Subject: Press Release from USC Student-member of Students for Justice in Palestine
Message: STUDENT AND COMMUNITY PROTEST Oct 24TH at 5:20 PM
GROUPS TO PROTEST ANNE COULTER
WHAT Ann Coulter will be speaking at the Annenberg Auditorium on the campus of the University of Southern California, this Wednesday October 24, from 6:00 PM to 7:30 PM. Her appearance is part of the nationally organized “Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week,†which many progressive groups see as an assault on both freedom of religious expression and freedom of inquiry.
Numerous student groups, including progressive, religious, and cultural groups, as well as members from local progressive community organizations, will be protesting and holding counter events outside. These events will include an ongoing protest starting at 5:20 PM, a silent vigil starting at 5:30 PM, and a speak-out at 6:30 PM.
Several of the groups are organized around the common principle that Coulter’s message is motivated by racism and bigotry. In addition, many of the groups feel that Coulter is promoting militarism, building fervor for a war with Iran, and advocating the silencing of liberal voices on college campuses.
WHEN 5:20 pm to 8:00 pm
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
WHERE University of Southern California (USC)
University Park Campus,
Annenberg Auditorium
WHO Several groups, including USC Students for Justice
in Palestine (USC SJP), USC Anti-War Coalition,
Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace
(ICUJP), Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR),
USC Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Assembly
(GLBTA), USC Student Coalition Against Labor
Exploitation (SCALE), USC Muslim Student Union (MSU),
and concerned citizens.Opposition to IFAW - USC plans
USC Antiwar Coalition presents
Protest Against Ann Coulter/ “Islamofascist Awareness Weekâ€
End Racism Against Arabs and Muslims!
Defend Academic Freedom!
US Out of Iraq ! No War On Iran !
Weds, 8/24, 5:20 pm
Annenberg Auditorium (USC Campus)
Directions/Maps: http://www.usc.edu/about/visit/upc/driving_directions
Contact: Gary Yeritsian (323)-733-2274, yeritsia@usc. edu
Subject: Opposition to IFAW at USC
Message: In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful
Council on American-Islamic Relations Greater Los Angeles Area
Southern California Muslims and Jews Oppose Coulter\'s Message of Hate Coalition Members invite Community to Participate in Silent Protest & Vigil
Dear Friends,
Southern California interfaith leaders invite you to join in a message of hope and solidarity during Ann Coulter\'s visit to the University of Southern California this week. Coulter, who will conduct the talk as part of \"Islamo-fascism Awareness Week,\" makes no secret of her bigotry against Muslims, Jews and other minorities. She is part of a concerted effort to demonize and de-legitimize American Muslims and divide Americans along religious lines.
Coulter grabbed national headlines when she responded to Sept. 11, 2001 attacks by stating that America should \"invade their [Muslims\'] countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity.\" In a November 2006 Townhall.com column, she wrote, \"[P]rofiling Muslims is more like profiling the Klan.\"
More recently, Coulter hurled her vitriol at members of the Jewish community. On CNBC\'s \'The Big Idea\' interview, she said Christians wanted Jews to be \'perfected.\' Last week, Coulter additionally said on the Michael Medved show, \"the Jews believe that my savior, a Jew, was a raving lunatic, and you don\'t see me sniffling and crying.\"
Rabbi Haim Beliak, co-founder of www.Jewsonfirst.org , stated: \"We call on all Southern Californians to take a stand against the hate and fear Coulter and organizers of \'Islamo-fascism Awareness Week\' attempt to stoke at USC and other campuses.\"
CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush added, \"The best response to Coulter\'s extremist rhetoric is an increased commitment and efforts to promote dialogue, harmony and mutual understanding among all people.\"
WHAT: Silent Protest & Vigil
WHEN: Wednesday, Oct. 24 at 5:15 p.m.
WHERE: Annenberg Auditorium, USC
CONTACT: CAIR-LA Executive Director Hussam Ayloush, 714-776-1847, socal@cair.com; Rabbi Haim Dov Beliak, Co-Director of JewsOnFirst.org, 310-592-8960, haim@jewsonfirst.org; Rev. Louis Chase, Convener of Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace (ICUJP) & Pastor of Hamilton United Methodist Church, 323-692-0886, 323-363-6484, tesfaye81@yahoo.com.
Organized by the David Horowitz Freedom Center, \"Islamo-fascism Awareness Week\" is a series of lectures at college campuses nationwide this week featuring several speakers who are regarded as the nation\'s worst Islamophobes by American Muslims. They include Robert Spencer, author of \"The Truth About Muhammad: Founder of the World\'s Most Intolerant Religion\"; Daniel Pipes, who supports internment of Japanese Americans during WWII; Wafa Sultan, who believes Islam cannot be reformed, and Horowitz himself.
USC Students planning counter-action to Ann Coulter event.
Ann Coulter will be coming to the University of Southern California on Wed. Oct. 24. A coalition of students, faculty, staff, and clergy have assembled to act in opposition. We outlined our goals in forming this coalition, the key messages we want to send, and the actions we will be taking in the near future.
Goals:
To build a coalition that will organize around other issues in the future.
To expose the agenda and provide counter-education to the rhetoric of Coulter and pals.
To promote future events of our respective organizations
To provide support for the muslim community
To establish and maintain the legitimacy and visibility of our point of view
To provide education about Islam
To deligitimize the propaganda about sexism being a specifically Muslim problem
To turn a broader range of students on to activism
Messages:
1. We will not be divided by the discourse of individuals like Coulter, Horowitz, etc...
2. We support academic freedom and diversity of opinion and oppose those individuals who wage war on those ideals.
3. We oppose racism, sexism, and religious discrimination
4. We oppose military aggression in the Middle East.
Actions:
Before the event:
Write campus newspaper articles
Flyer like crazy to advertise our oppositional and counter-educational events.
Get more students, faculty, and campus organizations involved
Day of the event:
We are going to pass out a pamphlet / fake program outside of the event.
We are going to attend the event and have a planned walkout at some set time during the event.
We are going to have a Speak-out or slam-poetry reading immediately after the event.
After the event:
We are going to have our own counter-education event, hopefully sponsored by the Women\'s Student Assembly on Thurs. Oct. 25 at 6 pm.
We will be meeting again Monday Oct. 15 on our campus in VKC room 100
Contact: dgweissm@usc.edu