Fast in Solidarity with Muslim Communities

SAY NO TO WAR AND RACISM

FAST IN SOLIDARITY WITH MUSLIM COMMUNITIES

• I am fasting during Ramadan in solidarity with peoples from Muslim majority countries and Muslim immigrant communities in the U.S. who have been subjected to harassment, detention, economic hardship and war as a consequence of U.S. imperialist aggressions and Israeli occupation.

• I fast in solidarity with the people of Lebanon who have experienced the destruction of their country, displacement, and the loss of their loved ones.

• I fast in solidarity with the people of Palestine who continue to face massive deprivation of land, life and resources and the denial of their right to return to their homeland and their right to full citizenship.

• I fast in solidarity with the people of Iraq who have lived under siege for over a decade of U.S.-led war and destruction.

• I fast in solidarity with the people of Afghanistan who have faced a massive U.S. bombing campaign, and a denial of access to hospitals, food and electricity.

• I fast in solidarity with Muslim immigrants and Muslim Americans who have been harassed, detained, deported, or racially profiled without evidence of criminal activity; those who have been forced to live with the possibility that at any time, they may be picked up, locked up, or detained; and those families and communities who have been forced to separate because of anti-Muslim immigration policies.

• I fast for the end of all U.S. led and supported occupations and the self-determination of all peoples, including all indigenous peoples, immigrants, and people of color in the U.S.

The “war on terror” is an illegal war that violates international laws and uses “national security” as an excuse to conquer Arab and Muslim lands, oil, labor, and people. The Bush administration has used September 11^th as an excuse for increasing military intervention in the Philippines, waging war on Afghanistan and Iraq, and forcing a regime change on Pakistan, among other imperialist acts. Fully supported by the United States, the recent Israeli war against the people of Lebanon aims to destroy the popular resistance movement and to ignite an internal confessional strife. Such has been the US-Israeli design for Lebanon for decades. In its veto on July 12 of the United Nations resolution condemning the Israeli actions in Gaza, the Bush administration is sending a clear message that Israeli conquests complement US policies for the region, as manifested in the occupation and destruction of Iraq. Effectively, three Arab states (Palestine, Iraq and Lebanon) are now simultaneously under a violent siege and are being drawn into internal strife. And the United States seems even closer to implementing attacks on Iran (see arab-american.net)

For many of us, to join a solidarity fast against war and racism is a choice. For those living under U.S. and Israeli military occupation and war, accessing resources and simply being granted the right to exist are privileges that are increasingly difficult to come by. This is why fasting is a form of solidarity. One hundred people die in Iraq per day. Over 4,000 Palestinians and over 1000 Israelis killed since 2000 alone. Over 7.2 million Palestinians have become refugees. Because of the Israeli economic blockade, most the children in Gaza are malnourished, according to a recent New York Times article.

Domestically, the Bush administration has expanded its definition of “immigrant” to “evil terrorist enemy within.” Latino immigrants and other immigrants who have been marked as “potential criminals” have faced increasing forms of targeting and harassment since 9-11. Attacks against Filipinos/as have taken place based on Bush’s designation of the Philippines as an Al Qayeda harboring country. These attacks seek to quell the dissent of anyone who speaks out against the war machine. The silencing of dissent is facilitated by increasing policies that treat anyone who thinks critically of U.S. foreign policy—or believes in national self-determination—is treated as “anti-American” and anyone who thinks critically of the Israeli state as “anti-Semitic.”

The “war on terror” has facilitated the passing of new laws, such as the Patriot Act that give more power to the racist criminal justice system. These laws legalize and give increased power to the institutions of racial profiling, surveillance, sweeps, detentions, and lock-ups. The government pours money into the military, and we are paying this huge bill with severe cuts in the budgets for women’s and family’s social services, including welfare, housing, health, education, and transportation. The Bush administration recruits young people of color and lies to them by claiming that they will be given money for their education. These promises are not kept and young people of color, African-Americans in particular, are positioned on the front lines, used as cannon fodder for an illegal war.

The “Fast against War and Racism” creates an opportunity for people to express their solidarity with Muslim communities. It is also an opportunity for creating links between people who are targeted by the war on terror in their homelands and the people who are targeted by the war on terror, over here, within the U.S

Say NO to war and racism

Join the Fast in Solidarity with Muslim communities

Organized by:

NOWAR: The Arab American “No to War and Racism” Committee, Ann Arbor, Michigan

solidarityfast@comcast.net