Campus Antiwar Statement on Self-Determination and Unity in the Antiwar Movement

http://www.traprockpeace.org/campus...
July 29, 2005

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 U.S. 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

College Not Combat contingents
http://www.traprockpeace.org/colleg...