Democratic and Republican National Conventions • Militant Actions Demand Rights and Reject Police Intimidation•Local and National Organizations Urge Members of Congress to Take Action
• Open Letter to Minnesota Congressional Delegation Demands Police be Held Accountable for Violence Against Demonstrators Resistance Continues in Denver
Anniversary of September 11 • Reflections on 9-11• Al-Arian — Another September 11 Casualty
Democratic and Republican National Conventions
Militant Actions Demand Rights and Reject Police Intimidation
Over a four-day period in Denver, Colorado, anti-war and rights activists expressed the firm stand of the majority of Americans: End the Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Now! All U.S. Troops Home Now! Stop the Raids and Deportations! No to Torture! Free All Political Prisoners! No to Criminalization of Dissent! Despite a large police presence organized under the command of the military’s Northern Command (NorthCom), participants carried out their planned actions. These included a main anti-war action on August 25 at the start of the Democratic National Convention (DNC). This demonstration was followed by one demanding freedom for all political prisoners, including the Cuban Five anti-terrorist fighters, Native American activist Leonard Peltier, the Puerto Rican independentistas, African American Mumia Abu-Jamal and all those unjustly imprisoned for opposing U.S. reaction.
On the third day of the convention the Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) organized one of the largest protests, demanding that Democrats submit to the will of the people, expressed in the IVAW demands: immediate withdrawal of all U.S. troops, reparations for the Iraqi people and full benefits and healthcare for veterans. This was followed on Thursday by a demonstration defending the rights of undocumented workers and taking the stand of All for One and One for All! Throughout the four days of activity, Food Not Bombs provided free meals to all who needed them.
In addition to the demonstrations, various organizations held meetings, with discussion and invited speakers. Presidential candidates Ralph Nader (Independent) and Cynthia McKinney, running for the Green Party, also participated in the actions and supported each other, calling on all to stand against the two parties of the rich. Cindy Sheehan also spoke at various events, elaborating the importance of supporting anti-war candidates. She is running in San Francisco against Democratic Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi. In discussion with Voice of Revolution, all three supported the call to work together after the 2008 elections to organize to empower the people. Discussion has already begun on the need to have candidates from among the workers and people and to ensure they have an equal right to run for office and be elected. The current system blocks working people from power and steps must be taken now to change this situation. All concerned are looking to the next election in 2010 as another battleground for building politics of empowerment.
Republican National Convention, September 1-4, 2008
Actions for the Republican National Convention also took place over four days, beginning with a common demonstration that brought together all the various forces organizing against war and for rights. This was followed by civil disobedience actions by the youth, who denounced the “protest pen” put in place by police and instead gathered at intersections to hold a running series of rallies. Police brutally attacked these actions, using pepper spray, batons and horses to corral youth and arrest dozens.
Confronting the repression, demonstrators carried forward the next day with a concert, as well as a demonstration, organized by the Poor People’s Economic Human Rights Campaign. At the concert, hip hop artists expressed their anti-imperialist stand, denouncing the U.S. and supporting the peoples of Iraq, Palestine, Puerto Rico and all those standing up against imperialism. When Dead Prez began performing, large numbers of police surrounded the capitol grounds, public site of the concert. Then they attempted a provocation, storming in to arrest two youth simply listening to the concert. Later, when Rage Against the Machine came to perform, the police cut the sound system. The group then performed using bullhorns. Afterward, the hundreds of youth joined with the Poor People’s demonstration as it marched past the capitol.
Police twice attempted to provoke the Poor People’s march, in an effort to divert from the demands and stand of the people for rights. Protesters responded by staying focused on their action and by showing their defiance of police efforts to intimidate them. The march brought to the fore that poor people and all human beings have rights. Housing is a Right! Healthcare is a Right! Stop the War on the Poor! Money for Human Needs Not War! could be seen throughout the action. Many women and youth participated. When police could not divert the action, they waited until people were peacefully dispersing to charge small groups and arrest them. Pepper spray was used against women, children and those in wheelchairs.
Organizing for the various actions and resistance to the police brutality was branded as terrorism, with more than 100 people getting felony charges, simply for protesting at permitted marches. Use of pepper spray was such that a hospital in the area had to close, with patients threatened by the spray coming in through the ventilation system. Residents from St. Paul expressed their outrage and commented that it is the police and government that are criminal while the people of St. Paul welcome the protesters.
Youth also organized actions, with one mainly by local students from Minneapolis and St. Paul. They brought to the fore their demand of Military Recruiters Out of Our Schools! as well as their call, Education Not Occupation! This demonstration was followed by yet another anti-war action. Police chose this action to first grant a permit, then rescind it at the last moment. So protesters marched anyway, using the public sidewalks. Again police blockaded the streets, forced marches onto a bridge and then blocked intersections using dump trucks and police cars. Protesters stood their ground on the bridge, demanding their right to go to the convention center, which was the end point for many of the actions. By this point, police had blockaded off an area several blocks in each direction from the convention center. This, at a public convention of a political party in the “land of democracy.”
Senators Barack Obama and John McCain said not a word about the protests or the police violence. For those protesting and witnessing the undaunted stand for rights, and the police state measures taken in both cities, one conclusion was clear: Politics of empowerment, where the peoples and their demands for rights take center stage, must be further advanced. (See VOR updates August 29, September 8 and 11 for photos of the various actions.)
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Convention Actions Strengthen Organized Character of Resistance
Actions at both the Democratic National Convention in Denver, Colorado and the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota were characterized by the work of all to strengthen the organized character of the resistance. Welcoming Committees in both cities worked for more than a year to secure convergence spaces, organize planning meetings, contend with getting the required permits and more. Broad outreach was done including tours were made by the youth of the RNC Welcoming Committee (RNCWC) to engage collectives across the country in the planning and organizing. At both conventions, unified actions took place, as well those with more specific demands. These included those demanding freedom for political prisoners and another for immigrant rights in Denver. In St. Paul they included the Poor People’s Human Rights Campaign march and those by youth demanding the right to education and military recruiters out of their schools. Various tactics were also utilized and organized in such a manner that they complemented each other and brought out the determination of all.
Specific collectives like those for legal support and medics for health and safety, were present at all the actions in both cities and assisted in defending those attacked by police. Indeed, the lawyers and medics themselves were among those arrested and pepper-sprayed as they acted to assist protestors. Food Not Bombs provided daily meals for all in Denver, and the youth at the convergence center in St. Paul organized to do the same. These efforts took place despite police raids aimed at disrupting the infrastructure created together by the various collectives.
It was in part because of this that the various organizations and collectives participating were not only able to withstand the numerous police provocations and attacks, but were able to carry forward with their actions in an organized manner. It was clear from the start in Denver that the policing agencies were going to use a big show of force as their first method of intimidating protesters. On Saturday, August 23, before any actions had taken place, gangs of ten and twelve police could be seen roaming the city, looking into garbage bins and attempting to create an atmosphere of fear among the residents. The Denver monopoly media went to great lengths to smear the organizers, promoting them and the planned marches as “dangerous” and “violent.” These pre-emptive actions, together with the massive police presence designed to “shock and awe” people into abandoning their actions, failed. Four days of actions carried forward. And residents reflected the broad anti-war sentiment across the country by honking car horns in support, raising peace signs, and joining in.
At the RNC, which followed the failure to intimidate people at the DNC, the live exercise in police state measures took a more brutal form. But again, what stood out was the discipline and undaunted spirit of the people to carry forward their fight for rights. Pre-emptive actions were used to arrest eight of the main youth organizers of the RNCWC, confiscate their computers and other personal belongings. The independent media center was raided and forced to relocate. The convergence center was also raided — all before a single demonstration occurred. In each case, youth stepped up to carry forward and both the convergence center and media centers re-opened. This ensured not only a space to gather, discuss and socialize together, but also that the many reports, photos, and videos taken over the course of the four-day event could be immediately posted and viewed across the country.
Police violence at the RNC also included repeated provocations during permitted marches in an effort to divert the crowds of people and justify broader attacks. Police wanted to be able to claim that protesters had “rioted.” Organizers and participants responded to the provocations by denouncing the actions, defending those attacked, but also keeping everyone focused on carrying forward with the planned actions. In this manner, the agenda of the people to organize and fight for rights prevailed. And the determination inspired participants to stand face to face with police and to provide a line of resistance during the marches. Police were reduced to isolating and attacking protesters after the actions were over and people were dispersing. The government is charging the RNCWC youth with “conspiracy to riot in furtherance of terrorism,” making clear that police state arrangements where dissent is branded terrorism is the only response the government has.
Over four days, the demonstrations and civil disobedience planned were carried out and it was clear to all that the people refuse to be intimidated and criminalized. The readiness to continue building up the organized resistance can already be seen in organizing efforts in both cities to defend those arrested and in report-back meetings taking place across the country.
Voice of Revolution salutes all those who participated and stood firm, and call son all to carry forward the fight for empowerment of the people.
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Local and National Organizations Urge Members of Congress to Take Action
Local and national organizations issued an open letter to Congressional Members Betty McCollum (D-MN) and Keith Ellison (D-MN) on September 11, urging them to call for independent investigations into police misconduct during the Republican National Convention (RNC) recently held in the Twin Cities, St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. The letter, signed by twelve groups, is seeking accountability for the police abuse and more than 800 arrests that occurred during the convention (see below).
Before the RNC, local and federal law enforcement conducted numerous preemptive raids on people’s homes and a public meeting space. During the convention, police indiscriminately used tear gas, pepper spray, rubber bullets, concussion grenades, and tasers against non-violent demonstrations, harming hundreds of protesters, journalists, medical personnel, legal observers, and bystanders.
“The widespread level of political repression has so far occurred with impunity,” said Kris Hermes, working with the Coldsnap Legal Collective, providing legal support people arrested and brutalized by police. “It’s crucial that the disproportionate police response be scrutinized by an independent investigation that includes the voices of people injured and other community members from the Twin Cities.”
St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman has hired two former federal prosecutors – former U.S. Attorney Tom Heffelfinger and former assistant U.S. Attorney Andy Luger – to review the city’s security plan for the RNC. However, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the investigation “will not be a fact-finding mission to explore allegations of police wrongdoing or violations of people’s rights.”
“The Mayor’s so-called investigation sounds like a whitewash of law enforcement’s orchestrated effort to suppress dissent in the Twin Cities from the outset,” said Rick Kelley, another Coldsnap member. “If the intimidation and unprovoked police violence is not scrutinized, what’s the point of an investigation?” The federal government provided a grant of $50 million to law enforcement during the RNC. Much of it was used to purchase weapons that the police then used against non-violent demonstrators. “These weapons will continue to be used by local police in the Twin Cities for years to come, unless we are able to hold them accountable for their actions,” continued Kelley. “We owe it not only to the protesters and others harmed during the convention, but to the people of St. Paul and Minneapolis.”[TOP]
Open Letter to Minnesota Congressional Delegation Demands Police be Held Accountable for Violence Against Demonstrators
Dear Representatives Betty McCollum and Keith Ellison,
We are writing to express our concern over the events that transpired before and during the recent Republican National Convention (RNC) in St. Paul and Minneapolis. We are very troubled by the pattern of disproportionate, preemptive, and even violent law enforcement response to peaceful protests before and during this event, and urge you to call for an independent investigation. In addition to concerns about abuse and First Amendment violations, we are concerned about how the RNC’s insurance policy and the federal government’s grant to the St. Paul police department might have eroded police restraint and contributed to their use of preemptive and aggressive tactics.
Some Convention-related episodes involved systematic harassment. On the Friday night preceding the RNC, a public meeting space meant to coordinate transportation, housing and food for protesters coming to the Twin Cities was subject to a preemptive raid by the police. During this raid, dozens of people were detained, only to be released later with no charges. Perhaps even more disturbing, on Saturday, August 30, law enforcement officers with assault rifles raided several homes; detained and arrested people; and seized computers, household items, and boxes of pamphlets, flyers, signs and banners. Additionally, officers effectively chilled freedom of the press throughout this period by targeting journalists not affiliated with major networks.
These actions were undertaken singly, and in coordinated efforts, by the Ramsey County Sheriff, the Hennepin County Sheriff, the St. Paul Police Department, the Minneapolis Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the FBI. Preemptive harassment should concern both citizens and politicians because it not only discourages and disrupts peaceful processes protected by law, but it undermines community trust in law enforcement.
Although the Ramsey County Sheriff’s office held a press conference the next day to highlight confiscated weapons material, much of this material was such household items as twine, tape, nails, paint, road maps, and fishing line – none of which provided any credible basis for the subsequent police violence. In the following days of the convention, police used tear gas, pepper spray, concussion grenades, rubber bullets, and even tasers on non-violent demonstrators, media personnel, legal observers, medics, and bystanders. These examples were accompanied by police harassment and arrests at several public places where activists were known to gather, including neighborhood bars, fundraisers and concerts. Attorneys visiting the jailed protesters reported that officers had intentionally crashed their bicycles into demonstrators and injured them. These generally unprovoked and aggressive tactics were widespread and indiscriminate, harming hundreds of people in the Twin Cities.
We worry that the federal grant of $50 million contributed more to aggressive tactics than to policing operations that conform to international standards. We are concerned that the RNC's $10 million insurance policy for damages and legal costs resulting from police brutality and misconduct claims may have played a significant role in prompting the use of weapons on nonviolent protesters in violation of legal protections. Despite police claims of protester violence, it appears that criminal activity was limited to minor amounts of petty vandalism disconnected from the violent police response to demonstrations.
What makes the need for a comprehensive investigation particularly urgent, however, are reports from both Ramsey and Hennepin Counties that after being jailed, people were subjected to abuse. Some peaceful protesters, such as Elliot Hughes, were reportedly beaten and required hospitalization. Hughes became the visible face of this brutality, but there were instances of other types of abuse. Numerous detainees claim that critical medical attention and prescription drugs were delayed or denied, as were food and access to attorneys. Additionally, ICE agents entered Ramsey County Jail where they profiled and interrogated detainees based on their names and physical appearance. These claims alone demand investigation.
Amnesty International has called publicly for a prompt inquiry into reported police misconduct, and we concur. A comprehensive review of the origins and use of federal funds is necessary for local accountability and effective congressional oversight. A review of police tactics and actions is necessary to make sure future policing actions are disciplined, measured, and reflect the high standards of our community. A review of detention practices is necessary to ensure safe and humane practices. Findings and recommendations should be thorough, impartial, prompt and public. Consequently, we the undersigned would appreciate your full support for public independent investigations.
Sincerely,
American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota
Anti-War Committee
AFSCME, Local 3800
Centro Campesino
Coalition to March on the RNC & Stop the War
Coldsnap Legal Collective
Communities United Against Police Brutality
Free Speech TV
Minneapolis Commission on Civil Rights
Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Coalition
National Lawyers Guild
National Lawyers Guild, Minnesota Chapter
Welfare Rights Committee
Cc: Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson[TOP]
Resistance Continues in Denver
Organizers of the various actions in Denver during the Democratic National Convention are holding meetings to salute protesters and continue with common work, and to defend those attacked by police. Recreate68 provides the following information:
Recreate68 will be hosting a meeting September 11 at Common Grounds Coffee at 6:30pm to plan a post convention party for radicals in addition to checking in on how the community is doing and what our next steps will be to continue the momentum created during the DNC.
We are also working with David Lane, a prominent civil rights attorney, about civil suits resulting from some of the police actions during the DNC [in an effort to] hold the city of Denver and the police officers involved accountable for violations of the civil rights of demonstrators and of people who simply got caught up in police actions.
We need to gather information relating to three specific incidents:
1) The illegal arrests and detentions on Monday evening, August 25, on 15th Street between Court and Cleveland.
If you were caught in the crowd that evening, either arrested or detained, please send your name, address, phone and email, and a brief description of what happened to you that evening, and what else you saw or heard, to legal@recreate68.org and to dlane@killmerlane.com. If you know anyone else who was there and who may not see this email, please pass this information on to him or her. Time is of the essence, so please, the sooner the better.
If you have video and/or still photographs of any portion of the events that evening, please bring a copy of the video to Mr. Lane’s office at 1543 Champa St., Suite 400, Denver. Please leave your name, address, phone and email with the video, along with a signed letter stating that you personally took this video on the date in question. If you can’t make a copy yourself, Mr. Lane’s office can make a copy and get the original back to you. Please indicate that you need that done. If you are unable to get to Mr. Lane’s office, you can bring your evidence to the next R-68 meeting on Thursday, Sept. 11 and turn it over to Glenn Spagnuolo.
2) The arrests of Carlo Garcia and Alicia Forrest in and near Civic Center Park on Tuesday, August 26.
If you have video and/or still photos of either or both of those arrests, please follow the instructions above.
3) The pretext stops of vehicles associated with the convergence center on Monday and Tuesday.
We understand that several vehicles were stopped and searched by police shortly after leaving the convergence center, but no citations were issued, and that a truck or van carrying signs and banners was stopped and impounded and held for more than 24 hours sometime during the DNC. We know there were no videos of these events, but if you were involved in any of those stops or have knowledge of them, please get in touch with Mr. Lane. We know that some of those stopped may live outside of Denver; if you have contact with any of them, please pass this information on.
4) The illegal seizure of materials at the convergence center in relation to the incident when the Denver Police Department bulldozed material on private property rented by Recreate68 and Unconventional Denver.
Thank you in advance for your assistance in this matter of critical importance.
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The 7th anniversary of September 11, 2001 is approaching and it seems like a good time to reflect on what our nation has lost since that tragic day and what we can do to go forward.
I do not think that anyone alive on that day will forget the shock that struck our nation when the symbols of U.S. capitalism and militarism were struck out of the clear blue sky. I was in panic mode for a few days, because I did not hear from Casey who was stationed at Ft. Hood on that day and his base went into lock-down and he was too busy to call. Even though we mourn with our fellow Americans, the loss of over 3000 innocent people and the pain their families have had to deal with, the attacks of 9-11 have touched every American.
There are several ways to look at 9-11:
9-11 was planned and executed by the U.S. government. BushCo did not plan 9-11, but they knew it was going to happen and did nothing to prevent it and, in fact, may have allowed it to happen. 9-11 was planned and executed by a group of 17 terrorists (14 of them from Saudi Arabia) without the fore knowledge of the U.S. government and we were attacked because the terrorists "hated our freedoms and democracy."
Whichever of the theories is true, one thing is for sure: the Bush regime's response to 9-11 was woefully inept and criminal and many people have been killed, wounded, displaced or destroyed because of the Bush regimes' exploitation of the tragedy to use ultra-violence against the innocent people of two nations in response to a criminal act perpetrated by a few. Watching the recent RNC was a reminder of 9-11 hysteria used to justify implementing the Project for a New American Century and excusing BushCo for the crimes they have committed on the non-existent graves of our brothers and sisters who perished that day and whose remains were never recovered.
Instead of taking a hard and critical look at the corporate-imperialistic policies of our government and trying to objectively figure out why we were attacked, we set off on a nationalistic flag waving fervor of mass fear that was only to be cured by shopping, traveling and allowing George and Dick to make a demented response to it. After 9-11 our country lost a real opportunity to search our souls and make amends to the world for our greed and violence. An apt response would have been to punish the perpetrators of the crime in a court of law and not by rabidly seeking the first country to destroy. Attacking Afghanistan was like bombing Sicily to oblivion for the crimes of the Mafia. Attacking Iraq was just for neocon kicks.
George Bush was handed a Presidential Daily Briefing in Crawford, Texas on August 6th, 2001, that read: "Osama bin Laden determined to strike in the United States." According to journalist Ron Susskind, Bush told the agent who delivered the message: "Okay, you've covered your ass." Instead, our collective asses are twisting in the wind of the abuses and excesses of the last 7 years.
Our economy is being destroyed by 7 years of seemingly endless occupations that have made Dick and his cronies wealthy, but have harmed the rest of us. The price of gas has almost tripled since 9-11, thus causing all other consumer goods to skyrocket. People are losing their jobs and homes because this war economy cannot be sustained with Monopoly money printed and devalued to cover our rising deficits. We have become the worlds' worst debtor nation and our treasury is trillions in debt.
Our famous "freedoms" that the terrorists "hated" have been eroded due to the PATRIOT ACT, the Military Commissions Act and the violent response to protest from our robo-clad police state. We can be guaranteed that any call, email or text message that we send or receive is being read and if we dare protest we will be pepper-sprayed, maced, tear gassed, tasered, or beaten with a Billy club by our employees: law enforcement; authorized by our other employees: government.
My opponent, Nancy Pelosi, has cooperated and collaborated with the Bush regime to allow torture and incarceration without due process and NSA spying on Americans without warrants. She opens her Gucci bag and doles out billions for his War OF Terror while sitting in her mansion, children and grandchildren out of harms way, while our country implodes and Iraq and Afghanistan burn. She has legitimized BushCo's crimes and refuses to hold them accountable for the destruction they have unleashed upon our world.
It is not only time for new leadership in our government, but it's time for a new 9-11 Commission that has subpoena power and is not facilitated by the crooks who either perpetrated the crime and/or collaborated with it. Government abuses cannot be credibly investigated by government commissions: A citizen's investigation that is independent from the federal government and where people like George and Dick will actually have to give their testimony in the light of day, under oath and not holding hands, must be empowered and empanelled.
If you agree with me that a new 9-11 investigation is warranted, please contribute to my campaign to unseat Vichy-Pelosi who would never agree to investigate her buddy Bush for any crimes, much less the crime of our new century.
But most importantly, Cindy for Congress sends our deepest condolences to those who lost family member on 9-11 and anyone else on this planet who have lost their jobs, homes, or lives due to George's tragic response to the tragedy of 9-11.
My son is one of the ones whose life was ended prematurely. I mourn deeply for him each day, but the way forward is towards healing, peace, accountability, environmental sustainability, and economic equality and away from the violence and greed that has colored every aspect of our lives since that sad day.[TOP]
Al-Arian — Another September 11 Casualty
The Bush administration continues to use a criminal act committed seven years ago to justify sweeping restrictions on our civil liberties and the incarceration of more than 5,000 residents of Arab descent on phony charges or on no charges at all. One of these men is Sami Al-Arian.
The February 2003 arrest of Al-Arian, a Palestinian Muslim and former University of South Florida computer science professor who has been a legal resident of the United States for 30 years, was announced by former Attorney General John Ashcroft on the evening news.
Viewers were told that Al-Arian, an outspoken critic of Israeli policy against Palestinians, was a leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and that the arrest was a great coup in the "war against terrorism."
After spending more than two years in solitary confinement, Al-Arian (joined by 3 co-defendants) had a six-month trial, which began in June 2005. The government called 70 witnesses, including 21 from Israel, and submitted records of 400 intercepted phone calls culled during the 10 years in which Al-Arian had been under government surveillance. The jury acquitted Al-Arian of most of the serious charges against him, while two of his three co-defendants were completely acquitted. (When asked what the prosecution lacked to build a more convincing case, one juror responded: Evidence.) The trial cost taxpayers $50 million.
Nevertheless, Judge James Moody rejected the government's request for the minimal sentence on the lesser charges and instead ordered the maximum, making inflammatory remarks from the bench in which he painted Al-Arian as a villain. In October 2006, Al-Arian was subpoenaed by Gordon Kromberg, assistant U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia, to testify before a grand jury in another case, in violation of the terms of the plea bargain Al-Arian's lawyers had made and in a transparent attempt at entrapment. Kromberg has made bigoted remarks about Muslims and railed against what he mysteriously referred to as "the Islamization of America." Al-Arian refused to testify and went on a hunger strike.
Sami Al-Arian was finally freed on bond on Sept. 2, confined to his home until he is (presumably) deported, and so his saga is perhaps drawing to a close. But the cost has been tremendous. An innocent man was snatched from his home and his family for five years, much of that time spent in solitary confinement. He had to take his chances with a jury trial. He was at the mercy of a biased judge and an activist prosecutor, Gordon Kromberg, who is on record as stating that if he believes that defendants are guilty but cannot prove it, he will "punish them through other means." (Presumably this belief led him to slap Al-Arian with a subpoena.)
Al-Arian's rights to live with his family were trampled because the government needed to show some progress in this vague "war on terrorism," and Al-Arian had the right profile: Palestinian American, Muslim, and a vocal critic of Israel's treatment of Palestinians. And although he has been cleared of all major charges, he will be denied living in the country in which he has spent his entire adult life, where he had a good life as a respected university professor, and where his children were born and raised. Harsh imprisonment conditions and his periodic hunger strikes have reduced his weight drastically.
For seven years, the Bush administration has repeated the mantra that the safeguards provided in our legal code are luxuries we can no longer afford and that we must learn to live without. This is nonsense. The laws we had to protect our civil rights did not make us vulnerable to terrorism on September 11; the suspension of these laws does not protect us from foreign terrorists, but it does make us more vulnerable to abuses by our own government.
Sami Al-Arian's rights — to privacy, to free speech and to his political opinions, to a speedy trial, to a presumption of innocence, to due process — were dismissed; his fate was put in the hands of bureaucrats who needed to show that they were winning a war on a concept and who were comfortable resorting to legally questionable tactics to support that bogus claim. This abuse of power and of the rule of law does much more long-term damage to the fabric of our national life than the attacks perpetrated 7 years ago.
Ida Audeh, an editor who lives in Boulder, grew up in the West Bank.[TOP]