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"First they came for the Communists and I didn't speak up because I wasn't
a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I
wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up
because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics and I
didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they
came for me, but by that time, no one was left to speak up." -Pastor
Martin Niemoeller, Nazi Germany
Today, we call on people everywhere to participate in a National Day of Solidarity with Muslim, Arab and South Asian Immigrants. The words of Pastor Niemoeller spell out the challenge facing all of us as people who seek justice and a better world. This time, first they are coming for the Arab, Muslim and South Asian immigrants. Based on their racial profile, over 1500 have been rounded up and the government refuses to say who they are, where they are jailed and what the charges are!!! Already, a Pakistani man has died in custody. Who will be next? The recent "disappearances", indefinite detention, the round-ups, the secret military tribunals, the denial of legal representation, evidence kept a secret from the accused, the denial of any due process for Arab, Muslim, South Asians and others, have chilling similarities to a police state. We will not allow our grief for the tragedy of September 11 to be used to justify this new repression. We are clear that being an immigrant is not a crime, Muslims, Arabs and South Asians are not terrorists.
120,000 Japanese-Americans and Japanese immigrants were rounded up and put in concentration camps during World War II. Only after 50 years had passed did the U.S. government acknowledge that injustice. Let us work together to build a hospitable community for immigrants and refugees by resisting and stopping these new injustices now. Human life is more important than unjust laws. Join with people across the United States in observing a National Day of Solidarity. Stand together with Muslim, Arab and South Asian immigrants on February 20, 2002. It is only the voice and action of the people that can STOP these attacks and assure freedom and justice for all.
On February 20 wear a blue triangle with the name of one of the newly "disappeared". In the early 1940's, German Nazis used many different colored triangles to categorize and divide people in the concentration camps. We will not allow the same kind of profiling to happen here. We will wear a blue triangle in a positive way to show our solidarity with those being targeted today and in the future.
Find the ways to express your solidarity: churches, synagogues, unions and schools provide sanctuary for the persecuted; organize a vigil or demonstration at a local INS detention center; hold a teach in at your local school, college, or university; call your political representatives and demand that these outrages cease; organize a poetry SLAM or a music show; write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper calling for justice for all; students demand that your colleges or universities not turn over the files of immigrant students to the government; contact local tv and radio talk shows asking to be part of the program; sponsor a meet the immigrant educational and cultural event so they can tell their stories.
Remember the tragedy of Nazi Germany when so many looked the other way as their neighbors were disappeared, persecuted and stripped of their civil liberties. What would you have done then? What will you do now?
Please endorse this call and distribute, post and publish everywhere! All actions on February 20 should be publicized and popularized.
For more information visit:
www.BlueTriangle.org
www.laresistencia.org/eng/NDSMASAI2003Intro.html
Today, we call on people everywhere to participate in a National Day of Solidarity with Muslim, Arab and South Asian Immigrants. The words of Pastor Niemoeller spell out the challenge facing all of us as people who seek justice and a better world. This time, first they are coming for the Arab, Muslim and South Asian immigrants. Based on their racial profile, over 1500 have been rounded up and the government refuses to say who they are, where they are jailed and what the charges are!!! Already, a Pakistani man has died in custody. Who will be next? The recent "disappearances", indefinite detention, the round-ups, the secret military tribunals, the denial of legal representation, evidence kept a secret from the accused, the denial of any due process for Arab, Muslim, South Asians and others, have chilling similarities to a police state. We will not allow our grief for the tragedy of September 11 to be used to justify this new repression. We are clear that being an immigrant is not a crime, Muslims, Arabs and South Asians are not terrorists.
120,000 Japanese-Americans and Japanese immigrants were rounded up and put in concentration camps during World War II. Only after 50 years had passed did the U.S. government acknowledge that injustice. Let us work together to build a hospitable community for immigrants and refugees by resisting and stopping these new injustices now. Human life is more important than unjust laws. Join with people across the United States in observing a National Day of Solidarity. Stand together with Muslim, Arab and South Asian immigrants on February 20, 2002. It is only the voice and action of the people that can STOP these attacks and assure freedom and justice for all.
On February 20 wear a blue triangle with the name of one of the newly "disappeared". In the early 1940's, German Nazis used many different colored triangles to categorize and divide people in the concentration camps. We will not allow the same kind of profiling to happen here. We will wear a blue triangle in a positive way to show our solidarity with those being targeted today and in the future.
Find the ways to express your solidarity: churches, synagogues, unions and schools provide sanctuary for the persecuted; organize a vigil or demonstration at a local INS detention center; hold a teach in at your local school, college, or university; call your political representatives and demand that these outrages cease; organize a poetry SLAM or a music show; write a letter to the editor of your local newspaper calling for justice for all; students demand that your colleges or universities not turn over the files of immigrant students to the government; contact local tv and radio talk shows asking to be part of the program; sponsor a meet the immigrant educational and cultural event so they can tell their stories.
Remember the tragedy of Nazi Germany when so many looked the other way as their neighbors were disappeared, persecuted and stripped of their civil liberties. What would you have done then? What will you do now?
Please endorse this call and distribute, post and publish everywhere! All actions on February 20 should be publicized and popularized.
For more information visit:
www.BlueTriangle.org
www.laresistencia.org/eng/NDSMASAI2003Intro.html