Terry Jones is a bigot, a racist and a pro-war supporter of imperialism. He preaches hatred for Muslims and love for the U.S. wars against Arabs and Afghans. Jones, like many Tea Party supporters, wants more war and killing by the U.S. in Afghanistan, Iraq and the Middle East. They want to see the U.S. and Israel attack Iran. Jones cheers for the genocide in Iraq and wants the U.S. occupation to continue forever. Jones praises Israel, as it oppresses and murders Palestinians. Jones wants to oppress and exploit the rest of the world for the benefit of the rich and powerful here. Jones stands for everything we oppose.

Burning of the Qur’an is certainly a bigoted act against Muslims, but in the U.S. it is also a conscious act of racism against Arabs, South Asians and African-Americans. This is a continuation of the racist attacks we have seen so much of recently. From the furor over the building of mosques in New York, Kentucky and Tennessee, to Arizona’s racist laws against Chicanos, Latinos and undocumented immigrants, to the nationwide police brutality epidemic – like the University of Florida police shooting the face of African graduate student Kofi Abu-Brempong. Revolutionaries must oppose white chauvinism and national oppression in all its forms, including anti-Muslim attacks.

It should be stressed that the problem with the Qur’an-burning is a lot deeper than a lone nut with a few followers in Florida. The U.S. ruling class and its representatives in government have consciously and consistently promoted anti-Muslim bigotry. Look at the way that important politicians have dealt with the issue of the plan to build a mosque amongst the strip clubs and bars near where the World Trade Center was, or how racism and Islamophobia is used to justify U.S. wars and support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

We call upon all revolutionaries and progressive people to actively oppose the Qur’an-burning. We support freedom of religion and respect that the Qur’an is sacred to many people. Please join comrades and friends across the country organizing protests in solidarity with the Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Act now to stop Jones and his hateful followers. Join us in the fight to end racism and oppression.

#UnitedStates #StudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #TerryJones #Koranburning #DoveChurch

Jared Hamil, of the Gainesville Area Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), stated, “Just because the Dove World Outreach Center decided not to burn Qu'rans doesn't mean that Islamophobia and racism have disappeared. There's still hate and bigotry in the world that we need to fight against and Gainesville Area SDS vows to be at the forefront of that fight.”

Fernando Figueroa of Gainesville Area SDS hailed the announced cancelation of the Qur’an-burning as a victory, stating, “This is a victory for the world's progressive people in general and the Gainesville community in particular. Gainesville Area SDS has shown that our communities have the power to win against the hatred, racism and bigotry of a handful of people. On Saturday we will fight onwards to the next victory.”

Figueroa also stated that the progressive movement needs to keep in mind that the pastor might go back on his word or that other anti-Muslim bigots might burn Korans on Sept. 11.

According to some press reports, a small reactionary church in Kansas has announced plans to burn Qur’ans.

#GainesvilleFlorida #GainesvilleFL #AntiwarMovement #AntiRacism #TerryJones #GainesvilleAreaStudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS #Koranburning

Gainesville, FL – Fight Back! interviewed Justin Wooten from the Gainesville Area Students for a Democratic Society about the upcoming protest against the burning of the Qur’an in Gainesville, Florida on Sept. 11.

Fight Back!: We're here with Justin Wooten, a key organizer in the Gainesville Area Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), to talk about leading the fight against the Dove World Outreach Center and the burning of the Qur’an on Sept. 11. Justin, could you briefly explain the situation for us?

Justin Wooten: The Dove World Outreach Center is a small right-wing church led by a pastor named Terry Jones, and they are a group that consistently promotes hatred and bigotry towards Muslims and Arabs. Their claim to fame involved sending small children to school with shirts that read, “Islam is of the Devil” in an attempt to promote ignorance and intolerance among youth. Now they are burning Qur’ans on Sept. 11 in an attempt to bring their message of hate to a global audience.

SDS is here to crash their hateful party and show that the Gainesville community will not stand for discrimination against our Muslim brothers and sisters. The Dove World Outreach Center planned to have an armed group called Right Wing Extreme protect them from the large counter-protest we are planning, but Right Wing Extreme went back on their promise to participate and help with the Qur’an burning. Dove was denied a burn permit for their disgusting plans by the City of Gainesville and now Dove's insurance company has canceled their insurance and Terry Jones must pay a large sum of money or find a new place to preach hate. It doesn't look like they'll be able to pay their debt.

Fight Back!: Why has SDS chosen to hold a counter-protest next to the site of the Qur’an-burning? Why not participate in the smaller candlelight vigil in downtown Gainesville?

Wooten: While we respect any and all methods of resisting the terrible tragedy that will happen when Terry Jones and his cronies demonstrate their ignorance to the world, SDS believes we should militantly fight back against this sickening event. The best way to do this is to hold a rally with speakers and march over to the Dove World Outreach Center with the community and show Terry Jones that Gainesville is more committed to opposing him and his message of hate than he is to his ignorant beliefs.

A counter-protest tells the world that Gainesville is not afraid to confront bigotry and racism head on, and that's the message we want to spread on Sept. 11. Terry Jones wants the world to focus on the actions of himself and a handful of people on Sept. 11, but SDS will ensure that the real focus is on Muslims and their allies in the Gainesville community standing up for what is right.

Fight Back!: What do you hope to accomplish on Sept. 11 with the counter-protest SDS is planning?

Wooten: We hope to show the world that Gainesville won't stand for bigoted attacks on Muslims and Arabs. We want people to know that our community won't tolerate this and that this is just a desperate attempt to raise racist sentiments to support deeply unpopular wars. We want peace, not hatred and war. We want the U.S. war and occupation in Afghanistan to end now. Bring the troops home. We want a full withdrawal from Iraq, not this partial plan we have now. No more U.S. bases.

The right has a terrible agenda centered on making people afraid of challenging injustice and dividing us, and the only way to stop them is to organize our communities and protest the injustices and wrongs that the right wing promotes.

One of our main goals is to outnumber the people burning Qur’ans by hundreds of protesters and it looks like we will achieve our goal and that no one will be able to think of Sept. 11, 2010 without thinking about how our community stood up and rejected bigotry and racism in a very big way. The Dove World Outreach Center's message of hate will be drowned by our message of solidarity with the Muslim community’s and our community’s commitment to justice.

#GainesvilleFL #StudentMovement #Koran #DoveWorldOutreachCenter #TerryJones #GainesvilleAreaStudentsForADemocraticSocietySDS