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RACISM, ISLAMOPHOBIA AND'NATIONAL SECURITY'

Teach-in and strategy forum

Saturday, 26 May, 1pm to 9pm
Pavillon J.-A.-Sève,Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM)
320 Ste-Catherine East, Montreal(Berri-UQAM metro)

WORKSHOPS and a PANEL DISCUSSION with Sherene Razack, Adil Charkaoui,Faisal Kutty, Salam El Manyawi, Najlaa Bennis, Ross Perigoe .... andmany more!

WITH:

• Screening of footage from the People's Commission
• Exhibit of Photos and Banners
• Action materials

Spies, media, corporations and politically-constructed public debates... In the name of "national security", many forces in our society arehelping to mobilize underlying racism and Islamophobia against Muslims,Arabs and others. The result is often devastating on people's lives.

Targetted communities are marginalized and unable to participate fullyin political, economic or social life. When extreme measures such assecurity certificates are used against individuals, communities areoften too intimidated, alienated or constrained to respond effectively.

Join us on Saturday, 26 May to take an in-depth look at some of theconcrete ways in which the national security agenda is being advancedin Canada. The teach-in will bring together community members,academics, NGOs, legal experts and activists in order to developeffective strategies to resist racial profiling and defend the libertyand dignity of all.

PROGRAMME

1:30 to 3:30 Workshops

"National security" and targetting of Arab and Muslim communities (EN)
Room: DSR-520
facilitated: Helen Hudson
- Salam El Menyawi, Muslim Council of Montreal
- Faisal Kutty, Canadian Muslim Civil Liberties Association
- Sameer Zuberi, CAIR-CAN

The "Security Industrial Complex": the new Homeland Security industry(FR)
Room DSR-525
facilitated: Raymond Legault, Échec à la guerre
- Roch Tassé, International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group(ICLMG)
- Sophie Schoen, Block the Empire

3:45 to 5:45 Workshops

Media and CSIS: partners in profiling (EN/FR)
Room: DSR-525
facilitated: Tamara Vukov
- Ross Perigoe, Associate Professor, Concordia University JournalismDepartment
- Alex Popovic, Political researcher

Racism and the debate on "reasonable accommodation" (FR/EN)
Room DSR-520
facilitated: Khadija Benabdallah
- Nazila Bettache, No one is illegal
- May Haydar, Centre communautaire musulman de Montréal
- Layla Sawaf, Principal, JMC Secondary and Primary School

5:45 Light meal, followed by atestimony by Najlaa Bennis, Justice for Anas

6:45 Panel Discussion: Countering theinstrumentalization of 'national security' (EN/FR)
Room DRS-510
- video: extracts from testimonies at the People's Commission hearings
- Sherene Razack, Professor, Sociology and Equity Studies in Education,University of Toronto: Understanding "security" and racism
- Adil Charkaoui: Lessons from the campaign against securitycertificates

BIOGRAPHIES

Najlaa Bennis is the sister of Mohamed Anas Bennis, who was killed bypolice officer Bernier of Station 25 on 1 December 2005 in Côtedes Neiges. The Bennis family and the Coalition Justice for Anas aredemanding access to all information concerning the death of Anas, apublic and independent inquiry and an end to police brutality andpolice impunity.

Nazila Bettache is a Montreal-based organizer and member of No One isIllegal-Montreal.

Salam El Menyawi is President of the Muslim Council of Montreal (MCM).He has been an outspoken defender of human rights and against racialprofiling for many years.

May Haydar is a member of the public relations committee of the Centrecommunautaire musulman de Montréal.

Helen Hudson is a Montreal activist working in solidarity withPolitical Prisoners, primarily in the United States, as well as onother social justice issues including immigration and feministquestions. She is also a programmer at CKUT community radio.

Faisal Kutty currently serves as general counsel for the CanadianMuslim Civil Liberties Association (CMCLA) and as vice-chair and legalcounsel to the Canadian Council on American Islamic Relations(CAIR-CAN).  He is currently a Ph.D. candidate at Osgoode Hall LawSchool.  His dissertation explores the impact of anti-terror lawsand policies on the rule of law. In the course of his legal practice,he has also advised and acted on behalf of dozens of individuals andcharities that have been directly impacted and targeted byanti-terrorism laws and policies. He is currently acting as counsel toCAIR-CAN and the CMCLA at the Iacobucci and the Air India Inquiries.

Raymond Legault has been an active member and a spokesperson forÉchec à la guerre over the past four and a half years.

Dr. Ross Perigoe has taught at Concordia's Department of Journalismsince 1985.  Prior to joining the faculty, he was a full timejournalist for 12 years, later working in CBC management. His earlyresearch focussed on the portrayal of visible minorities on television,particularly surrounding the Oka Crisis of 1990. Dr. Perigoe has done astudy of the Montreal Gazette's portrayal of Muslims immediately afterSeptember 11, 2001.  Dr. Perigoe is now examing the representationof Muslims in the french press during the same period.

Alex Popovic is a political researcher with a keen interest in nationalsecurity, law enforcement and governmental ethical issues.

Sherene H. Razack is a Professor at the Sociology and Equity Studies inEducation, University of Toronto. She is the author of - among otherworks - "Dark Threats and White Knights: Peacekeeping and the NewImperialism" (2004) and "Casting Out: The Eviction of Muslims fromWestern Law and Politics" (forthcoming December, 2007).

Sophie Schoen is an organizer in the student movement and with Blockthe Empire Montreal.

Roch Tassé is National Coordinator of the International CivilLiberties Monitoring Group / Coalition pour la surveillanceinternationale des libertés civiles, a pan-Canadian coalition ofNGOs which formed in response to the introduction of Bill C-36.Tassé co-authored "Control Freaks: "Homeland Security" and"Interoperability"", published in differenTAKES, January 2007.

Tamara Vukov has been active in a range of autonomous social movements,independent media and media arts in Montréal over the past 15years (recently including SAB/SSF, the People's Commission onImmigration Security Measures, Global Balkans, and the Volatile Workscollective). She is currently completing her PhD in Communication atConcordia, where her research looks at the racialized impacts ofCanadian news media events focused on migration, including thepost-9/11'security' agenda.

Sameer Zuberi is Communications and Human Rights Director at CAIR-CAN.Born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, Sameer has worked in Kuwait as anelementary and high school teacher. While studying Mathematics atConcordia University, he served two terms as Vice President of theConcordia Student Union. Subsequently, through the United MuslimStudents Association, he focused his activism on educating and linkingthe Muslim community to grassroots social justice movements.

organized by the
Coalition Justice pour Adil Charkaoui
www.adilinfo.org
tel. 514 859 9023
justiceforadil@riseup.net

The Justice for Anas Coalition
514.342.2111
justicepouranas@gmail.com