On March 1, members of the Party for Socialism and Liberation representing Michael Prysner’s campaign for Florida’s 22nd Congressional District and ANSWER activists successfully shut down a racist press conference held outside the annual fundraising banquet for the Council on American-Islamic Relations in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
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The press conference and rally were organized by American’s Against Hate—a gross misnomer—and led by Lt. Colonel Allen West, Prysner’s Republican electoral opponent. They intended to protest the Broward county government’s decision to allow CAIR to host its annual banquet in the Broward Convention Center, playing to the usual tactics of bigoted fear-mongering.
A Prysner campaign statement summed up the real purpose of the xenophobic rally and the need to fight back against its racist message: “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.”
Prysner pointed out the irony of West leading a rally that labeled CAIR a “terrorist” organization. West, who was stationed in northern Iraq on the same base as Prysner in 2003, was forced to resign from the Army for torturing an Iraqi police officer. Because of his high position in the military brass, he did not face the same dishonorable discharge that an enlisted officer such as Prysner would have faced if found guilty on the same charges.
“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,” continued Prysner’s statement.
“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.
“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.”
Prysner concluded by talking of the need to struggle against these attacks: “My campaign will continue to be a fighting campaign, one that will struggle and win the rights we are denied everyday under this brutal system of racism and imperialism.”
To read more about Michael Prysner’s campaign and other PSL candidates running in nationally and locally around the country, click here.
To read the full press release distributed at the CAIR defense rally, click here.
