142 Organizations Support the Arab-American and Muslim Open Letter

[To join as an organizational signatory, please write to:
rashmawi@sbcglobal.net]

UPDATE AND BACKGROUND:

On January 12, 2004, an "Open Letter from the
Arab-American and Muslim Community to the US Anti-War
Movement" was initiated by 41 Arab-American and Muslim
organizations in the United States and Canada. Today, this
letter carries the names of 142 signatory organizations
(listed below) that are supported by thousands of
activists and community members, including solidarity
groups and anti-war coalitions from coast to coast.

The movement in South Africa also weighed in, giving its
support to the Arab-American and Muslim community in the
United States, thus further indicating the global
consensus on the political demands of the anti-war
movement. The Arab National Conference (ANC), a leading
umbrella of Arab intellectuals and activists throughout
the world, earnestly joined in endorsing this call.

At present, there are hopeful signs that the movement in
the United States as a whole is also approaching a unity
on these core principles set-forth in the Open Letter,
which would lead to a unified mobilization on March 20,
2004 - as demanded by communities and the grassroots
nationwide.

The Open Letter was originally initiated on January 12
following a call to mobilize against colonial occupations
that was issued and endorsed by a large coalition of
organizations and communities that included the
International 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 Students Association of
the U.S. and Canada. The National Council of Arab
Americans (NCAA) supported this call in full. This
national and all-encompassing umbrella has since expanded
and is now called the "March 20 National Coalition".

The call to mobilize, which constitutes the political
basis for the unity of the March 20 National Coalition,
demanded ending "all colonial occupations from Iraq to
Palestine and 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, however,
are yet to accept these unifying principles.

As a result, and in the context of a long history of being
silenced and marginalized, the Arab-American and Muslim
community prepared the following Open Letter to the
movement.

Today, the movement can be hopeful that a unified and an
all-inclusive mobilization could take place nationwide,
not only in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago, but
also in New York City and elsewhere, on the basis
outlined. This would set a new definitional and unifying
turning point and would strengthen the grassroots tide to
stop the continued advance of war and empire. We urge all
community and progressive organizations to stand together
as full partners in Dolores Park in San Francisco, Times
Square in New York City, Hollywood and Vine in Los
Angeles, in Chicago, and in cities and towns across the
U.S.

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!

Signatory organizations:

(List is still in formation. To be included, please write
to: rashmawi@sbcglobal.net)

1. Act to Stop War Coalition, Omaha, Nebraska

2. Al-Awda: the Palestine Right to Return Coalition - Los
Angeles

3. Al-Awda: the Palestine Right to Return Coalition - San
Diego

4. Al-Awda: the Palestine Right to Return Coalition - San
Francisco Bay Area

5. Al-Awda: the Palestine Right to Return Coalition -
National

6. Al-Bireh Palestine Society, California Chapter

7. Al-Moharer

8. Al-Qalam Institute

9. American Muslim Voice

10. American Muslims for Jerusalem (AMJ)

11. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee - Greater
Philadelphia Chapter

12. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Greater
Sacramento Area Chapter

13. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Los
Angeles/Orange County Chapter

14. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, San
Francisco Bay Area Chapter

15. American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, Seattle
Chapter

16. Americans for Justice in Palestine-Israel

17. Arab Center of Washington - Seattle

18. Arab Muslim American Federation

19. Arab National Conference (ANC - Al-Mu’tamar Al-Qawmi
Al-Arabi)

20. Arab-American Community Center, Chicago

21. Arab-American Forum, New Hampshire

22. Arab-American Press Guild

23. Arab-Palestine Association, BC, Canada

24. Arabs Building Community, SF Bay Area

25. ARA-LA/People Against Racist Terror

26. Asians 4 Jericho/Mumia

27. Bay Area United Against War (BAUAW)

28. BAYAN - USA

29. Bend-Condega Friendship Project

30. Berkeley Women in Black

31. Break the Silence Mural Project

32. Canada-Palestine Association

33. Canada-Palestine Friendship Society

34. Canadian Arab Federation

35. Charlotte Fellowship of Reconciliation

36. Chicago Coalition Against War and Racism (CCAWR)

37. Citizens for Fair Legislation

38. Coalition for Equity-Restorative Justice

39. Committee Against the U$ Empire (the CAU$E), St.
Louis, MO

40. Committee for Democratic Palestine - Canada

41. Committee for Justice - USA

42. Comunidad Chileno-Palestina

43. Deir Yassin Society of New York

44. Divestment Resource Center

45. DuPage Against War Now

46. Filipino Workers Organizing Committee (FWAC), Seattle,
WA

47. Free Ahmad Sa’adat Campaign

48. Free Palestine Alliance - USA (FPA)

49. Freedom Socialist Party

50. Friends of Ghassan Kanafani, Toronto Chapter

51. Global Peace

52. Hammerhard MediaWorks, Chicago

53. Houston Coalition for Justice Not War

54. Incorruptible Media of Long Island

55. International A.N.S.W.E.R Coalition

56. International Solidarity Movement-Chicago chapter

57. Islamic Political Party of America (IPPA)

58. Jewish Voices Against the Occupation - Seattle

59. Jews Against Zionism

60. Jews for a Free Palestine

61. Justice for Palestinians

62. Kana’an Review

63. LAGAI — Queer Insurrection

64. Land Minds Not Landmines

65. Louisville Committee For Peace in the Middle East/ISM
Chapter

66. Masjid Al Qur’an of Philadelphia

67. Mexico Solidarity Network

68. Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA)

69. Middle Eastern Student Association of Loyola,
University Chicago

70. Midwest Unrest

71. Morton County Citizens for Responsible Government

72. Mother Seed

73. Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation (MAS
Freedom Foundation)

74. Muslim Students Association of the U.S. and Canada
(MSA-National)

75. Muslim Students Association, California State
University, Sacramento

76. Muslim Students Association, University of California,
Davis

77. National Council of Arab Americans (NCAA)

78. Nebraskans for Justice in Palestine

79. New Jersey Solidarity - Activists for the Liberation
of Palestine

80. Niagara Coalition for Peace

81. Nicaragua Network

82. No One Is Illegal-Vancouver

83. Northwest Suburban SUSTAIN - Chicago

84. Omega First Inc.

85. One World Society, University College Cork

86. Palestine Children’s Welfare Fund

87. Palestine Community Center - Vancouver, Canada

88. Palestine House Educational and Cultural Center,
Canada

89. Palestine Labor Support Committee, USA/Canada

90. Palestine Right of Return Congress - USA

91. Palestine Solidarity Committee - Los Angeles

92. Palestine Solidarity Committee - Pittsburgh

93. Palestine Solidarity Committee - Seattle

94. Palestine Solidarity Committee, Wisconsin

95. Palestine Solidarity Group - Chicago

96. Palestine Solidarity Group - Vancouver

97. Palestine/Israel for Peace and Justice Alliance

98. Palestinian American Women’s Association (PAWA)

99. Palestinian Rights Committee, Albany, NY

100. Partnership for Civil Justice

101. Pax Christi - Palm Beach

102. Peoples Video Network

103. Philadelphia Committee to Free the Five

104. Poets for Peace - Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

105. Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (QUIT)

106. Radical Women

107. Resident Peaceniks, Western Washington

108. Riverside Area Peace and Justice Action, California

109. S.U.S.T.A.I.N. (Stop U.S. Tax-Funded Aid to Israel
Now!), L.A./Orange County

110. Sacred Roots

111. San Francisco Bay Area Palestine Coalition

112. Socialist Arab Coalition in North America

113. SOL Foundation

114. Solidarity International

115. SOS Iraq

116. South Asian League of Artists in America (SALAAM)

117. Students for Justice in Palestine, California State
University, Sacramento

118. Students for Justice in Palestine, Univ. of
Illinois-Chicago

119. Students for Justice in Palestine, University of
California, Davis

120. Students for Justice in Palestine-Bloomington, IN

121. Students for Social Justice, Chicago

122. Students Organizing for Social Justice at Sarah
Lawrence College, Bronxville, NY

123. The Adelaide Institute

124. The Canadian Palestinian Foundation in Montreal,
Canada

125. The Canadian Palestinian Foundation of Qu�bec in
Montr�al

126. The Freedom Socialist Party

127. The International Action Center

128. The Islamic Association for Palestine (IAP)

129. The Islamic Egyptian Soc. of N.S.W.

130. The Middle East and North African Student
Association, North Carolina State University

131. The Santa Fe Research Roundtable

132. The United Muslim Association of High Schools Club

133. Third World Forum

134. Tri-Taylor Neighbors for Peace, Chicago

135. U.S. Citizens Against the War, Florence, Italy

136. US-Japan-China Comparative Policy Research Institute

137. Women In Black - San Francisco, California

138. World Constitution & Parliament Association (WCPA)

South African Movement in Solidarity:

1. Anti-War Coalition - South Africa (representing 70
social movements and civil society organizations)

2. Muslim Youth Movement of South Africa

3. Palestine Solidarity Committee, South Africa

4. Friends of Al-Aqsa, Cape Town, South Africa