Monday, February 09, 2004

IBO to John Kerry

This is the text of the email that the International Basque Organization for Human Rights is sending to everyone interested on showing support to the Basques' campaign to educate John Kerry about the difference between belonging to an ethnic group and being labeled as a terrorist just because you belong to a certain ethnic group:

Hello everyone,

On January 31st, Senator John Kerry made a campaign speech in Oklahoma City. Many issues were covered, including a question on fighting terrorism. The question asked was "If other countries have faced or face terrorism at home, why do we ask our soldiers to face it for us?" Senator Kerry began his response by stating "Most countries have faced terrorism at home through their histories. You look at Ireland, the IRA, England, IRA, you look at the Basques in Spain, the Sikhs in India, you can run around the world and people have lived with terrorism for a long time".

Kerry correctly identified the IRA, rather than labeling all Irish as terrorists, yet the Basques and the Sikhs were not so lucky.

The Sikh community rallied together and complained about the unfair portrayal of their community. On February 6th, Senator Kerry issued an official apology for his comments about Sikhs. No such apology has been issued to the Basques.

Please send an e-mail to Senator Kerry's campaign headquarters to let them know your feelings about this innacurate generalization of Basques as terrorists.

Please note that this is not being done to hurt John Kerry, but rather to remind him and his campaign staff about the dangers of labeling whole cultures as terrorist.

Senator Kerry's e-mail: info@johnkerry.com

John Kerry for President, Inc.
519 C Street, NE
Washington, DC 20002
202-548-6800
202-548-6801 (fax)

Please pass this e-mail on to anyone else you think may be interested in voicing their opinion.

Thank you,

International Basque Organization For Human Rights
PO Box 225
Corte Madera, CA 94976
415 924-2151
www.euskojustice.org

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