International Days of Action Against War & Islamophobia

Since the election of Donald Trump as the President of the United States, the US policy in the Middle East, especially in Syria, has taken an alarmingly dangerous turn. While President Trump says he will not pursue a policy of regime change in Syria, he has surrounded himself with Islamophobes and militarists. Thanks to the new US administration, Islamophobia is on the rise throughout the Western world.
 
Over the last 16 years since the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, rising Islamophobia has come hand-in-hand with escalating U.S.-led wars and occupations in the Middle East and North Africa. The Trump administration is now attempting to impose an inhumane travel and refugee ban on seven Muslim countries: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen — all targets of U.S. military attack or sanctions by the current and previous administrations.
 
The Pentagon is considering sending more U.S. ground forces to Syria. To justify this military escalation, the demonization of Syrian Government has been intensified though a new wave of misleading propaganda. The most recent salvo is a sensational yet unfounded report from Amnesty International, which has been broadcast by media outlets around the world.
 
Iran has been made the target of new threats as well. False claims about an Iranian attack on US ships in the Persian Gulf, combined with threats of new economic sanctions against Iran, which can easily jeopardize the Iran Nuclear Deal, are setting the stage for a new round of confrontation with Iran. Mass killing of innocent civilians in Yemen by the criminal Saudi government, with full support from the United States, is being intensified. To add fuel to the fire, the Trump administration has talked about moving the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, a move that will certainly lead to another dangerous conflagration in the Middle East.
 
All these point to the fact that we are moving toward another, more disastrous, catastrophe in the Middle East. We call on all peace loving people throughout the world to unite and take action during the International Days of Action (March 11-19) against U.S. intervention in Syria and throughout the Middle East, against Islamophobia, and against the refugee Travel Ban.
 
Here are some suggested actions that you can take during the International Days of Action:

• Initiate local actions together with civil rights and peace activists — demonstrations, teach-ins, workshops, panel discussions, video presentations — to oppose War, occupation and Islamophobia, and to reveal their connections.

• Activists outside the US: Demand that your government actively opposes the U.S. policy of forced regime change in Syria.

• Tell the U.S. President Trump and Congress that you oppose the Travel Ban and that you want the U.S. to pursue peaceful relations with Syria, Iran and all the nations of the Middle East.

• Ask your Congressional Representatives to support Rep. Tulsi Gabbard’s bill, (H.R. 608). Please both call your Congressional Representative’s office directly AND sign the petition in support of STOP ARMING TERRORISTS ACT at http://hr608.info.

• Write letters-to-the-editor of your local newspaper. Expose war propaganda aimed at justifying regime change in Syria and elsewhere.

We ask you to send a report of your planned activities for the International Days of Action (March 11-19) to Hands Off Syria Coalition so that we can publicize them on our web site: hosc@HandsOffSyriaCoalition.net
 
We also encourage you to form your own local chapter of Hands Off Syria Coalition. For more information about forming local chapters of HOSC please go to our web site: http://HandsOffSyriaCoalition.net and click on “Forming An HOSC Chapter” link on top of the page.