The Michael Prysner for Congress Campaign issued this press release to denounce a racist March 1 press conference against the Council on American-Islamic Relations organized by Allen West in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. Members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and activists with the ANSWER Coalition (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) successfully disrupted and shut down the press conference.
I find it extremely ironic to learn that my opponent for Congress in Florida’s 22nd District, Allen West, is leading the protest against the Council on American-Islamic Relations banquet tonight. He is here to echo the racist right-wing rhetoric against an organization that defends the rights of Muslims and Arabs in the United States.
The real terrorist is West. He supports and defends U.S. policies in the Middle East that have terrorized millions of innocent civilians for decades and continues the racism used to justify those policies.
Since the sanctions on Iraq began in the 90s, the United States government has wrought an untold amount of suffering and destruction claiming over a million lives well before the 2003 invasion. The criminal five-year occupation has slaughtered at least another million people, maimed countless more, and subjected the Iraqi people to torture, displacement and humiliation.
The word “terrorism” is frequently thrown around in today’s politics, yet the actions of the U.S. government against the people of Iraq can be called nothing less. West’s military career ended in scandal for using illegal methods of interrogation. His use of torture would rightly be considered terrorism by those suffering under occupation.
I, too, am an Iraq war veteran, and served with West. However, there is a fundamental difference between our experiences in service. We both witnessed the same brutal, criminal occupation. As a result of the death and destruction I saw, I have dedicated every ounce of energy to fighting against this war of aggression. West has since dedicated his life to perpetuating and expanding it.
In the United States, the Arab and Muslim communities faces constant acts of harassment, repression, and racism. Organizations such as CAIR defend the vital civil liberties that are so often stripped away from their community. This protest is but one example of intimidation to silence this community, with the intention of marginalizing and excluding it from the rest of society.
Racists such as Joe Kaufman and his grossly misnamed “Americans Against Hate” do not believe that Arab and Muslim people deserve the same rights and freedoms as others, and try to smash any attempt for that community to stand up for itself. Their tactics are reminiscent of those used against the African-American people in their struggle for equality, and it is disturbing to see West aligned with these bigots.
The continual demonization of CAIR by the likes of West and Kaufman and his organization only perpetuates the racist rhetoric used to justify the so-called “war on terror” and to legitimize the subjugation and oppression of the millions of people in the Middle East.
I will continue to stand with CAIR and defend its work, and will continue to fight back against the xenophobic racism of these right-wing ideologues.
My campaign is a fighting campaign, one that struggles to win the rights people are denied daily under this brutal system of racism and imperialism. The PSL is running presidential candidate Gloria La Riva and vice-presidential candidate Eugene Puryear, along with a nationwide slate of local and federal candidates, on the same platform of struggling to win!
