| WASHINGTON
- May 23 - Thousands are expected to
assemble in the nation's capital on Saturday, May 24, to protest
what is viewed by many in the Muslim and civil rights community as
the erosion of civil rights and civil liberties under the
Bush-Ashcroft administration. The march and rally, called Muslim
Solidarity Day for Justice and Peace, sponsored by Muslim American
Society Freedom Foundation, America's largest Muslim grassroots
organization, will commence at 12 noon at Freedom Plaza (14th St
and Pennsylvania Ave., NW).
The group will be joined by several peace, justice, religious
and civil rights organizations and will include speakers such as
Imam Siraj Wahaj, former Congressman Rev. Walter Fauntroy, Ron
Daniels (Center for Constitutional Rights), Congressman John
Conyers, a representative from Congressman Dennis Kucinich's
office, Rev. Al Sharpton, Mara Verheyden-Hillard (Partnership for
Civil Justice), Dr. Jamal Badawi, Brian Becker (International
Action Center), Hillary Shelton (NAACP), and Mahdi Bray, executive
director of MAS Freedom, and representatives from the following
organizations: Muslim American Society, MANA, SEIU, AFL-CIO,
ADC-Boston, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, American For a Fair Chance,
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, People for the American Way,
NAACP, Islamic Circle of North America, American Muslim Council,
AFL-CIO, Peace Action Network, Center for Constitutional Rights,
members of the national interfaith community and many more.
The group will address such issues as INS detainment, racial and
religious profiling, the Patriot Act, and the government's
targeting of places of worship. In addition to civil rights and
civil liberties issues, the rally will also address the Bush
administration's affirmative action, detention through secret
evidence and what many activists consider to be a fundamental
disregard for the Bill of Rights and due process under the guise of
fighting terrorism and national security.
According to Bray, "Our nation can never be safer from the
scourge of terrorism by targeting Muslims and immigrants and
ignoring the basic principles of due process and constitutional
rights. Since 9/11, under this administration, the American Muslim
community has been unjustly targeted at the expense of democratic
values and fundamental rights cherished by all Americans. Simply
put, our community feels betrayed by the President's flowery
rhetoric about Islam and sees itself as a target for political
opportunism and blatant discrimination."
MAS Freedom is the Public Affairs branch of the Muslim American
Society. Our mission is to build an integrated empowerment process
for the American Muslim community through civic education,
participation, community outreach, and coalition building; to forge
positive relationships with other institutions outside of our
community, that will ensure and facilitate the protection of civil
rights and liberties for American Muslims and all Americans and
fair treatment of all immigrants.
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