Fw: [IAC-SF] ACTION ALERT: Defend Free Speech - Stop the Attacks on Dr. Hatem Bazian! / Activists arrested protesting Sharon

["nello margiotta" <nellomargiotta55 at virgilio.it>]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "International Action Center" <iac at actionsf.org>
To: <iac-sf at organizerweb.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 15, 2004 5:49 PM
Subject: [IAC-SF] ACTION ALERT: Defend Free Speech - Stop the Attacks on Dr.
Hatem Bazian! / Activists arrested protesting Sharon


> *ACTION ALERT: Defend Free Speech - Stop the Attacks on Dr. Hatem Bazian!
> *Activists arrested protesting Ariel Sharon's visit to the White House
>
> * * * * *
>
> ACTION ALERT: DEFEND FREE SPEECH
> STOP THE ATTACKS ON DR. HATEM BAZIAN!
>
> Dr. Hatem Bazian, a highly respected lecturer at the University of
> California, Berkeley in the Near Eastern Studies and Ethnic Studies
> Departments, is being victimized by a mean-spirited national right-wing
> campaign. His just defense of the Palestinian people and his call to end
> war and suffering of all in Iraq are being maliciously portrayed as
> "incitement of violence and sedition."
>
> Capitalizing on the vicious anti-Arab and anti-Muslim hate fest that is
> escalating in the U.S. as the occupation in Iraq erupts, reaching critical
> stages, right-wing and racist forces are engaged in attacks designed to
> seriously jeopardize the well-being of Arab- and Muslim-Americans -
> particularly outspoken community leaders, prominent activists and critical
> scholars - in an attempt to completely silence dissent against the
violence
> of occupation. Behind it all is the racist belief that critical speech and
> the Bill of Rights come to a screeching halt at the doorstep of Arab- and
> Muslim-American homes, thus falsely positioning them as conspirators
> within. Popular statements such as "we need regime change," that are being
> made daily by many all the way from John Kerry to progressive activists,
> are being twisted and presented as "sedition" and "treason" in a
> McCarthy-style purge.
>
> Although Arab- and Muslim-Americans are particularly targeted and
> scapegoated, the attack on the Bill of Rights and the right to dissent is
> incrementally affecting all sectors without exception. The intent is to
> create a fully compliant population, criminalize opposition, and expand
the
> political reach of an ideological right-wing extreme.
>
> Dr. Bazian has been receiving livid hate mail; his work at the University
> is being challenged; and extremist elements are threatening his and his
> family's well-being. Like millions of Americans and people around the
> globe, Dr. Bazian has been an articulate and outspoken critic of U.S.
> foreign policy - calling for a U.S. that is at peace with itself and with
> nations around the world on the basis of equality and liberty for all.
>
> Hatem was a prominent student leader at San Francisco State University
> during the eighties and later at UC Berkeley in the nineties - both are
> institutions best known for their legacy of the free speech and anti-war
> movements. During his student years, he fully championed the rights of
> disenfranchised communities, people of color, supported ethnic, labor and
> gender studies, and worked to organize an effective U.S. student movement
> on a national scale in opposition to both NAFTA and GATT. Hatem served as
> Chair of the U.C. Berkeley Graduate Assembly, and from 1995-1999 was
> coordinator of the Graduate Minority Students Project of the Graduate
> Assembly, through which he spearheaded statewide efforts to defeat
> Proposition 209, a 1996 California-wide anti-affirmative action
> proposition. Bazian was also active in the anti-Apartheid struggle and
> Central American solidarity movements. In 1990, Hatem was the Chair of the
> National People of Color Student Coalition and executive member of the
> Board of the United States Student Association.
>
> We ask you to take a stand in clear support of free speech and against the
> racist criminalization of Arab-Americans, Muslim-Americans and all people
> standing against war and occupation. The escalation of rhetoric by
> President Bush in conjunction with the increase in military force and
> attacks on the Iraqi people will likely give yet another green light for
> further anti-Arab and anti-Muslim backlash. We need to take a strong stand
> now!
>
> Please write to the president of the University of California, Berkeley,
at
> the following address to ask for protection and support for Dr. Hatem
> Bazian:
> Chancellor Robert M. Berdahl
> Office of the Chancellor
> 200 California Hall #1500
> Berkeley, CA 94720-1500
> Telephone: (510) 642-7464
> chanclor at calmail.berkeley.edu
>
> * * * * *
>
> ACTIVISTS ARRESTED PROTESTING ARIEL SHARON'S VISIT TO THE WHITE HOUSE
>
> Today, as Ariel Sharon and George Bush met in the White House, the Muslim
> American Society Freedom Foundation, the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, and other
> organizations held a press conference, rally and civil disobedience action
> demanding "Free Palestine." The Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
> initiated today's action, at which Mahdi Bray, the Executive Director of
> the MAS Freedom Foundation, and Sarah Friedman, National Outreach
> Coordinator for the A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition, were arrested on the White
> House sidewalk in an act of protest against the Sharon/Bush war on the
> Palestinian people. When the police blocked the protest from marching
> forward on the White House sidewalk, Mahdi Bray refused to leave and Sarah
> Friedman stepped forward from the group of assembled demonstrators and
> joined him. While they were being arrested, supporters held signs reading
> "Ariel Sharon and George Bush are War Criminals" and chanted "Occupation
is
> a Crime, from Iraq to Palestine." Photos can be viewed at
> http://www.internationalanswer.org/news/update/041404sharon.html
>
> --------------------------
>
> Email circulated by:
> A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
> Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
>
> FOR MORE INFORMATION:
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> answer at actionsf.org
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>
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