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