July 13, 2009 Fairfax, VA Board of Supervisors Hearing - Responsible for Equality And Liberty's (R.E.A.L.) Jeffrey Imm Testifies on Islamic Saudi Academy
My name is Jeffrey Imm, I was a citizen of Virginia for 14 years, and I am speaking on behalf of the organization Responsible for Equality And Liberty.
Virginia has a historical commitment to the human rights of equality and liberty, which it first declared on June 13, 1776 with the Virginia Declaration of Rights, before there was a United States of America. The Virginia Declaration of Rights was prepared by Fairfax County’s George Mason who declared human beings “are by nature equally free and independent,” and declared the “inherent rights” of “life and liberty.” When Fairfax County’s George Mason and other Virginians prepared that Virginia Declaration of Rights, he was not just addressing the “inherent rights” of just Virginians, but of all human beings.
The government of Saudi Arabia continues to stand against such inherent human rights of equality and liberty for women, for non-Muslims, even for other sects of Islam. The government of Saudi Arabia continues to be condemned by the U.S. State Department and United States Commission on International Religious Freedom for its discrimination, persecution, and intolerance of religious minorities including Shi’a Muslims. Saudi Arabia remains a nation of intolerance and a nation whose institutions defy our universal human rights of equality and liberty. According to the Islamic Saudi Academy (ISA) itself, the Islamic Saudi Academy’s curriculum “conforms to the system followed in Saudi Arabia.” So we should not be surprised that previous studieshave shown a pattern of intolerance in Islamic Saudi Academy textbooks in defiance of our universal human rights of equality and liberty.
We would challenge such indoctrination of intolerance of children in Fairfax County if this were the one-time Apartheid South African government with an institute to teach racial supremacism or if this were Communist China teaching children in Fairfax County to be against our universal human rights of liberty and freedom.
We would challenge this if it was a domestic group like the Aryan Nations’ so-called religious group that preaches intolerance against non-whites and Jews or the so-called “Westboro Baptist Church” that preaches violence, hatred, and intolerance against homosexuals.
Hate is hate. Institutionalized hate has no place in Fairfax County educational institutions. We must challenge institutionalized hate with our love for our fellow human being’s human rights.
— Candidate’s ‘Holocaust Revisionist’ Views Spark Reston Write-In Campaign
— Washington Post: “The vote will be held today and tomorrow during the Reston Festival at Reston Town Center”
— Ken Meyercord running unopposed for at-large seat on the board to “Reston Citizens Association, a quasi-governmental body that sets the agenda for the community of 60,000”
— Ken Meyercord has a “a long history of writing about what he says are ‘myths’ of the Holocaust, including a piece called ‘(Holo-) History is Bunk.'”
— Ken Meyercord “dismisses as Allied propaganda the assertion that Nazi Germany embarked on a mission to annihilate European Jews, a plan known as the Final Solution.”
— “He also denies that Nazis used gas chambers to murder Jews, saying gas chambers did not exist, and expresses skepticism that the number of Holocaust victims reached 6 million”
— “Meyercord said his views of history changed after living in the Middle East. After attending Dartmouth, he obtained a master’s degree at American University in Beirut, where he also met his wife, who is Palestinian, and became more sympathetic the Arab view of the conflict with Israel.”
— “His other writings include a piece comparing Israel’s treatment of Gaza to the Nazis’ handling of the Warsaw Ghetto; an apocalyptic fantasy in which an invasion of the United States is an allusion to the war in Iraq”
—- NOTE: We are told that “The name of the write-in candidate running against the Holocaust denier is incumbent Board Member Colin Mills“
— the challenge of religious extremists using “religious arguments” as a disguise for those whose institutionalized hate leads to violence against women, homosexuals, religious minorities around the world on a regular basis – and why such hate against our fellow human beings must never be legitimized or rationalized as anything other than hate.
Responsible for Equality And Liberty’s Jeffrey Imm Promotes Equality And Liberty Through Love as the Answer to Institutionalized HateResponsible for Equality And Liberty’s Jeffrey Imm Addresses the Need for the Equal Rights Amendment (E.R.A.) at the Lincoln MemorialOrange Ribbon for Universal Human Rights – Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
IPT: DC – “‘Mainstream’ Islamist Convention Features Hate Speech” — ISNA Convention
— IPT reports: “During a “meet the authors” session, Imam Warith Deen Umar, former head of the New York state prison chaplain program managed to:”
— “Argue that key Obama aides are ‘Israeli,’ proving Jews ‘have control of the world'”
— “Malign the motives of Jews active in the Civil Rights movement”
— “Portray the Holocaust as punishment of Jews for being ‘serially disobedient to Allah'”
— “Insinuate that Hurricane Katrina was a result of tolerance for homosexuality”
At today’s protest, we stated that as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. recognized the ideological challenge of “white supremacism,” so we too today recognize the ideological challenge of “extremism.” While we realize that such a challenge is not popular with some, we feel that if we are true to courage of convictions on human equality, that on July 4, as on every other day, we must defy such extremist ideologies.
We challenged ISNA that without equality, we have no life, liberty, or the pursuit of happiness. We challenged Americans to remember, especially on July 4, that in our Declaration of Independence we view human equality as “a truth that we hold self-evident.” Equality is the foundation to all of our other universal human rights.
We asked ISNA this question: “when will you condemn extremism?”
We asked ISNA – “when will you start addressing the stonings and honor killings of women and homosexuals by extremists around the world?” We asked ISNA – “when will you acknowledge the use of Sharia in the deaths, mutilations, and amputations of women, non-Muslims, and Muslims around the world?” We spent two hours going over specific examples of the repression, torture, mutilations, stoning, honor killings, and murders of women, other Muslims, non-Muslims, homosexuals and others who Islamic surpremacists have viewed as a threat. We stated that on this Independence Day, we must speak for those suffering from oppression from extremism around the world.
We explained that our universal human rights are not dependent on any religion, and we explained our universal human rights must be consistent for all people around the world. Some ISNA convention goers stated to us that universal human rights don’t matter to them; they stated that the only rights that matter to them where those based on their religion. We challenge extremist views on “human rights,” both as Americans and as fellow human beings. We declare that our universal human rights apply – no matter your religion, your gender, your race, or your identity – our universal human rights apply to every human being.
We also announced our ORANGE RIBBON campaign for equality and liberty, and provided handouts to those going to the ISNA convention to educate them on their universal human rights and our campaign to defend such rights. We have chosen ORANGE as our symbol for universal human rights that apply to all our fellow human beings on Earth.
R.E.A.L. speaks to ISNA Conference Attendees
Several individuals going to the ISNA conference did not like what we had to say. Those individuals sought to shout us down. However, the Washington DC Metropolitan Police Department stepped in to defend our right to freedom of speech.
We also asked ISNA how it could have a theme of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” when it not only ignored the foundation of EQUALITY that is the basis for all of our universal human rights, but also had speakers who have defended or been unwilling to challenge extremism.
— Siraj Wahhaj was a character witness for convicted 1993 World Trade Center terrorist “blind sheik” Omar Rahman, has called for replacing the American government with a caliphate. According to Siraj Wahhaj, “if only Muslims were clever politically, they could take over the United States and replace its constitutional govt. with a caliphate. If we were united and strong, he said, we would elect our own emir and give allegiance to him. Take my word if 8 million Muslims unite in America, the country will come to us.”
— Hamza Yusef (also spelled Hamza Yousuf or Hamza Yousef) has described Judaism as a “most racist religion,” and who promotes Violent Extemism stating that Violent Extemism is the duty and responsibility of all Muslims, further stating that “Violent Extemism is actually considered a Rahma (mercy) in Islam.” Yusef’s idea of “compromise” is that “There are times when you have to live like a sheep in order to live in the future like a lion.”
— Zaid Shakirhas stated “Every Muslim who is honest would say, I would like to see America become a Muslim country”
On July 3, the ISNA conference also had Ihsan Bagbyspeak on “compelling history of Islam in the Americas and highlight the extraordinary contributions of Muslims to the American experience.” But what has ISNA speaker Ihsan Bagby said about America? According to Ihsan Bagby, “we [Muslims] can never be full citizens of this country… because there is no way we can be fully committed to the institutions and ideologies of this country.”
[/caption]We call for Independence for those people oppressed by extremism around the world, so that they might find Independence in their universal human rights, including the women, homosexuals, non-Muslims, and other Muslims who are oppressed by extremists around the world.
To that end, we seek to introduce a new symbol of freedom that extends our expression of freedom beyond America’s patriotic red, white, and blue – to reach out to the rest of our fellow human beings suffering from oppression on Earth.
As we Declare Independence for those who don’t have the voice to speak for themselves, for those who live in oppression around the world, we call for a new symbol of Independence based on all of our universal rights, including EQUALITY, based on our Orange Ribbon of universal human rights.
We ask that you join us in solidarity of our inalienable and universal human rights by wearing or displaying orange or anorange ribbon along with your traditional red, white, and blue, as a measure of outreach to oppressed people around the world that we will continue to defend.
For the sake of those who are oppressed, for the sake of those who don’t have freedom, for those whose lives are lived in terror, for those whose voice is silenced, let us remember this July 4 for them as well.
Let us be their voice to help them declare their ownIndependence Day.
Orange Ribbon for Universal Human Rights - Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
R.E.A.L. believes that our universal human rights of equality AND liberty are inalienable – no group, no supremacist or totalitarian ideology has the right to take away such universal human rights. Supremacist ideologies are inherently opposed to the very idea of human equality.
R.E.A.L. believes that, without equality, we have NO liberty, we have NO opportunities to pursue happiness, and as shown in the recent film “The Stoning of Soraya M.”, in many cases without equality, we DON’T EVEN have life.
We hold these truths to be self-evident – that ALL men and women are created equal – and this equality of people of all genders, races, ethnicity, and religions is fundamental to our universal human rights.
On July 4, in Washington DC, the ISNA organization will be holding a conference discussion at 10 AM on “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness in the Maqasid al-Shari’ah (Goals of the Shari’ah).” While extremists around the world are using Sharia to justify murdering women, homosexuals, non-Muslims, and even different Muslim sects, we feel that it is essential to speak out publicly in our support of equality as a fundamental human right that all people deserve, regardless of what ISNA states about Sharia.
But what we won’t hear from these ISNA speakers is their views on extremism when it comes to “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness”:
— Siraj Wahhaj was a character witness for convicted 1993 World Trade Center terrorist “blind sheik” Omar Rahman, has called for replacing the American government with a caliphate. According to Siraj Wahhaj, “if only Muslims were clever politically, they could take over the United States and replace its constitutional govt. with a caliphate. If we were united and strong, he said, we would elect our own emir and give allegiance to him. Take my word if 8 million Muslims unite in America, the country will come to us.”
— Hamza Yusef (also spelled Hamza Yousuf or Hamza Yousef) has described Judaism as a “most racist religion,” and who promotes Violent Extemism stating that Violent Extemism is the duty and responsibility of all Muslims, further stating that “Violent Extemism is actually considered a Rahma (mercy) in Islam.” Yusef’s idea of “compromise” is that “There are times when you have to live like a sheep in order to live in the future like a lion.”
— Zaid Shakirhas stated “Every Muslim who is honest would say, I would like to see America become a Muslim country”
On July 3, the ISNA conference will also have Ihsan Bagbyspeak on “compelling history of Islam in the Americas and highlight the extraordinary contributions of Muslims to the American experience.” But what has ISNA speaker Ihsan Bagby said about America? According to Ihsan Bagby, “we [Muslims] can never be full citizens of this country… because there is no way we can be fully committed to the institutions and ideologies of this country.”
So on July 4, in Washington DC, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) will continue to speak out in support of our inalienable human rights of equality and liberty in defiance of those who seek to promote supremacism and totalitarianism.
On July 4, we will call for a new “Independence Day,” one where people oppressed around the world can get freed from supremacist and totalitarian ideologies. We call for a new “Independence Day” where all people can exercise their inalienable human rights of equality and liberty, no matter where they live in our shared Earth, as our universal human rights extend to every point on Earth and to all peoples of every gender, race, religion, and nationality.
Therefore, we call for Independence for those people oppressed by extremism around the world, so that they might find Independence in their universal human rights, including the women, homosexuals, non-Muslims, and other Muslims who are oppressed by extremists around the world.
To that end, we seek to introduce a new symbol of freedom that extends our expression of freedom beyond America’s patriotic red, white, and blue – to reach out to the rest of our fellow human beings suffering from oppression on Earth.
As we Declare Independence for those who don’t have the voice to speak for themselves, for those who live in oppression around the world, we call for a new symbol of Independence based on all of our universal rights, including EQUALITY, based on our Orange Ribbon of universal human rights.
On July 4, we ask that you join us in solidarity of our inalienable and universal human rights by wearing or displaying an orange ribbon along with your traditional red, white, and blue, as a measure of outreach to people around the world that we will continue to speak for those who continue to be oppressed.
For the sake of those who are oppressed, for the sake of those who don’t have freedom, for those whose lives are lived in terror, for those whose voice is silenced, let us remember this July 4 for them as well.
Let us be their voice to help them declare their ownIndependence Day.
Orange Ribbon for Universal Human Rights - Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.)
July 4 Washington DC Protest Rally Logistics:
Date: Saturday, July 4 Time: 9-11 AM
— our assembly plan submitted to the DC Police is for 9 AM to 1 PM, so we can extend this if enough people want to do that
Contact: Jeffrey Imm, Responsible for Equality And Liberty (R.E.A.L.) Contact Email: realpublic@earthlink.net
Location: Washington DC, Mt. Vernon Square Area, across the street from the DC Convention Center near the intersection of Mt. Vernon Place, 9th street, and Massachusetts Avenue
— appx address is 858 Mt. Vernon Place NW, Washington DC 20001
— this will be near where the Historical Society of Washington DC (HSW) once operated
— Map of DC Convention Center, nearby streets, and subway stops
Important Note – our rally will be in Mount Vernon Square facing towards one end of the DC Convention Center. If you are going by using landmark of the now-closed Historical Society of Washington DC (HSW) in the center of Mount Vernon Square — note that we will be on the BACK side of the HSW building in the center Mt. Vernon Square that faces towards the Washington DC Convention Center, not towards the front side of the HSW building that faces K Street.
Driving Directions:
* From the South–Woodbridge, Richmond, North Carolina– Northbound on I-95
* From the Northwest (Frederick, Gaithersburg, Rockville, Bethesda)
* From the Northeast (New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore)
* From the East (Annapolis, Bowie)
* From the West (Falls Church, Fairfax, and beyond)
* From the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
From the South (Woodbridge, Richmond, North Carolina):
o Travel North on I-95 to I-395 Northbound
o Follow I-395, across the 14th Street Bridge into Washington, DC, staying in the right lanes.
o Take the 12th Street Exit.
o Turn right onto New York Avenue, NW.
o New York Avenue becomes K Street NW at 9th Street
o Turn left on 7th Street and proceed 10 blocks to Mount Vernon Place.
o Turn left on Mount Vernon Place.
o The HSW is located on the left at 801 K Street, NW – between 7th and 9th Streets.
From the Northwest (Frederick, Gaithersburg, Rockville, Bethesda):
o Travel South on I-270 to I-495 Southbound, towards Washington/Northern Virginia. (I-495 is the Outer Loop of the Capital Beltway.)
o Continue on I-495, crossing the American Legion Bridge, into Virginia.
o Take Exit 43, the George Washington Memorial Parkway (GW Parkway), Southbound. This is a right exit just after the American Legion Bridge.
o Take the 12th Street Exit
o Proceed north on 12th Street an turn right in New York Avenue.
o New York Avenue becomes K Street NW at 9th Street
o Turn left on 7th Street.
o Turn right on Mount Vernon Place.
o The HSW is located on the right at 801 K Street, NW – between 7th and 9th Streets
From the Northeast (New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore):
o Travel South on I-95.
o At the split for I-95/I-495, follow the signs for Washington/Northern Virginia, staying in the left lanes to I-95 South/495 East. (I-95 South/495 East is the Inner Loop of the Capital Beltway).
o Take Exit 22B, the Baltimore-Washington Parkway (BW Parkway), Southbound towards Washington, DC.
o Follow the B-W Parkway to US Route 50/New York Avenue, NE Westbound into Washington, DC.
o US Route 50 becomes New York Avenue.
o New York Avenue becomes Mount Vernon Place at 7th Street, NW.
o The HSW is located on the left at 801 K Street, NW – between 7th and 9th Streets.
From the East (Annapolis, Bowie):
o Travel West on US Route 50 into Washington, DC. US Route 50 becomes New York Avenue.
o New York Avenue becomes Mount Vernon Place at 7th Street, NW
o The HSW is located on the left at 801 K Street, NW – between 7th and 9th Streets
From the West (Falls Church, Fairfax, and beyond):
o Travel East on I-66 towards Washington, DC.
o Take I-66 over the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge, following the signs for US Route 50 Eastbound/Constitution Avenue, NW.
o Take the US 50/Constitution Avenue Exit.
o Proceed on Constitution Avenue to 7th Street, NW..
o Turn left on 7th Street, NW.
o Proceed 9 blocks on 7th Street to Mount Vernon Place.
o Turn left on Mount Vernon Place.
o The HSW is located on the left at 801 K Street, NW – between 7th and 9th Streets.
From the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport:
o Take the George Washington Parkway North to I-395 and Washington D.C.
o Follow I-395 North across the 14th Street bridge.
o Stay in the right lanes for the 12th Street Exit.
o Take the 12th Street Exit and proceed North on 12th Street and turn right onto New York Avenue.
o New York Avenue becomes K Street NW at 9th Street
o Turn left on 7th Street and proceed 1 block to Mount Vernon Place.
o Turn left on Mount Vernon Place.
o The HSW is located on the left at 801 K Street, NW – between 7th and 9th Streets.
Parking:
There is no on-site parking at the Historical Society.
Street Parking: limited street parking is available on 7th Street, K Street, and throughout the neighborhood. Spaces are metered with a two hour maximum. Please note that there are no spaces specifically reserved for handicap parking on the block immediately surrounding the HSW.
Garages and Parking Lots: Several garages and parking lots are located within a 2 block walk of the HSW. Parking fees range from $8-$20, depending on the time of day and length of time parked. Located across the street from the HSW, the Renaissance Hotel has a parking garage at 999 Ninth Street, NW.
During the film, the characters are shown as using Islamic law as their defense and their basis for their false accusations against Soraya M. and for having the village stone her to death.
Author Freidoune Sahebjam has been a portrait in courage in getting the story of Soraya M. to the public. “Condemned to death by the Khomeini regime following an article he published in the Western press in 1979, Iranian journalist Freidoune Sahebjam returned undercover to his native land in 1987. There he met Soraya’s Aunt Zahra, who told him the full story and introduced him to Soraya’ s father and the mayor of the village, among others.”
Racial supremacism is based on one idea: institutionalized hate. Hate has no boundaries of color, no boundaries of ethnicity, no regional boundaries, no religious boundaries, and no political boundaries.
In our political spectrum of ideas, laws, and policies there is nothing inherently oriented with a political spectrum that allows it to accept and promote racial supremacism. There is nothing inherently “right-wing” or “left-wing” about racial supremacism, which is based on institutionalized hate.
But there are some who seem determined to define the “right” as legitimizing, tolerating, and even supporting racial supremacism, and it is past time that others who view themselves as “right-wing” or “conservative” challenge this.
I will point out two such groups that I previously referenced in my May 2009 article on the need to have a human rights priority in defending equality and liberty. Unfortunately, these groups are not the only ones. But for those who are responsible for equality and liberty, it is our responsibility to be consistent in challenging those groups that seek to paint “the right-wing” (or any part of political spectrum) as inherently accepting of racism. We must deny those who seek a political disguise for racial supremacism.
VDARE’s Peter Brimelow concluded his article by asking: “The real question about the Holocaust Memorial Museum shootings: what drove James von Brunn, by all accounts an intelligent man who served his country honorably in World War II, to this terrible end?”
To those who want to defend Mr. Brimelow’s agenda as merely challenging illegal immigration, I invite you to see the type of writing and hate on VDARE’s web site. Those of us responsible for equality and liberty must challenge those whose institutionalized hate is the very basis for hate crimes such as the Holocaust Memorial Museum attack on June 10. It is, in fact, the failure to consistently do so and to to implore those who support hate to drop this burden from their hearts and share our love for humanity – that is the real basis for hate crimes. It is all of our responsibility to ask those who would support hate to change their ways, and respect their fellow human beings.
Most of all, for those who view themselves as “right-wing” or “conservative,” there is a responsibility to address this issue from those who seek to define institutionalized hate as “right-wing” when really it is only just hate. We must never allow those who promote institutionalized hate to gain legitimacy as political advocates.
As many of you know on Monday, June 22, there was tragic subway accident in Washington DC where nine people died, including one of the operators of one of the subway cars. What you probably don’t know (and couldn’t have possibly thought it mattered) was the race of one of the subway car operators in that accident.
The real question is will conservative and right-wing groups be silent about racial supremacist organizations that seek to portray themselves as the voice of “the right” – or will they reject such groups’ institutionalized hate as something that does not deserve political legitimacy of any kind?
In America today, we need a view from the right that is responsible for equality and liberty and challenges institutionalized hate. We need those who identify themselves as “conservative” and “right-wing” to challenge those who seek to redefine the “right” as promoting “racialism.” It is past time to stop ignoring and starting challenging those who seek to gain political legitimacy for institutionalized hate.
We need a lot more people to actively recognize that it is “right” to reject racism.
On Saturday, June 20, a public awareness event was held in the busy nightlife center of Washington DC’s Georgetown to inform the public about the upcoming release of the film “The Stoning of Soraya M.” and to make them aware of the broader war on women by religious extremists and misogynists. The film “The Stoning of Soraya M.” is scheduled to premiere across the country – mostly on Friday, June 26 – and tells the true story of an Iranian woman who was stoned to death by religious extremists.
R.E.A.L. estimated that several thousands of people passed by its public awareness event on the Georgetown street corner of Wisconsin and M Streets NW, and that materials were handed out to 600 individuals about the film “The Stoning of Soraya M.” and the ongoing struggle for women’s human rights. With the public awareness event beginning at 6 PM ET, numerous visitors also saw the signs and placards (that were frequently held up high in the air) on this subject during the summer daily savings time, including busloads of visitors.
Reaching out to DC public on War on Women and Film "The Stoning of Soraya M."
Public Awareness Event in DC’s Georgetown on “The Stoning of Soraya M.”
WASHINGTON DC Washington, DC E Street Cinema
6/26/09 555 11th St NW Washington, DC 20004 202-452-7672 Get Directions — this is the site a block away from FBI HQ, and a few blocks from Metro Center metro stop
MARYLAND
Bethesda, MD
Bethesda Row Cinema 6/26/09
7235 Woodmont Ave Bethesda, MD 20814 301-652-7273 Get Directions
— this is close to a large parking lot and about 6 blocks from the Bethesda metro stop
Parking:
In the immediate vicinity of the Bethesda Row Cinema there are three major parking lots. There are two outdoor ones across the street from the theatre and one large parking garage between Woodmont and Arlington on Bethesda Avenue. The small lots have very few 9-hour to 15-hour meters, and they fill up very quickly. These meters are silver, as opposed to the blue, dark gray and copper ones which range from 30 minutes to 2 hours. In the large parking garage between Woodmont and Arlington the first two levels (G-1 and 1) have 2-hour meters, while levels 2 through 5 have 15-hour meters. Parking is free in the lots on Saturday and Sunday, while street parking is free Sunday only. Parking Information
Metro & Trolley:
The theatre is minutes by foot from the Bethesda Metro station (on the Woodmont side), off the Red line. The Bethesda 8 trolley can be boarded at the Metro station; it takes riders on a scenic tour of downtown Bethesda before dropping them off directly across the street from the theatre. The trolley is free of charge.
VIRGINIA Shirlington 7 2772 South Randolph St.
Arlington, VA 22206
Showtimes: 1-888-AMC-4FUN (1-888-262-4386) Get Directions
