[Peace] Fwd:[ANSWER]: Fwd: Stop the Political Purge of Civil Rights

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Bringing the ADC Back to the Democratic Mainstream

A Public Statement by ADC Chapters in the Western Region -  Los Angeles/Orange County, San Francisco Bay Area, Greater  Sacramento-Davis Area, Fresno, Phoenix, and San Diego Area

This appeal is borne of an urgent necessity.  It seeks to  safeguard the unity and togetherness of a civil rights 
organization built by countless activists, mothers, 
fathers, grandparents, and children over a span of more  than two decades and despite great odds.  We seek to 
protect the diverse family of the American-Arab 
Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) from fragmentation and  destruction.

In particular, we appeal to members of the National Board  and core ADC supporters nationwide who have repeatedly  expressed their strong desire to maintain unity and 
implement accountability, democracy, and direct community  input.

The shocking and sudden termination of Mr. Michel 
Shehadeh, the Western Regional Director of the ADC and a  veteran national civil rights leader, is a serious step 
with dangerous national ramifications that require the 
immediate intervention of ADC members, chapters, and the  community at large.

What follows is a comprehensive assessment of what we  perceive to be a recent and dangerous trend on the part of  ADC national office to accept the dictates of the Bush 
Administration at home and reactionary Arab regimes 
abroad.  We provide evidence of political purging, 
undemocratic decision-making, and alarming new efforts to  hijack the gains secured by previous ADC leadership bodies  and members.  We end with a call for internal 
restructuring with a specific democratic plan of 
community-minded action.

The ADC family needs your support! Please join us.

On behalf of the signatory chapters, you may call: Elias 
Rashmawi, Vice President of the Greater Sacramento-Davis  Area Chapter, and member of the ADC Western Regional  Chapters Task Force - (530) 304-4573, or write to: 
adcreform at hotmail.com

Summary of Critical Concerns:

Three weeks ago, immediately following the close of the  American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee National  Convention, Michel Shehadeh--a veteran civil rights leader  and respected national grassroots activist--learned that  he was terminated as West Coast Regional Director of ADC. 
 Though Michel and a number of representatives from West  Coast ADC chapters had been present at the National Board  Meeting, the announcement came as a sudden and unexplained  top-down decision.  The order took effect with a 
mysterious and objectionable swiftness, despite the 
deleterious effects it will have on thousands of 
Arab-Americans who work side-by-side with Michel.

Michel Shehadeh termination is a dangerous development  with adverse political implications for the entire 
community.  In fact, because we view this undemocratic  decision in the context of the recent attacks on Arab and  Arab-American civil and political rights, we are using 
this occasion to solemnly mark another critical era in the  history of the United States civil rights struggle.

The goal of the current national office is simple: to 
muffle the popular grassroots voices of our community and  consolidate power into the hands of a fringe few.  This 
unrepresentative but until now decisive minority either 
unconditionally consents to the Bush Administration 
program, or is incapable of challenging actions that hurt  the collective interests of Arab-Americans.

This political purge was made without even allowing a 
father to prepare for his family coming days. The ADC 
National office issued a cold bureaucratic elimination of 
a civil rights leader, as though corpora