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Fw: [ANSWER] Defend Dr. Hatem Bazian & free speech


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "A.N.S.W.E.R." <answer@action-mail.org>
To: <ANSWER.general@organizerweb.com>
Sent: Thursday, April 15, 2004 5:15 AM
Subject: [ANSWER] Defend Dr. Hatem Bazian & free speech


> *Activists arrested protesting Ariel Sharon's visit to the 
> White House
> *ACTION ALERT: Defend Free Speech - Stop the Attacks on 
> Dr. Hatem Bazian!
> 
> * * * * *
> 
> 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
> 
> * * * * *
> 
> 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@calmail.berkeley.edu
> 
> --------------------------
> 
> Email circulated by:
> A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
> Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
> 
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