Call for Feb. 20th National Day of Solidarity

FEBRUARY 20, 2004 - NATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY WITH MUSLIM, ARAB AND SOUTH ASIAN IMMIGRANTS

ON FEBRUARY 20TH, TO SHOW SOLIDARITY WITH IMMIGRANT COMMUNITIES WEAR A BLUE TRIANGLE WITH THE NAME OF A MUSLIM, ARAB OR SOUTH ASIAN IMMIGRANT ROUNDED UP AND JAILED IN SECRET BY THE US GOVERNMENT AFTER SEPTEMBER 11TH.

February 20th 2002 marked the first day of solidarity with Arabs, Muslims, and South Asians. At that time, it was apparent that Muslim communities in the US were facing a tremendous wave of repression. By February 2002, there had been mass round-ups of people from their homes, their jobs, and from the streets. In the name of national security, hundreds of Muslims, South Asians, and Arabs were secretly detained; the names of the detainees were withheld from their families and sometimes even their lawyers. By February 2002, the USA PATRIOT Act had been authored and signed unanimously by Congress, which set into motion massive changes in civil liberties and national security policies. This occurred without any debate by the US government on the impact this would have on the civil rights of people in this country.

Today, three years later, civil liberties continue to be curtailed as increasingly repressive measures are installed. The nominations of Alberto Gonzales as Attorney General and Michael Chertoff as the Head of the Department of Homeland Security, and the weak debate that has ensued, make it chillingly clear that this administration plans to continue on this course, with only minor opposition from Congress. Alberto Gonzales has a well-established record of defying international laws and advocating torture. He has shown complete disregard for the dignity of prisoners of war and has argued that the Geneva Convention of Human Rights does not apply to the US. Michael Chertoff has the distinction of being a primary author of the PATRIOT Act and was also one of the masterminds behind the mass round-ups and detentions following 9/11.

The appointment of Gonzales and Chertoff marks the beginning of a new era of repression in this country. These two men will undoubtedly implement new methods to crack down on Arab, Muslim, and South Asian communities. However, these communities do not represent the only groups of people whose rights are being trampled. The initial attacks on these communities served as a window through which repressive policies like Homeland Security Act, SEVIS, Special Registration, as well as the PATRIOT Act have been launched. These policies have widened the net of repression and persecution. Activists and dissenters have also been targeted, as was clearly evident during the Republican National Convention, in which protesters were categorized as "terrorists" and labeled as a "national security threat."

The abuses in the Abu-Ghraib prison, the illegal detention of people in Guantanamo Bay, the right of the Executive Branch to brand anyone as an "enemy combatant," the continuing detentions of Arabs, Muslims, and South Asians, the targeting and surveillance of activist communities--all represent repressive apparatus implemented by the current administration in the name of national security. This trajectory of abuse and repression has only been solidified by the recent appointments of Gonzales and Chertoff. The government has demonstrated that it will do whatever is necessary to acquire the necessary power to install police-state measures in an ever-widening range of circumstances.

The repression facing the Arab, Muslim, and South Asian communities in the present time has taken a different face. While there are no longer mass round-ups and detentions, racial profiling of these communities continues to occur and is likely to worsen. As the occupation of Iraq continues and plans for wars on other countries in the Middle East begin to materialize, the view of Arab and Muslim immigrants as the "enemy within" will continue to be propagated by the government and mainstream media. With the government apparatus of repression gaining more and more strength, the future of immigrants in this country is under serious threat.

What can be done to counter such blatant disregard for human rights and dignity? The Blue Triangle Network believes that a strong multinational and broad-based movement is needed to fight this repression. BTN calls on the legal forces serving the detainees and prisoners in Guantanamo, community organizations providing support to the families of detainees, and students and activists concerned about human rights and civil liberties to come together to work towards stopping the repression. We must stand against the appointments of Gonzales and Chertoff, call for the release of prisoners from Guantanamo Bay, insist that the highest level of government officials be held accountable for the crimes committed against the Iraqi prisoners in Abu-Ghraib, work to stop the blatant attacks and racial profiling of Arabs, Muslims, and South Asians, and demand justice for the hundreds of families who have been torn apart by this administration's contempt for human dignity and rights.

In the early 1940s, German Nazis used different colored triangles to categorize, label, and divide the people held in concentration camps. We will not continue to allow the same kind of profiling to happen here. Wear a blue triangle with the name of one of the disappeared, one of those rounded up and secretly jailed following 9/11, to affirmatively demonstrate our solidarity with those being targeted today.

February 20th is an opportunity to open people's eyes to the reality of this repression and mobilize more people into the movement to stop it. By distributing and wearing the blue triangle, we can continue to engage people about the attacks faced by immigrant communities and the erosion of civil liberties which will impact all those who live in the US. Mark February 20th as the day you will pledge to renew your commitment to expose and oppose these repressive attacks.