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In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful
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AMERICAN MUSLIM NEWS BRIEFS - 4/20/2002
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HEADLINES:
* RALLY FOR PALESTINE ATTRACTS 100,000 AMERICANS
* TENS OF THOUSANDS GATHER FOR LARGEST PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTEST IN US (AFP)
* THOSE WHO COULD NOT ATTEND THE RALLY CAN STILL HELP STOP ISRAELI
AGGRESSION (Action Alert #328)
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RALLY FOR PALESTINE ATTRACTS 100,000 AMERICANS
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/20/02) - An estimated 100,000 Americans from diverse
ethnic, religious and political backgrounds turned out today in the
nation's capital to call for an end to the Israeli occupation of
Palestinian land. The largest-ever national rally in support of the
Palestinian people filled the White House Ellipse and poured into streets
leading to Capitol Hill during the six-hour gathering.
"Today's event brought together Muslims, Christians, Buddhists, and Jews,
as well as people from a rainbow of ethnic backgrounds and political
philosophies. The tremendous success of the rally shows that elected
officials who offer blind support for Israel's brutal polices are out of
step with their constituents," said Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR) Executive Director Nihad Awad, who spoke on the Ellipse.
Awad noted that rally participants included Korean-Americans, Filipinos,
Native Americans and Hispanics. They chanted: "We are all Palestinians."
"Today marks the beginning of a national broad-based coalition that will
seek to put America's interests before those of a foreign government
engaged in an Apartheid-like occupation of another people," said Awad.
CAIR, a Washington-based Islamic advocacy group, called on all those at the
rally to contact their elected representatives and demand an end to
billions of American tax dollars being sent to Israel and an international
investigation of the Israeli massacre of Palestinian civilians in the Jenin
refugee camp.
The main organizer of the protest was International A.N.S.W.E.R.
SEE: http://www.internationalanswer.org
NOTE: The rally was carried live on C-SPAN. Go to http://www.c-span.org to
see if the rally video will be re-run over the weekend.
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TENS OF THOUSANDS GATHER IN WASHINGTON
FOR LARGEST PRO-PALESTINIAN PROTEST IN US
By LAUREN GELFAND, Agence France Presse, 4/20/2002
WASHINGTON, April 20 - In the largest pro-Palestinian demonstration ever in
the United States, tens of thousands of protesters gathered here Saturday
to condemn what they saw as the US administration's pro-Israeli bent in the
Mideast conflict...
Police estimated that around 50,000 people took part in the peaceful
protest although organizers, a coalition of pro-Palestinian pressure
groups, put the figure at 100,000. Saturday's pro-Palestinian demonstration
was billed as an answer to a mass protest by a reported 100,000 supporters
of Israel Monday at the US Capitol, where speakers linked the Israeli
offensive against the Palestinians to the US-led war on terror.
The pro-Palestinian protesters came from across the United States,
including chapters of Muslim American Societies from New Jersey, New York,
Maryland, Virginia and Michigan, the Muslim Public Affairs Council, the
Islamic American Institute and the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
While Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz spoke at Monday's pro-Israel
rally, there was no representative of George W. Bush's administration at
Saturday's pro-Palestinian protest.
Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, a Democrat from Georgia, was due to address
the crowd at the Capitol and the protesters heard a tape message of jailed
former Black Panther member Mumia Abu-Jamal in support of the Palestinian
cause.
Iyad Hindi, 42, was in a group of some 400 who bussed in from Raleigh,
North Carolina to participate in the event.
Hindi, who belongs to Raleigh's Muslim-American Society, said the crowd was
in Washington "to tell the Israelis there should be no occupation" of
Palestinian territories -- and "as long as there is (occupation) there will
be resistance."
The group's "other message is to the United States government to stop the
clear bias towards Israel," he said...
Speakers took to the podium to decry the two billion dollars in military
assistance the United States provides Israel annually.
Among the protesters were members of "Orthodox Jews against Zionism" who
led chants of "Judaism: yes, Zionism: No".
Some families traveled from far to lend their support to the Palestinian
cause and add their voices to the chorus for peace.
Jesmin Saikh, 15, came with a group of 200 from Gaithersburg, Maryland. She
said she wears a head scarf at school, and "obviously disagree(s)" with her
Jewish friends at school over events in the Middle East.
"But the thing that we share is that we know that both sides want peace,"
she said...
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CAIR ACTION ALERT #328
THOSE WHO COULD NOT ATTEND THE RALLY CAN STILL HELP STOP ISRAELI AGGRESSION
The media and elected officials need to hear from you
(WASHINGTON, D.C., 4/20/2002) - As Israeli forces rampage throughout
> Palestine and attempt to cover-up their massacres in places like the
> refugee camp of Jenin, elected officials harm American interests by blindly
>
> supporting Israel's brutal actions. CAIR is calling on people of conscience
>
> to take positive steps in defense of the Palestinian people and in support
> of America's real interests in the region.
>
> Take two minutes to make your voice heard. Ask for the following:
>
> * An immediate and impartial investigation of the Israeli massacre
> committed in Jenin
>
> * An end to U.S. taxpayer dollars being used to kill innocent civilians,
> including Americans
>
* An end to Israel's illegal use of American-taxpayer-funded weapons
>
> * An international peacekeeping force to protect the Palestinian people
>
> * A promise not to block U.N. resolutions that seek to investigate Israeli
> atrocities
>
> * A meeting with American Muslim leaders to discuss the Mideast crisis
>
> IMMEDIATE ACTION REQUESTED:
>
> 1) CONTACT: 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: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask]
>
> 2) CONTACT your elected representatives to make the same point. To obtain
> contact information for your representative, go to:
> http://capwiz.com/cair/home/ or call 202-224-3121. Have your Zip Code
> ready.
>
> 3) CONTACT local and national media outlets to express your concerns.
> TALKING POINTS:
>
> * The occupation is the source of the conflict. Until the occupation ends,
> there can never be peace.
>
> * America's true interests are served by standing up for freedom and
> justice, not by blindly following the dictates of a foreign government and
> its domestic lobby. American officials must stop parroting the Israeli line
>
> and step in as honest brokers.
>
> * Palestinians will not stop resisting the Israeli occupation until they
> feel there is a just political solution in sight.
>
> * Israel has committed massacres in places like Jenin refugee camp. This
> fact has been witnessed by the international media, relief agencies and
> United Nations representatives.
>
> * Israeli attacks are a form of collective punishment, not strikes on
> perpetrators of crimes.
>
> * American weapons are supplied on the premise that they will be used only
> in self-defense, not in revenge attacks or to enforce an illegal military
> occupation.
>
> * This conflict pits one of the world's strongest armies against an unarmed
>
> civilian population.
>
> * Israeli actions could lead to a wider war in the region.
>
> -----
>
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>
> -----
>
> CAIR
> Council on American-Islamic Relations
> 453 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
> Washington, D.C. 20003
> Tel: 202-488-8787, 202-489-5108
> Fax: 202-488-0833
> E-mail: [log in to unmask]
> URL: http://www.cair-net.org
>
> -----
>
>
>
>
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