I just received this via email, and thought it would be a great thing to share in the wake of Pat's sharing:
quote:
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 3/25/2002) - We are calling all people of conscience nationwide to defend their community against increasing governmental assaults on civil liberties and religious rights. Community members concerned about these assaults are asked to contact the White House and their federal representatives with a reminder that the Bill of Rights applies to all Americans, including Muslims.The fourth article of the Bill of Rights states: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause..."
Every American should understand that their own civil rights are violated when the rights of Muslims are trampled.
RAIDS ON ISLAMIC INSTITUTIONS AND HOMES
Last week, Muslims nationwide expressed outrage over law enforcement raids on a number of Muslim offices and homes in Virginia and Georgia. Targets of the raids included some of the most respected leaders and organizations in the American Muslim community, including the International Institute of Islamic Thought, the Graduate School of Islamic Social Sciences, the Muslim World League and the Fiqh Council of North America.
Those whose homes were targeted say frightened mothers and daughters were handcuffed for hours, Muslim citizens were treated as foreigners and were denied rights guaranteed to other citizens. Again, no criminal charges were filed and no evidence was produced to back up the government's actions.
In a packed news conference reacting to the raids, Muslim Public Affairs Director Jason Erb said: "Unfortunately, investigators are well aware that in the current climate of fear and prejudice, few people will ask the tough questions about why these respected individuals and groups were targeted...As in past incidents targeting American Muslim institutions, no one is being given their day in court to confront accusers or refute allegations...security need not be gained by destroying the civil liberties and standards of due process that we all hold dear."
IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED:
CONTACT President Bush and elected officials in your state to let them know that Muslims should have the same rights as other Americans. Ask that he make a public statement in support of American Muslim civil rights. Also ask that he meet with American Muslim leaders.
President George W. Bush
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500
TEL: 202-456-1414, Press 1
FAX: 202-456-2461
E-MAIL: president@whitehouse.gov,
AskDOJ@usdoj.gov,
vice.president@whitehouse.gov,
Judiciary@mail.house.gov, cair@cair-net.org
To obtain contact information for your representative, go to http://www.house.gov/writerep/, or call 202-224-3121. Have your Zip Code ready.
For senators, go to:
http://www.senate.gov/senators/senator_by_state.cfm
TALKING POINTS:
* The government is treating the entire community as if it harbored or coddled the terrorists. Not one of the September 11 terrorists was a recognized or respected member of the American Muslim community. They were outsiders.
* The Bill of Rights applies to all Americans, including Muslims.
* The use of secret evidence makes it impossible for those accused to defend themselves against undefined "suspicions."
* Many of those attacked in the most recent round of raids have excellent relationships with departments of the American government. Throughout this crisis, American Muslims have done everything they can to assist in the investigation and develop relationships between the government and the American Muslim community.
* This is America and we have inalienable rights guaranteed by the Bill of Rights, such as freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from unwarranted search and seizure, freedom to face our accusers and demand justice.
* How long will we have to endure this harassment before the government stops viewing our entire community through a veil of suspicion?
* These actions contradict the often-repeated assertions by government officials that the war on terrorism is not an attack on Islam.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Since September 11, 2001, our government has taken a number of actions against individual Muslims and Islamic organizations that created an atmosphere of intimidation and apprehension.
Within hours of the tragic events of September 11, every major American Muslim organization issued condemnations of the terrorist attacks. The Muslim community did what it could, through blood drives and other relief activities, to help alleviate the suffering of victims and their families. Many Muslims were also killed and injured in the attacks.
Unfortunately, these actions were not enough to prevent an anti-Muslim backlash that involved threats, assaults, harassment, discrimination, attacks on mosques, and even a number of murders. There have been recorded more than 1800 such anti-Muslim incidents.
In the first few days after the September 11 attacks, government officials, including President Bush, made a point to reach out to the Muslim community. The president visited a Washington, D.C., mosque in the company of national Muslim leaders.
But since that initial period of support, a number of government policies have singled out Muslims and created the impression that they have fewer rights than other Americans.
MUSLIM DETAINEES
An estimated 1,200 Muslims were detained nationwide after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. They have been held mostly on immigration charges, but are treated as if they are terrorists.
In a report earlier this month, Amnesty International (AI) stated: "Six months after the September 11 attacks, a significant number of the approximately 1,200 non-U.S. nationals originally detained in the aftermath of the tragedy continue to be deprived of their human rights in violation of international law and the Immigration and Naturalization Service's own standards...While the detentions have been surrounded by extreme secrecy, the organization's research confirms that basic rights have been violated, including: the right to humane treatment; to be informed of reasons for detention; to have prompt access to a lawyer; to be able to challenge the lawfulness of the detention, and to be presumed innocent until proven otherwise...Amnesty International has received reports of cruel treatment, including: prolonged solitary confinement; heavy shackling of detainees during visits or when they are taken to court; and lack of adequate exercise...
TO READ THE FULL REPORT, GO TO:
Amnesty USA
For those who can stand to study history, it may behoove you to do a quick re-study of the historical environment in which Adolf Hitler came to power. It is eerily similar to that of George W. I don't mean to divert attention to the correlation of personalities, but rather to the correlation in method.
When I saw George W. Bush stand atop the rubble at ground zero, proclaiming that we're going to get those sons of bitches, I was overcome by a huge wave of nausea. I kept getting glimpses of Hitler standing atop the ruins of the Reichstag in Berlin, proclaiming that he was going to get those sons of bitches (he blamed the communists). The whole event seemed so blatantly contrived. The lines all seemed so long-rehearsed. Men of power use emotions to come to power, and nothing envigorates emotions like an enemy. Hitler used the Jews. George W. is using the Islamic people.
Hitler experienced extraordinary support from the people, just like George W. Bush has. Though Hitler was considered an anti-christ, many believe he was just the puppet of a consortium of "evil" beings--some of whom were Americans. It is very rare that vice-president Dick Cheney and president George W. Bush are ever photographed together anymore. If you're lucky enough to see them in the same camera frame, halt all other thought and concentrate on the feelings you get from this match-up.
Fear is not what this is about. It is about awareness, and about where we all individually put our energy. In the 1930's you just couldn't say anything bad about Hitler. You'd be laughed out of the room.
In that case, I volunteer to be laughed out of the room. But remember, it is not George W. himself that is the center of the evil. No, he is just a puppet on strings. We must look towards those who control the strings.
....and those who give their power to those who control the strings, and they are the people of the United States of America. It is an intimate relationship, but divorce is in the air....
You mentioned being ill when Bush spoke..same here...and it continues
White Feather for posting that information.. I missed that one. Your comment....
What caught my attention was the way Cheney's hands were folded his fingers look like the old Peace symbol... but not exactly. Still strange that I should save their picture at all. 
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