Monthly Archives: February 2003

SF Labor Council Resolution In Defense of Sami Al-Arian

24 February 2003

In Defense Of The Democratic Rights Of Professor Sami Al-Arian

Whereas, there has been a concerted political effort to fire Palestinian American Professor Sami Al-Arian from the University of South Florida and,

Whereas, the union, the United Professors Of Florida which is affiliated to the National Education Association has defended their member Professor Sami Al-Arian’s democratic rights and,

Whereas, using the Patriot Act and other recently passed legislation, the US government has sought to eliminate the democratic rights of Professor Sami Al-Arian and,

Whereas, Professor has been a supporter of democratic rights not only in the Middle East but for democratic rights for people in the US and around the world and,

Whereas, the US government is seeking to silence political dissidents using the Patriot Act and other repressive legislation and,

Whereas, the use of these laws threatens the rights of all working people and all Americans,

Therefore be it resolved this body protests the indictment of Professor Sami Al-Arian and we call not only for the removal of this indictment but for opposition to the Patriot Act and other repressive legislation and we will forward this to the United Professors of Florida www.unitedprofessorsofflorida.org as well as Professor Sami Al-Arian and,

Finally, we call on all other labor and community organizations to protest the violation of Professor Sami Al-Arian’s rights, for this resolution to be sent to all affiliated bodies and to all our political representatives in the Congress and US Senate and for an end to this harassment and profiling of Arab Americans and Muslims and those who are critical of the policies of Israel.

For a chronology and detailed overview of this case, visit http://w3.usf.edu/~uff/AlArian/Current.html (MB)

For Workers, Regime Change Begins At Home (NYCLAW)

For Workers, Regime Change Begins At Home
February 14, 2003

Bush’s war on Iraq isn’t about “weapons of mass destruction”—-the U.S. can’t even prove that Iraq has any.  And who has more WMD than the U.S.?

It isn’t for “self-defense”—-Iraq hasn’t attacked us.

It isn’t to support the U.N.—-the U.S. pays Israel billions of dollars each year to violate U.N. resolutions that guarantee Palestinian rightsAnd Israel already has nuclear weapons.

It isn’t for “democracy”—-for years, the U.S. armed Hussein (and Osama bin Laden).  U.S. allies include numerous dictatorships, including Pakistan, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Colombia.

In reality, Bush’s war is a “weapon of mass distraction”—-from oil profit, from U.S. empire, from corporate thievery and from a crumbling economy at home.

As Nelson Mandela puts it, Bush and his cronies “just want the oil.”

This war can’t be made right.  Not by Bush.  Not by the U.N.

We need to ask ourselves some hard questions:

What have the Iraqi people ever done to us?

Fifty-eight thousand G.I.s—-most of them working class and people of color—-were killed in Vietnam.  Are we ready to pay for this war with the blood of our sons and daughters in uniform?

With destruction of our social services?

With zero-wage increases?

With Bush’s attack on labor, civil and immigrant rights?

With more blowback like 9/11?

In 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr. refused to remain silent about the Vietnam war and “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today-—my own government.”

We have the same obligation.  Regime change begins at home.

We also have the power to stop this war.

When G.I.s refused to fight in Vietnam, the U.S. war machine ground to a halt.

Several weeks ago, British railway workers refused to drive trains  loaded with weapons for war against Iraq.

And U.S. labor is beginning to speak out.  Unions with more than five million members—-one-third of organized labor—-have come out against the war. U.S. Labor Against the War was founded in January.  Thirty NYC-area labor bodies have endorsed today’s massive antiwar protest.

If you believe that labor must stand up against the war, contact:
nyclaw01@excite.com, or at NYCLAW, Prince Street Station, PO Box 233, New
York, NY 10012-3900.