[Imc] youth liberation movement statement

[Robert Dunn]

all, here is a statement from the Schools not Jails group, they are part of 
the youth liberation movement. This movement is an anarcho-syndicalist style 
of movement.
Robert Dunn
Youth Unite and take back power!

                                       Stop All Violence:
                                   War Is Not the Answer

              Click here to read this statement in Spanish | Haz click aqui 
para leer esta declaracion en español

We join the rest of the nation in mourning those who died in the shocking 
and violent attacks on Tuesday,
September 11. Our most heartfelt condolences go out to all those most 
directly affected by this tragedy. In truth,
no one in this country, perhaps the world, has not been moved by this 
traumatic attack. Unfortunately, now the
people of the US have experienced a reality that far too many people around 
the world live with every day. We
find the targeting of civilians abhorrent under any circumstances and 
condemn these attacks in the strongest
possible terms.

Stop all Violence. We call on the Bush Administration and others to cease 
all inflammatory rhetoric that has
increased racist attacks on Arab, Muslim, and other communities who have 
been targeted. Already we have seen
attacks on mosques and at least two deaths. History has shown how racial 
stereotyping, advanced by
government leaders during times of national crisis, can result in crimes 
against innocent, law-abiding Americans.
We must constantly remind ourselves of historical examples such as the 
internment of Japanese Americans in the
wake of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, that show us the dangers of unchecked 
racism in the guise of national
defense and security. If we truly value our freedoms and the principles 
outlined in the Bill of Rights, then we will
remain firm in our commitment to uphold these rights for all people, 
Americans and non-Americans alike. This
attack must not be used as an excuse to deny civil liberties.

Clearly, the actions on Tuesday, September 11, were inexcusable. War, 
however, is not the answer. We call upon
President Bush and Congress to stop beating the drum of war and to not 
respond to a criminal situation with a
military response. Justice would not be served by attacking nations or by 
killing additional innocent civilians. We
remind the nation, its leaders and the world of the words of the late Rev. 
Martin Luther King, Jr., who said, "Those
who make justice impossible make violence inevitable." This idea, expressed 
by Dr. King, can help us to reflect
upon the events of September 11, 2001 and to carefully consider the path our 
nation will follow in the aftermath.
We must remember that the only possible strategy to control terrorism, must 
be to eliminate terror altogether,
whether it comes in the form of a hijacked airliner or a U.S. made cruise 
missile.

The United States, often through violence as indiscriminate as that 
witnessed last Tuesday, has created and
maintained horrible conditions for many throughout the so-called "third 
world." While U.S. corporate profits have
soared and the U.S. economy has expanded, billions have been left 
impoverished and increasingly marginalized
politically and socially. We see this everyday in the United States with the 
hundreds of thousands of homeless
people on our own streets, the millions of unemployed workers in this 
country, and with the massive gaps in social
services. We have seen this in the war in Iraq, and the following ten years 
of economic sanctions, leading to the
deaths of over one million people, mainly children. And we have seen this 
through the U.S. policy of supporting
repressive regimes in places like Vietnam, Burma, El Salvador, Colombia, 
Saudi Arabia, Israel/Palestine, Indonesia,
Nicaragua and many others over the past several decades.

A U.S. response that targets civilian populations will only continue the 
cycle of violence. Stop all
violence! War is not the answer!

Organizations/ Individuals that have endorsed:

     Inner-City Struggle (ICS)
     Korean Immigrant Workers Advocates (KIWA)
     Community Coalition
     Communities for a Better Environment
     LA Catholic Worker
     Pilipino Workers Center (PWC)
     Southern Californians for Youth
     Youth Organizing Communities (YOC)
     American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
     Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES)
     Labor Community Strategy Center
     National Lawyers Guild
     Action for Social Change and Youth Empowerment (ASHAYE)
     California Wellness Partnership of Pomona
     Great Leap
     Center for Advancement of Non-Violence
     Nikkei for Civil Rights and Redress
     Proyecto Adelante - Santa Monica
     LA Eco Village
     Thai Community Development Center
     Cal State Long Beach - La Raza Student Association
     Restaurant Workers Association of Koreatown (RWAK)
     Arts in Action
     Social Concerns Committee of LA Meeting of the Religious Society of 
Friends (Quakers)
     Luis Rodriguez (Award Winning Author of Always Running)
     Reverend Angela Oh, Civil Rights Attorney/ Lecturer
     Tori Osborne (Liberty Hill Foundation)
     Mary Brent Wehrli, MSW (UCLA Department of Social Work)
     California State University, Los Angeles:
          Cross Cultural Resource Center
          Women's Resource Center
          Pan-African Center
          Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance
          Chicano/a Resource Center
          Asian Pacific Islander Resource Center

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