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<font size=3>Thanks to all of you who have responded to our recent fund
request letter. Those of you who have not, please know that only your
support can ensure that we continue building our work. You can help us
out securely via the website
(<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.freedomarchives.org</a>).<br><br>
I just returned from an amazing trip to England which was sponsored by
<a href="http://www.cageprisoners.com/">CagePrisoners</a>. This
London-based organization was formed to oppose torture and the detention
of hundreds of people in Guantanamo, Bagram, Kandahar and the UK under
the justification of fighting the “war on terror.” The group exposes
secret detentions, renditions and the ‘Close Supervision Centres’ (the
British equivalent of Control Unit Prisons in the US). The Director of
CagePrisoners is
<a href="http://guantanamovoices.wordpress.com/meet-moazzam/">Moazzam
Begg</a> who is a Guantanamo Survivor. Other former prisoners are also on
their staff.<br><br>
Four of us from the US joined members of the CagePrisoner staff in
showing Cointelpro 101 in five venues – three events in London and others
in Manchester and Leeds. We also went to community meetings and briefly
attended “Policing Communities: Race, Class and the State: a Symposium
comparing Black, Muslim, Irish and Gypsy Traveller community perspectives
on public order policing.”<br><br>
On Tuesday, June 19, our opening event was at the prestigious BFI –
British Film Institute on the banks of the Thames in Central London and
was packed to overflowing. The discussion raised issues of resistance in
the streets especially by youth who oppose “stop and search” (akin to
stop and frisk in the US) and the scapegoating and targeting of Muslims.
<br><br>
The BFI showing was attended by a producer and crew from
<a href="http://www.islamchannel.tv/">Islam Channel</a> in London. The
next day they invited us to the studio and interviewed Monami Maulik –
the Executive Director of DRUM (Desis Rising Up & Moving) and myself
about Cointelpro and current Islamophobia in the US. They also broadcast
Cointelpro 101 twice the week we were in the UK<i>. (Note: DRUM’s website
describes it as a “multigenerational, membership led organization of
working class South Asian immigrants in New York City. Desi is a common
term used by people of South Asian descent to identify as people from
Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and
parts of the diaspora including Africa, England, Fiji, Guyana, and
Trinidad.”<br><br>
</i>Thursday, we appeared at the Stratford Picture House. This event was
chaired by the <a href="http://www.nmp.org.uk/">Newham Monitoring
Project</a>, a civil rights organization that works with members of the
black and Asian communities suffering racial discrimination/violence and
police misconduct. The discussion included a focus on policing practices
triggered by the upcoming Olympics – many Olympic venues are in that
neighborhood of East London.<br><br>
On Friday, we traveled to Manchester for an event in the Central Hall
Methodist Church. That event was threatened by the EDL – English Defense
League – a racist organization that mainly targets Muslim communities.
That event featured family members of
<a href="http://www.islam21c.com/politics/4381-the-munir-farooqi-issue/">
Munir Farooqi</a>, one of the first British Muslims to be convicted of
‘terrorism’ based on actions and testimony of undercover police. The
government is now trying to seize their
<a href="http://savethefamilyhome.com/">family home</a>.<br><br>
Saturday, we traveled to Leeds and appeared at the 100-year old Hyde Park
Picture House along with community members challenging police
infiltration of activist movements. There too, a few audience members
tried to put forth EDL racism, but were firmly cut short from the
stage.<br><br>
Our last event was at the new community center and offices of the
<a href="http://www.globalwomenstrike.net/uk">Global Women’s Strike</a>
in London. Another packed crowd engaged in a discussion hosted by Selma
James, covering many issues, but especially support for US political
prisoners.<br><br>
While there are many differences between the United Kingdom and the US in
how the state operates and how state violence is exercised, the
fundamental unity of the western powers and their shared history of
empire, racism and colonialism made political connections readily
understandable. The police and population are much more overtly
militarized in the US, but the most obvious manifestation of state
intrusion in the UK is the massive presence of CCTV cameras everywhere.
The torture and violence of prisons in the UK has its roots in the
treatment of the Irish, and now Blacks, Asians, immigrants and Muslims –
no different fundamentally than in the Guantanamos or Pelican Bays of the
US. <br><br>
The trip was greatwe learned a lot and made many connections with
activists and community members. We are very pleased that our work and
the film are proving useful both near and far. As usual, things were done
on a shoestring, and we hope you can contribute to help us maintain and
intensify our work.<br><br>
</font>Claude Marks<br><br>
<br>
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<font size=3 color="#FF0000">Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#008000">415 863-9977<br><br>
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