BAMN Condemns Racist Anti-Muslim Conviction of “Irvine 11”
*Right to Protest for Students and Student Organizations Threatened
*Muslim, Arab, Black, Latina/o, Asian & White, with papers and without – We Are All Californians!
*Stop Attacks on Muslims in America!
*Build the New Youth-led, Independent, Mass Civil Rights Movement!
*Realize Dr. King’s Vision for America
On Friday, September 23, 2011, an Orange County, California jury found 10 Muslim UC Irvine students guilty of unlawful disruption for protesting and speaking out at a September 2010 speech on campus by Israel’s ambassador to the US.
[US Muslim Students Get Probation in Speech Case – http://goo.gl/3IuzL]
This verdict, along with the fact that the students were even charged in the first place, is an attack on the democratic rights of all students to organize, mobilize and fight against racism, prejudice and discrimination. In particular, this is an anti-Muslim and anti-Arab attack which will further exacerbate the hostile racist environment that exists on campuses across the nation.
BAMN calls for these outrageous convictions to be thrown out on appeal and all the students’ records must be wiped clean. Any continuing campus-based sanctions against the students who protested or their organizations must be lifted and full rights returned to all involved.
Only by building the new youth-led, integrated, independent, militant, mass civil rights movement can we stop these kinds of attacks on students’ democratic rights and fight to dismantle the hostile environment on our campuses. Our movement must fight for an immediate dramatic increase in underrepresented minority students to help combat the racist and sexist atmosphere that continues to fester on our campuses. By joining the struggles against the fee hikes and in defense of public education with the fight to overturn Proposition 209, increase underrepresented minority student enrollment and win the Dream Act, our movement can win justice for the “Irvine 11” and move our entire state forward.
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