Students for a Democratic Society (SDS)—who rallied the Gainesville community in favor of immigrant rights and protests against police brutality—will lead a protest against the controversial Qur’an burning event planned for 9/11 by the Dove World Outreach Center (DWOC). The protest will begin on September 11 at 5PM at the nearby Possum Creek Park from which protesters will march to the DWOC and picket the event.
The DWOC called for an International “Burn a Qur’an day” to coincide with 9/11, which was subsequently met with widespread condemnation from the American public and global community. Although the DWOC was denied a city burn permit twice, they have vowed to illegally burn Qur’ans.
SDS maintains that the DWOC’s Qur’an burning is an illegal hate crime, equivalent to the burning of crosses by the Ku Klux Klan. They are leading a protest of hundreds of people from all over the country to the doorstep of the DWOC to demand and ensure that authorities prevent the crime from occurring. The DWOC’s hate crime sends a message to the Muslim world that the United States lacks any respect for their faith, which only serves to fuel military conflict in the Middle East and Central Asia.
SDS believes that the DWOC’s illegal hate crime must be confronted peacefully but directly by the Gainesville community and the entire American people. This protest is the first step in building a national movement to combat Islamophobia, anti-immigrant sentiment, and racism in the United States.
Who: Students for a Democratic Society, the Arab and Muslim community, the Gainesville community and their progressive allies across Florida.
What: Protest against the organized burning of the Qur’an by the DWOC.
Where: Possum Creek Park, 4009 NW 53rd Avenue, Gainesville, FL 32653
When: 5:00 PM—9:00PM September 11th, 2010
A march and protest are not enough. It will take brave nonviolent souls to sit atop the Korans to be burned and risk arrest for trespassing, violence by church members, and burns. That is the only way to stop this violent act and send a message to the world that this act will not be tolerated in America. If this is the plan I will fly to Gainesville to join you.
ReplyDeleteI think as well that a march and protest is not enough, to be able to show to the entire world that the Gainesville community and others citizen of the world are not like these small radical church we should not respond to their aggressive acts. The best reaction (because we somehow have to react) would be to stay unaffected by their action and go their, turn our back to their action and sit in front of the church without interacting with them. This would not only avoid violence from both parts, but also show how irrelevant their action is. For the muslims but also the Americans in general.
ReplyDeleteSo the best would be to stay in silence, turning our back to them. If that's the plan, I'll join you...
Thanks for considering this message,
Salma
Along the above lines: if there is one road in to this place, can we just lie down en masse and block the access road all day 9/11? What a powerful counterimage for the media. It's hard to imagine Gainesville law enforcement removing counterprotestors from the road, or a criminal trespass complaint being pursued by the DA...
ReplyDeleteis there a contact person for this event? I'd like to write an article for either tomorrow or Saturday's paper.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
George Pappas
gpappas@ufl.edu
Looking for a contact person as well. I am with a school in Memphis TN and a group of students and professors would like to participate. Call me @ 901-239-4616
ReplyDeleteYou may contact Justin Wooten 352-213-6519
ReplyDeleteLooks as if they have canceled.
ReplyDeleteIt's back on schedule!!! Please come and join the protest!!!
ReplyDelete