[L-I] Open Letter from Arab & Muslim Community to U.S. Anti-War Movement

Jan. 13, 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: [email protected]]

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: [email protected])

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

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
http://www.InternationalANSWER.org
[email protected]
Washington 202-544-3389
New York 212-633-6646
Los Angeles 213-487-2368
San Francisco 415-821-6545



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