "If you can understand the colonial mentality that was used to invade Puerto Rico back in the 1800s, then you can understand how the sham of 9-11 is being used in the 21st century," he added.

Multi-national corporations forced the people of Puerto Rico to migrate to the shores of the United States, said Mr. Rovira. Now they want our sons and daughters to fight their war against Iraq, he added. "We, the oppressed in the world and in New York, have the ability to unite and fight this imperialist, military aggression," he concluded.