[Marxism] FW: [ANSWER]: Call to Action for Solidarity with the Arab-American and Muslim Community

["Craven, Jim" <JCraven@xxxxxxxxx>]

A CALL TO ACTION FOR SOLIDARITY WITH THE ARAB-AMERICAN AND 
MUSLIM COMMUNITY

The following compelling "Open Letter from the Arab-American and Muslim
Community to the US Anti-War Movement" was issued by 41 organizations
(listed below), and has received widespread support from across the
United States. More than 100 organizations have now signed on. The
expanded list of signers will be published within a few days.

While this letter is a statement from the Arab-American and Muslim
community, the signers from this community have 
asked all those who are in solidarity to take a stand in support of this
statement. To stand in solidarity with the 
Arab-American and Muslim community, register your organizational and/or
individual support by writing to: 
rashmawi@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

** For wide distribution **

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@xxxxxxxxxxxxx)

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 http://www.InternationalANSWER.org

Sign up to receive updates (low volume):
http://www.internationalanswer.org/subscribelist.html

------------------
Send replies to answer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

This is the ANSWER activist announcementlist. Anyone can subscribe by
sending any message to <answer.general-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To
unsubscribe answer.general-off@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



_______________________________________________
Marxism mailing list
Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism