An appeal to the Hopkins campus community:

As all eyes are focused on Iraq, Palestine, and Afghanistan, and all the tragedies that are befalling those peoples, there are many who do not know what is happening to Arab, Muslim and Middle Eastern communities here in this country.

Our communities have been put under severe pressure by the U.S. government. Thousands of us have been detained without charges and without legal counsel; we have been subject to racial profiling (which has hurt an even wider range of communities, such as Sikhs) and our religious institutions, our places of work, and even the privacy of our own homes have been placed under continual government surveillance.

As a result, our communities suffer from extreme anxiety and fear, as they do not know who next will be placed under detention, or whose home will be raided by the FBI. They have become silenced, and have come to feel more and more isolated and alone; they fear that what happened to Japanese Americans during World War 2 might happen to them, and that people here either don't know what is happening to them, or worse, that they don't care.

So, we'd like to make an appeal to the Hopkins campus community. We're organizing an event for this Tuesday where three distinguished lawyers will talk about what's happening to us, about the Patriot Act, and its ramifications for all of us, and what we might to do to stop the violations of civil liberties for Muslim and Middle Eastern communities in this country. Showing up is not just a way of getting informed, but it would also be a way of showing your support, of telling us that we are not alone, and that you are concerned about what is happening to our communities. Information for the event is listed below. We sincerely hope you'll attend.

Thank you,

Andleeb Khan, member, Muslim Students Association
Anila Daulatzai, member, The Coming Community
Ashkon Shaahinfar, member, Iranian Cultural Society
Hussein Agrama, member, Hopkins Students for a Free Palestine
Hyder Syed, Vice President, JHU Pakistani Students Association,
Co-Chair, National Pakistani Students Association
Tala Al-Talib, Co-President, Middle Eastern Students Association

Civil liberties and the "war on terror"

Are our civil liberties being violated? How do we justify the thousands of people of Arab and Muslim background who have been placed under indefinite detention, often without charges and legal counsel by the government? Who bears the brunt of the Patriot Act, and Bush's "War on Terror"? Some people think that the Patriot Act poses a danger not only for people living in the U.S., but also abroad. Is this really an issue of finding the right "balance" between freedom and security, or are there even graver dangers that loom behind the Patriot Act, and the "War on Terror"?

Come hear three distinguished lawyers in a panel discussion on these and other questions about our civil liberties:

* David Cole: Georgetown law professor and award-winning author of "Enemy Aliens"

* Carl Messineo: lawyer and activist from the Partnership for Civil Justice

* Jumana Musa: Advocacy Director of Domestic Human Rights and International Justice, Amnesty International

Tuesday, April 13th, 7pm

Mudd Hall auditorium
(in building 42 on www.jhu.edu/~tour/map.html)
Johns Hopkins University, Homewood Campus, 3400 N. Charles St., MD

Organized and co-sponsored by Hopkins Students for a Free Palestine, JHU ACLU, Amnesty, JHU Feminist Association, Season for Non-violence, Muslim Students Association, Middle Eastern Students Association, Pakistani Students Association, Association for India's Development, Students for Environmental Action, The Coming Community, JHU Justice, and the JHU Political Science Department