Solidarity in Palo Alto

FEBRUARY 20, 2002
NATIONAL DAY OF SOLIDARITY
WITH MUSLIM, ARAB AND SOUTH
ASIAN IMMIGRANTS

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

In solidarity with Muslim, Arab and South Asian Immigrants, including over 1500 who have been rounded up, activists in Palo Alto wore blue triangles today with the names of those disappeared in America.” 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. In the early 1940’s, German Nazis used many different colored triangles to categorize and divide people in the concentration camps.

Banners, signs were prominently displayed; tables held a wealth of literature (including the pilot issue of “War Times”), homemade cookies and cinnamon rolls. Passerbys were invited to sit down, answer a few questions, and think more deeply about how we can “defuse terrorism” and make a safer, better world for our children, and all children.” Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Veteran’s for Peace, Peninsula Peace and Justice Center, as well as “permaculturist gardening activists” wore blue triangles and raised the visibility and awareness of the issues with local people and those passing through.

Every Wednesday, since last October, we have been gathering at Lytton Plaza, in downtown Palo Alto, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.. This was the first time we wore blue triangles, but not the last. How long will we meet on Wednesdays? Until the “War on Terrorism” ends, until the U.S. renounces terrorism, and ceases to terrorize people outside the U.S., and people within our boundaries.