Thanks. The thing is that none of the comments -- here or in the HaloScan comments left at MRZine or elsewhere -- recognized the fact that "the original list of speakers [of the 'Save Darfur' rally ]included eight Western Christians, seven Jews, four politicians and assorted celebrities -- but no Muslims and no one from Darfur" (reported in the Washington Post) or the lack of response to the Council on American-Islamic Relations' offer to send a rep to the rally (questioned in CAIR's own press release) as an instance of conscious or unconscious anti-Muslim prejudice. Even leftists think that's par for the course, unremarkable, not worth making a fuss about.
It's a problem that UFPJ hasn't really tried to work with CAIR, MSA, etc. in putting anti-war and other rallies together. And it's also a problem that ANSWER tries to use that fact to promote itself. Here's what a blogger Angry White Kid says:
<blockquote>Entering into this fray is a recent statement entitled "Where the Arab and Muslim Community Will Stand on Sept. 24" <http://www.sfbayview.com/072705/communitywillstand072705.shtml> that has been making the rounds on the internet and email lists. In short, it slams UFPJ for holding its own action, instead of aligning with ANSWER and TONC, where there will be a big emphasis on Palestine.
While I absolutely agree that it is disgraceful that UFPJ has chosen to sideline the issue of Palestine, I find this letter to be disgraceful as well. It is a prime example of how groups such as ANSWER and TONC function and how they use manipulative means to further their own agenda and foment sectarian divisions at the expense of the "anti-war movement" as a whole.
<http://angrywhitekid.blogs.com/weblog/2005/08/where_selfservi.html></blockquote>
Angry White Kid mentions the difference over Palestine, but an inability to work with Muslim organizations goes beyond the Palestine question IMHO, for leftists could at least work with Muslim organizations on issues of civil rights and liberties, immigrant rights, opposition to the Christian Right domination, Iraq, Iran, Sudan, and a host of other issues. Muslim organizations I know don't make it a condition of their participation that the question of Palestine is prominently featured at every single rally. It's a problem of anti-Muslim prejudice at worst and lack of readily politically mobilizable interpersonal and interorganizational connections at best.
- Yoshie <http://montages.blogspot.com/> <http://mrzine.org> <http://monthlyreview.org/>