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OT One for American Jews to Consider.........
"Greg Butterfield" wrote in message
m...
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
--------------------------
Email circulated by:
A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition
Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
www.InternationalANSWER.org
New York 212-633-6646
Washington 202-544-3389
Los Angeles 213-487-2368
San Francisco 415-821-6545
The piece of crap, should already be fired, and if not a citizen, be on the
plane out of the country!!! HE called for Jihad and killing American
soldiers.
Bill
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