Itrath Syed is a well-known Muslim anti-war activist, progressive Delta-Richmond East NDP candidate and Women’s Studies Graduate Student at UBC. Recently, Ms. Syed was invited to celebrate the Muslim holiday of Eid ul-Fitr at the U.S. Consulate in Downtown Vancouver. For your reading pleasure, here is the letter with which she politely declined the invitation.

Tuesday November 30, 2004

Consulate General of the
United States in Vancouver
1095 West Pender Street,
Vancouver, B.C. V6E  2M6

Consul General Luis E. Arreaga,

I received your invitation to dine with you this evening to celebrate the recent Muslim holiday of Eid ul Fitr.

Unfortunately, I will have to decline your invitation, as I will be otherwise engaged today. Perhaps you have heard of the demonstrations planned across Canada to coincide with your President's visit to our country? Like many other Canadians, from coast to coast to coast, I will be in the streets making very clear my opposition to aspects of U.S. foreign policy. It is a long list, as you can well imagine. Some of the highlights are the ongoing war and occupation of Iraq and the continuing support your government provides to Israel in its occupation of Palestine. [And don't even get me started on that whole BMD/Star Wars thing.]

I do know that it has been a recent policy of U. S. Embassies and Consulates to host dinners with local Muslim communities around the world. While I think this sounds like a lovely idea, [and truly I love a fancy dinner as much as anyone else], I do find this policy to be in stark contrast to the other policies of the U.S. government that have resulted in unprecedented attacks on civil rights and the racial profiling and targeting of the Muslim and Arab communities in the U.S. [And again, let's not even try to untangle that whole messy thing of your government kidnapping Muslim Canadians and shipping them off to be tortured in Syria.]

So, no, I won't be at your dinner party this evening. But perchance if you happen to look out your office window at the Consulate, you may be able to spot me in the crowd. I'll try to wave.

Sincerely,
Itrath Syed

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