[R-G] Open letter from Arab-American & Muslim community

Tue Jan 13 01:30:46 MST 2004

Today, forty-one Arab American and Muslim
organizations issued an open letter that both supports
the March 20 Call to Action and challenges the
anti-war movement in the U.S. to take a principled
stand in defense of self-determination and in
opposition to all U.S. plans for colonial occupation.
This important letter can be read in full below.

On Saturday, January 10, a large, broad coalition met
to map out plans for March 20 demonstration
activities. The organizations that met included those
that initiated and endorsed the March 20 Call to
Action: A.N.S.W.E.R. (Act Now to Stop War & End
Racism) Coalition, Al-Awda - the Palestine Right to
Return Coalition, Arab Muslim American Federation,
Free Palestine Alliance, Muslim American Society
Freedom Foundation, Muslim Student Association of the
U.S. and Canada and National Lawyers Guild. Other
groups that are mobilizing for March 20 were also
invited to attend. New York City Labor Against the
War, the Campus Anti-War Network and the International
Socialist Organization participated in the meeting.
United for Peace and Justice sent a message declining
to attend.

The demands and political program of the coalition are
focused around the Call to Action issued on January 2.
To read that call, go to
http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/m20/index.html

The principles of unity of the coalition include
"Bring the troops home now!", "End colonial occupation
from Iraq to Palestine and everywhere!", "Stop the
attacks on civil liberties!", and "Money for jobs,
education, healthcare and housing - Not war!" The
coalition is also taking an explicit position opposing
internationalizing the occupation of Iraq, instead
insisting on the Iraqi people's unconditional right to
exercise self-determination.

* * * * *

To ENDORSE the January 2 Call to Action, fill out the
easy-to-use form at
http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/m20/index.html#endorsement

Begin planning now to hold a demonstration in your
city on March 20, 2004. Hundreds of cities around the
world are issuing, circulating and joining this call.
For more information, contact the A.N.S.W.E.R.
National Office at 202-544-3389.

- In New York City, the demonstration is planned to
assemble at 12 noon at Times Square with a march to
the United Nations. Call 202-544-3389 or 212-633-6646
for details about upcoming city-wide planning meetings
and for more information.
- In San Francisco, the demonstration is planned to
gather at 11 am at Dolores Park (18th St. and Dolores
St.) with a march to the Civic Center. Call
415-821-6545 for more information.
- In Los Angeles, the demonstration is planned to
assemble at 12 noon at Hollywood and Vine. Call
213-487-2368 for more information.

If you are holding an event in your city, fill out the
form at
http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/m20/index.html#event

Downloadable flyers and more information is available
at
http://www.internationalanswer.org/campaigns/m20/index.html

---------------------------

A large number of organizations from the Arab-American
and Muslim community have issued the following open
letter concerning mobilizing for the March 20
demonstration. This is an important statement and we
encourage everyone to post and circulate it widely.

AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE ARAB-AMERICAN AND MUSLIM
COMMUNITY TO THE US ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT

[To join as an organizational signatory or to be
listed in solidarity, please write to:
rashmawi at sbcglobal.net]

Background: A call to mobilize against colonial
occupations on March 20th, 2004, was issued and
endorsed by a large nationwide coalition of
organizations and communities that included the
A.N.S.W.E.R Coalition; Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to
Return Coalition; the National Lawyers Guild; the Arab
Muslim American Federation; the Free Palestine
Alliance-USA; the Muslim American Society Freedom
Foundation; and the Muslim Student Association of the
U.S. and Canada.  The National Council of Arab
Americans (NCAA) supported this call in full.

The call to mobilize demanded ending "all colonial
occupations from Iraq to Palestine to everywhere".  It
also called for "bringing the troops home NOW" without
delay, and for opposing giving an international cover
to the colonial occupation of Iraq.

Some sectors in the anti-war movement objected to and
are organizing against these demands, insisting that
Palestine be dropped from the call for March 20 (as
these same sectors have often demanded), and that
internationalizing the occupation of Iraq should
remain a viable option.

As a result, and in the context of a long history of
being silenced and marginalized, the Arab-American and
Muslim community prepared this open letter to the
movement.

AN OPEN LETTER FROM THE ARAB-AMERICAN AND MUSLIM
COMMUNITY TO THE US ANTI-WAR MOVEMENT

Dear peace and justice organizations and activists,

On March 20, 2004, the world will mobilize against war
and colonial occupations.  The significance of this
historic day is evident to all and requires no further
elaboration.  The political clarity and character of
this mobilization in the US, however, remains
illusive.

This is where our community stands:

In confronting war, the people of Palestine and Iraq
have paid dearly.  They stand against the imperial
project shoulder to shoulder with communities of color
and the working class in the United States, along with
great many subjugated peoples around the globe - from
Afghanistan to Colombia, and from the Philippines to
Vieques, and on.  Without a doubt, the Palestinian and
Iraqi people are both welded together in an
inextricable unity at the forefront of the global
anti-war movement, transforming themselves as a whole
as its embodiment and paying in its defense with the
dearest of all - their very existence. Yet, despite
every home destroyed, child murdered, acre confiscated
and tree uprooted, town colonized and ethnically
cleansed, wall built, refugee remaining nation-less,
and incremental robbery of their self-determination,
they remain the very antithetical formulation of
empire and with a vision of justice for all.

In the United States, we, Arab-Americans and Muslims,
have been maliciously targeted, stripped of our
rights, and positioned outside the constitutional
framework of this country.  A new COINTELPRO has been
unleashed against our homes and living rooms, as our
fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters are plucked away
and thrown into unknown prison cells.  Thus, in a
continuum of history, we stand with African Americans,
Japanese Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, and all
others in the painful struggle for justice.   From
them all, we take our cue, for they are our
predecessors and our partners in this long march.

Accordingly, we the undersigned hereby declare that:

1. We do not accept delinking the struggle of the
Palestinian people from the anti-war movement, and
regard the struggle in Palestine, as it is viewed
worldwide, to be central to any peace and justice
mobilization.

2. We insist that the Palestinian right to return and
to self-determination are the key anchors of the
Palestinian struggle, and that organizations that
attempt to diminish, sidetrack, or abrogate these
rights, regardless of any other position they may take
on Palestine, are acting contrary to the will and
aspiration of the Palestinian people.

3. We view all attempts to relegate our collective
presence to the margin and to tokenize our
participation in the movement to be racist in
character.  In its attempt to silence the Arab and
Muslim voices for decades, particularly that of the
Palestinian people, the movement in the US has stood
alone in the global movement for justice.  We see
ourselves as full partners in leading the movement as
signified in the heavy price we continue to pay along
the way, and reject any attempt to objectify our
presence.

4. We regard the positions that the "colonial
occupation of Iraq must be internationalized", or that
ending the occupation must be conducted over a period
of time until the "Iraqis are able to secure their
democracy", as implicitly colonial and racist.  These
are positions that are rooted in the construct of
"manifest destiny" and the "white man's burden" to
"civilize".

5. We call on our people everywhere to hold all
organizations accountable to the positions they take,
especially those that depict racist attitudes towards
us, implicitly or otherwise, particularly those that
tokenize and objectify our struggle.  Any organization
or movement that finds it acceptable to minimize or
disregard for political expediency the struggle of any
people should not be allowed to function within the
global justice movement.  Justice is neither
selective, nor partial or conditional.

We are firm on these principles for the March 20th
mobilization and beyond as we call on all communities
and organizations to mobilize and stand in force under
the following unifying five slogans:

1. End all colonial occupations from Iraq to Palestine
to everywhere!
2. Bring the troops home NOW!
3. No to internationalizing colonial occupations!
4. Stop the attacks on civil liberties!
5. Money for jobs, education, and healthcare not for
war!

As we salute and stand empowered with sectors of the
movement that have taken a principled stand on
justice, we seek to participate in the empowerment of
all as we call for a genuine global united front
against war.

All out on March 20, 2004!

(List in alphabetical order.  To be included, please
write to: rashmawi at sbcglobal.net)

1. Al-Awda, the Palestine Right to Return Coalition
2. Al-Bireh Palestine Society, California Chapter
3. Al-Qalam Institute
4. American Muslims for Jerusalem (AMJ)
5. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee,
Greater Sacramento Area Chapter
6. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, New
Jersey Chapter
7. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee,
Seattle Chapter
8. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Los
Angeles/Orange County Chapter
9. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, San
Francisco Bay Area Chapter
10. Arab Center of Washington - Seattle
11. Arab Muslim American Federation
12. Arab-American Community Center, Chicago
13. Arab-American Forum, New Hampshire
14. Arab-American Press Guild
15. San Francisco Bay Area Palestine Coalition
16. Canada-Palestine Association
17. Canada-Palestine Friendship Society
18. Canadian Arab Federation
19. Committee for Democratic Palestine - Canada
20. Committee for Justice - USA
21. Deir Yassin Society of New York
22. Free Palestine Alliance - USA (FPA)
23. Friends of Ghassan Kanafani, Toronto Chapter
24. Kana'an Review
25. Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation (MAS
Freedom Foundation)
26. Muslim Students Association of the U.S. and Canada
(MSA-National)
27. Muslim Students Association, California State
University, Sacramento
28. Muslim Students Association, University of
California, Davis
29. National Council of Arab Americans (NCAA)
30. Palestine Children's Welfare Fund
31. Palestine House Educational and Cultural Center,
Canada
32. Palestine Right of Return Congress - USA
33. Palestine Solidarity Committee - Los Angeles
34. Palestine Solidarity Committee - Seattle
35. Palestine Solidarity Group - Chicago
36. Palestinian American Women's Association (PAWA)
37. Sacred Roots
38. Students for Justice in Palestine, California
State University, Sacramento
39. Students for Justice in Palestine, University of
California, Davis
40. The Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP)
41. The United Muslim Association of High Schools Club

---------------------------

Email circulated by:
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism

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