When Fear is Not an Option

Today, ARA is reposting an editorial written by our good friend and compatriot in the struggle for justice, Shemon Salam. He was recently visited by the FBI due to his opposition to "Islamofascism Awareness Week" on the University of Washington's campus. It can also be found on Counterpunch's website.

***UPDATE: Shemon was recently interviewed by Dan Tsang on Subversity, a radio show that appears on KUCI out of Irvine, CA. Audio is available on their website.

I was visited by the FBI at my residence on Thursday, November 29th. I am an Asian-American Muslim Man. I am an anti-war activist who believes that United States military has no business in the Middle East or anywhere else in the world. I do not hide my political perspectives from anyone. Despite this, I refuse to be intimidated into silence.

The two FBI agents claimed to be investigating a "complaint" from the University of Washington's campus students that I might have said "things" which could suggest that I advocate violence against the U.S. This was in reference to my opposition to the Islamo-Fascist Awareness week that the College Republicans hosted in mid-October. During this week the CR showed a video which described all Palestinians as terrorists and posited a theory that Palestinian men are prone to violence because they are sexually repressed. (Ironic coming from the CR) Michael Medved also spoke during this week. I was part of a demonstration with a body of Muslims students and people of color who were barred from entering the event. The event organizers cited full capacity as the main reason. Why is my opposition to this event being criminalized?

The FBI agents wanted to see a flyer that I was passing out. I told them NO. I asked them, "Is this Stalin's Russia or McCarthy's America?" They have no business collecting literature from me or anyone else in the Untied States. Anyway, the flyers can be found all over campus because I have nothing to hide from my neighbors.

This is not one isolated incident. Muslims and Arabs are being attacked, harassed, and intimidated by the FBI across the country. The FBI claims that anyone who opposes US imperialism is a terrorist. Some Muslims leaders have come out in public and said "good Muslims" should cooperate with the FBI to help them control the "bad Muslims". Meanwhile, the FBI has sent spies to our mosques and broken into our houses in the middle of the night to kidnap our brothers and sisters and send them to Guantanamo without evidence of any crime. Who is causing the terror here? Most of the time it goes unnoticed and in the shadows Arab and Muslim families are destroyed. Let me make it clear--the FBI is a racist and anti-democratic organization. Granted, the two FBI agents who visited my house were very nice to me and even shook my hand. That should not cover up the crimes of the institution they work for.

Meanwhile the College Republicans, who claim to be defenders of democracy and free speech are inviting racists like Medved onto campus. The CR advocates perspectives that lead to the deaths of Arabs and Muslims and people of color and you don't see the FBI visiting them. I am not advocating state repression against the College Republicans; I simply wish to point out the racist double standard here.

I can ask how did the FBI get my house address? My address is not listed anywhere. Did the University administration give it to them? This would not be far-fetched considering that University administrations across the country have made it clear that they will stand with the FBI before they stand in solidarity with Arabs, Muslims, and students of color. Just look at their endorsement of the Patriot Act and the SEVIS registrations of international students. Given this climate, the burden should be on the UW administration to prove that they are not collaborating with such McCarthyist surveillance of campus activists like myself. How can they claim to be the patrons of free speech and dialogue if they facilitate such intimidation?

Only democratic and anti-racist students can curb the power of racist University bureaucracies and the FBI. Student organizing is part of a rich tradition of American history that has made the U.S. a more democratic and anti-racist country than it would be otherwise. However, across the country, University administrators and the FBI are working hand-in-hand to shut down and intimidate all who oppose U.S. Empire and domestic racism.

UW and the city of Seattle claim to be liberal and progressive places where racism cannot be found. This is a myth. Home grown white-supremacy stalks this campus. Every time we see the College Republicans, the FBI, and the Administration it is a reminder that people of color and Muslims and Arabs are not safe yet. However we are not silent victims. We do not know our own strength and no one dares to tell us. It is up to us to rediscover our democratic and anti-racist traditions. It is up to us to take back our university. Fear is not an option.

"NO PASARAN!" ANTI-RACIST STUDENTS AND COMMUNITY MEMBERS CHALLENGE WHITE SUPREMACY

ARA attended a march and rally in opposition to white nationalist Nick Griffin at Michigan State University over the weekend. Although the event wasn't part of the official "Islamofascism Awareness Week" organized by David Horowitz and his "Freedom Center," it was clearly linked. Both relied on racist caricatures of Arab and Muslim folks, both represent organized rightwing forces gaining legitimacy in the US, and both were vigorously opposed.

About 75 of us gathered at the Rock on MSU's campus before marching to the Vet Med Center to confront Griffin and his racist handlers in Young Americans for Freedom (YAF). There, students and community members exposed Griffin and the British National Party for the hate group they are. After the rally, almost everyone went into the auditorium to confront Griffin. Once inside, audience members again and again challenged Griffin on his racist views. He quickly abandoned his prepared notes and opted to receive questions from the audience. After continued interruptions, those opposed to Griffin called for an "Anti-Racist Walkout" and left the auditorium. Outside, they continued their opposition by chanting anti-racist slogans.

Nick Griffin's main purpose at the event was to whip up anti-Muslim frenzy by claiming that Muslim people in the US seek to impose sharia law on the country. He cited uprisings throughout Europe not as the militant responses to white supremacy that they were, but as examples of Muslim barbarism and the need for an organized "defense of white interests." He explained his opposition to capitalism not as an affront to basic values of democracy and anti-racism, but as a reaction to the forces of globalization which are "reducing human diversity" and reducing humanity to an eventual "mud race" of all ethnicities.

Again and again, he tried to warn of the "threat" Islam posed to "Western values" such as democracy. The irony of the statement was clearly lost on one zealous Nazi, who at one point burst out, "What about self-determination for the West?" Apparently determining itself as well as the affairs of most of the world wasn't enough for this young man. He would prefer if self-described white people in the US and Great Britain also had the right to lynch black folks, Jewish folks, queer folks, and anyone else who tries to pursue such paltry "rights of self-determination" as living where we choose, or loving how we choose.

One glaring absence at the event was Zionists who claim opposition to anti-Semitism. Earlier in the week, they had shown their method of opposition by encouraging people to write letters to the Board of Governors at Michigan State. How ridiculous that the same people that call ARA anti-Semites and protest our events refuse to protest (or do much of anything) when proven anti-Semites speak in the United States, even when their events are organized and MC'ed by known neo-Nazis! These folks then condemn the protest tactics used by people they should be in solidarity with on the basis of a shared opposition to anti-Semitism and all forms of racism. And finally, they have the nerve to label as "fascistic" those anti-racist activists who shout down Nick Griffin and refuse to let him speak! One wonders if it is anti-Semitism they oppose or anti-Zionism. (See third comment)

Don't they know that these are the popular democratic tactics that have been used to defeat fascism in the streets throughout the anti-fascist struggle? Don't they know that Nick Griffin is opportunistically appealing to free speech so that he can speak around the country and advise other white supremacist groups about tactics they should pursue in order to gain power? Don't they feel the need, like other democratic-minded people of good conscience, to oppose fascism in the streets? Don't they know that if they don't oppose it in the streets, they will have a much harder time opposing it when it has state power? Don't they know anything about the genocide whose history they use and abuse over and over again?

They don't. And yet they embarrass themselves by criticizing those at the forefront of the anti-racist struggle. ARA is not surprised. Time and again, we have had to fight against weak-kneed liberals who prefer to avoid confronting fascism directly. These liberal Zionists are no different. Rather than confronting and defeating fascism in the streets, they propose the hypocritical writing cure. Write letters decrying the board of governors for allowing racists to speak at MSU, but have tea parties with the Wayne State board of governors. Write blogs about the threat of Nick Griffin, but let him speak and organize. Make up and publish nonsense about anti-racist activists, but condemn them when they confront fascists who wish to murder Jewish folks, people of color, queer folks, and anyone who disagrees with them. They have no principles.

The next time the Nazis come to town, we know where we will be, and we know where Zionist cowards will be. They will be at home writing strongly worded letters to members of congress and other elected officials who consistently side with white supremacy. ARA will be in the streets, making damn sure the slogan "Never Again!" will never again be necessary.

SMASH FASCISM! SMASH THE BNP!

***CORRECTION: ARA is leaving for Lansing at 3 p.m. from the Undergraduate Library. Anyone that needs a ride should meet us at 3 p.m.***

Nick Griffin, a hardline Neo-Nazi, Islamophobe, Homophobe, Holocaust denier, anti-Semite and White Supremacist is speaking at Michigan State University on Friday. Griffin is the chairman of the British National Party (BNP), a white nationalist, fascist organization in Great Britain. They are an all white organization that deems non-whites in Britain "non-British" and seeks their deportation. They oppose mixed-race relationships, and have referred to the Holocaust as the "Holohoax." Recently, the BNP has been contesting elections and winning local offices throughout the country. They are not a fringe group; they aspire to gain political power and begin implementing their program.

The BNP is part of a wave of xenophobic and ultra-nationalist groups spreading across both the United States and Europe. In the US, this movement finds expression in "Islamofascism Awareness Week." Islamofascism Awareness Week is an outright racist attack on Muslims taking place on over 100 campuses across the country. It represents a serious threat to Muslim folks in this country. Nick Griffin is here to advise similar groups in the United States about how they can popularize white supremacist ideas and organize to seize power.

In response to this speaker, Anti-Racist Action is calling on all anti-racist and democratic-minded people to join in a carpool Friday, October 26th. We will meet in the Undergraduate Library and depart for Lansing at 3 p.m. In Lansing, we will meet up with other anti-fascist forces for a short rally before proceeding to Griffin's lecture.

RSVP by Friday at 12 noon to STRUGGLE@WSUARA.ORG