Vol. 81/No. 31      August 21, 2017

 

SWP: ‘Attack on mosque is attack on all workers!’

 
The following statement by David Rosenfeld, Socialist Workers Party candidate for mayor of Minneapolis, was delivered to Mohamed Omar, executive director of the Dar Al-Farooq Islamic Center, the day after the mosque was bombed, and released to the press.

The visit came during a weekend of activity that saw campaign supporters from the Twin Cities, Chicago, southern Minnesota, and Washington, D.C., fan out across Minneapolis. They distributed this statement, sold 12 subscriptions to the Militant and eight books by leaders of the SWP, and gathered 181 signatures on ballot petitions for Rosenfeld. That brings the total over the last three weeks to 52 subscriptions, 57 books and 740 signatures — with 10 to go to reach their goal of 750, one and a half times the required number to get on the ballot.

The Socialist Workers Party condemns, in the strongest way, the bombing of the Dar Al-Farooq Center in Bloomington, Minnesota. We call on workers, farmers and all defenders of democratic rights to condemn this attack. We call for the arrest and prosecution of the perpetrators of this violent act.

The bombing took place in the early morning hours of August 5 as worshipers gathered to pray.

This attack and other attacks on Muslims and mosques are a working-class issue. We must act on the credo of the labor movement: An injury to one is an injury to all. The defense of those who are scapegoated and victimized — be they Muslims, Jews, immigrants or others — is essential to building political unity of the working class and acting on the basis of solidarity with all who are exploited and oppressed.

Attacks such as the bombing of the Dar Al-Farooq Center are an outgrowth of the climate created by the capitalist rulers and their government. They promote anti-Muslim hysteria to advance their wars and to justify spying on mosques and Muslims by the FBI and other police agencies.

We urge working people to attend the community meeting at the Dar Al-Farooq Center on August. 8, 6:00 p.m., 8201 Park Ave. S. in Bloomington, MN. We pledge to not only protest this attack, but to take this issue to workers of all backgrounds and explain why we must fight to:

Stop the attacks on Muslims and mosques! Stop attacks on Jews and synagogues! Oppose assaults on democratic and political rights! End the travel ban on migrants from Syria, Sudan, Somalia, Libya, Iran and Yemen! Get the U.S. troops out of Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria now!
 
 
Related articles:
Workers, religious figures hit bomb attack on Minn. mosque
 
 
 
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