We the undersigned groups and individuals in the Middle East and North Africa stand in solidarity with the ongoing protests across the U.S., led by Black communities, following thekilling of Mike Brown by officer Darren Wilson and the decision by a Grand Jurythat Wilson is innocent of any crime. Brown’s death is not the first, and has been followed by many other fatal shootings of people of color by U.S. police. We condemn this violence against Black communities and people of color in all its forms.
We stand in support of the grassroots movement to bring justice to communities of color facing police violence with the complicity of the judicial system. The militarization of the police and its destructive interventions in communities of colorhas pushed many activists/thinkers to highlight the links between U.S wars and occupations inside its borders, and outside it.
It is horrifying to live in a worldwhere Black mothers have to teach their Black sons to avoid being shot by the policefor no reason, or for holding a toygun, for asking for help, for wearing a hoodie. In the face of such crimes without impunity, in the face of colonization and multiple oppressions of indigenouspeoples and communities of color, their anger is justified. We stand in solidarity with people resisting the U.S.white supremacist capitalist regime through boycotts, protests, civildisobedience, as well as through continuing processes of decolonization andresistance that are not as visible to us.
Such solidarity also necessitates that we acknowledge anti-Black racism in the Middle East and North African countries, the marginalization of Black Arabs, as well as the identification with whiteness by many Arabs, and the exploitation of Asian and African workers by the aggressive economies within the Gulf countries particularly, as well as across the Arab region. We remainengaged in changing our realities through fighting racism, classism and marginalization.
We the undersigned groups and individuals wish to honor the legacy of Black power and the civil rights movement in emancipation and equality, and its influence in supporting many ofthe national emancipation efforts within our region, and in reminding us that systems of oppression will always be dismantled. Black communities are not alone. Their lives matter, and their longing for justice must be granted byending the constant violation based on gender, race and class
We admire those individuals and groups mobilizing against injustice in U.S cities and streets, through individual and group initiatives; we salute their anger and their heroic determination in demanding justice and peace.
Signatures
Sawtalniswa community – Lebanon
Socialist Forum – Lebanon
Anti Racism Movement – Lebanon
Radical Beirut- Lebanon
Revolutionary Left Movement in Syria- Syria