On Self-Determination and Unity in the Antiwar Movement

August 8th, 2005 - by admin

Campus Antiwar Network Statement – 2005-08-08 09:15:25

http://www.campusantiwar.net

On Self-Determination and Unity in
the Antiwar Movement

CampusAntiwar.net

As students organizing against the war on campuses across the United States, we stand in support of full self-determination throughout the Middle East, including the self-determination of Iraqis and of Palestinians. As our generation is asked to sacrifice our consciences and our lives for the sake of US empire-building, we are committed to opposing that empire-building in its entirety.

In the Middle East today, illegal occupations exist not only in Iraq, but also in Palestine. We believe the antiwar movement must stand solidly against them both. This task takes on a particular urgency today, amid the very real possibility of a bloodbath in Palestine, if Israel takes the occasion of withdrawing settlers from Gaza to unleash a full-scale assault on that region. It would be a tragedy for the antiwar movement to remain silent in the face of the ongoing violence against an occupied population in the Middle East—funded by our own government.

We also believe it is imperative to condemn the racism directed against Arabs, Muslims, and immigrants in the United States. These populations have faced the brunt of the war at home—targeted for racially- motivated suspicion, detention and deportation. As every original excuse for the war has been disproven, racism has become the central justification for continuing to occupy Iraq.

The effects of this daily dehumanization of Arabs and Muslims can be seen in the horrific torture at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay. For this reason we believe opposing this racism must be a primary task of the antiwar movement.

Our generation is refusing to become cannon fodder in an unjust occupation. As such, we are one of several groups organizing a College Not Combat contingent in the September 24 protests on the East and West Coasts.

As a new counter-recruitment movement is exploding across the country, it is vital for students, teachers, parents, and others who wish to reclaim our schools from recruitment for a war most Americans oppose to be able to march alongside one another. This unity is threatened by the specter of two separate protests in DC.

Therefore, in the interests of building the strongest movement possible to end occupation, we call on United for Peace and Justice to drop its opposition to demands in support of Palestine and civil liberties, so that all of us—including broad segments of the populations most affected by the war at home—can come together as one united protest in Washington.

All out for September 24, from DC to San Francisco!

College, Not Combat!
Campus Antiwar Network
http://www.campusantiwar.net