It should come as no surprise that these articles were published on the eve of the August 29 demonstration in NYC against war and occupation. Articles of this type as well as the continued harassment of activists throughout the country are a blatant use of the media as an arm of Homeland Security to try to intimidate and prevent people from exercising their right to free speech and their right to stand up in opposition to war and racism.

Since 9/11 there has been an assault on the rights of Arab and Muslim-Americans and an increase in the harassment of anti-war activists. Activists from throughout the country have reported being visited, followed or otherwise harassed by agents of Homeland Security. Over the passed several months we have seen an increase of this type of activity first in Boston for the DNC, which included retinal scanning, state-of-the-art video surveillance and unconstitutional search and seizures on the MBTA and now during the RNC in New York. This police state campaign to silence dissent has not and will not work. Thousands marched through the streets of Boston on July 25 and at least 500,000 through the streets of NYC on August 29. Many more demonstrations will take place during the course of the RNC. We understand all too well that these attacks on the anti-war movement, community activists, and trade unionists are nothing more than the domestic front of Bush's "endless war" against those who stand up in opposition to the goals and aspirations of US imperialism for world domination.

More and more of the people in this country are beginning to realize that the true terrorists reside in Washington DC. They are the ones who have unleashed horrific wars against the people of Iraq and Afghanistan. They are the ones who continue to support the racist genocide of the Palestinian people. They are the ones who illegally kidnapped the President of Haiti, Jon-Bertrand Aristide and who have murdered thousands of his supporters and imprisoned thousands more. They are the ones who attempted to overthrow the government of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela and when that failed funded the recent referendum to oust Chavez that also failed. They are the ones who continue to fund the Pentagon with money stolen from our communities. They are the ones who fill the prisons with people whose only crime is to be a person of color. They are the ones who should be highlighted on the front page of every newspaper with the caption "dangerous terrorist".

Both Piccariello and Toure are well known activists in the Boston area who have a long history of standing in solidarity with those who have been unjustly singled out by the government for harassment and/or imprisonment. ANSWER Boston stands in solidarity with them, unconditionally, and defends their right to organize and protest free from this state-sponsored harassment. We call on all justice-loving people to stand up and let these government agencies and their allies in the media know that "we will not be intimidated, we will not be silenced!"

We demand that Bush/Homeland Security cease and desist from all acts of harassment, surveillance, illegal imprisonment, etc of the Arab and Muslim community, the anti-war movement, community activists and trade unionists. Homeland Security must be dismantled and the racist, unconstitutional Patriot Act must be repealed.

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A.N.S.W.E.R. Boston (Act Now to Stop War & End Racism)
Telephone: 617.522.6626
info@answerboston.org 
http://www.answerboston.org