In the wake of the events of September 11th, QPIRG-Concordia and QPIRG-McGill denounce both the mounting racism and the full-scale war currently being prepared by war-mongering politicians such as US President George Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Already, the attacks of September 11th have been used both to foment war hysteria and to justify unconscionable acts of racism towards Arabs and Muslims in particular, as well as those presumed to be of Arab or Muslim heritage.

Sept 22, 2001

Public Statement against War and Racism by the
Quebec Public Interest Research Group at Concordia & McGill University.

In the wake of the events of September 11th, QPIRG-Concordia and QPIRG-McGill denounce both the mounting racism and the full-scale war currently being prepared by war-mongering politicians such as US President George Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Already, the attacks of September 11th have been used both to foment war hysteria and to justify unconscionable acts of racism towards Arabs and Muslims in particular, as well as those presumed to be of Arab or Muslim heritage.

Has our collective memory become so short that we in the West have already forgotten our shameful history? What of the continuing economic sanctions against Iraq which are responsible for the deaths of over 1 million civilians since 1991? Or the nightly burning of effigies of Mohawk warriors by residents of Chateauguay following the blockade of the Mercier Bridge by Mohawks of Kahnawake in support of their brothers and sisters at Kanehsatake in the summer of 1990? to name but a few instances.

QPIRG-Concordia and QPIRG-McGill denounce the use of terror against civilian populations in all its forms. Just as the loss of thousands of innocent lives must be condemned by partisans of social justice, we must also be vigilant that these attacks are not used against movements for social justice - from the Palestinian struggle for self-determination to the mobilizations against the institutions of global capitalism. We must condemn acts of terrorism committed by our governments and their allies - from Israeli attacks on Palestinian towns and refugee camps to the US bombing of Sudanese pharmaceutical factories.

We must resist any and all attempts by the right-wing to take advantage of the current crisis in order to further their agenda. The attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon cannot properly be understood outside of the context of American imperialism and the active participation of US allies such as Canada, Britain and France and institutions such as NATO and the G-8. The present call to full-scale war is but a continuation of the United States' bloody foreign policy which is responsible for the deaths of untold numbers of innocent people throughout the world.

We reject any attempts to restrict civil liberties such as freedom of speech and right of assembly, the "clamp-down" on immigration and refugees, as well as the promotion of war as a result of the horrific attacks of September 11th. We reject the racist discourse being pushed by politicians and the corporate media. Lastly, we strongly denounce all acts of racism, those who perpetrate them and those who espouse racist beliefs.

QPIRG-Concordia
QPIRG-McGill