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NORTHWEST COALITION FOR HUMAN DIGNITY MEMORANDUM

SEARCHLIGHT AND THE NORTHWEST COALITION FOR HUMAN DIGNITY CALL FOR SOLIDARITY AGAINST RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN AUSTRIA

Dear friends,

Last October 1999 at the annual conference of the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity we were joined by representatives of our sister organizations in Britain, Germany and Canada. During their exciting and inspiring presentations many workshop participants asked what we could do to assist our friends in abroad. Their response was simple: we commit ourselves by showing solidarity with our counterparts overseas.

The dramatic situation now unfolding by the hour in Austria has initiated our sister organizations to ask for our immediate assistance and public solidarity in the struggle for human rights in Europe. Graeme Atkinson of the anti-racist and anti-fascist European organization Searchlight calls it "An acid-test for our international network that me must engage. We must not abandon our Austrian human rights allies and those threatened by the extreme right FPO [Freedom Party]. In the words of Primo Levi:   'If not now... '"

In solidarity with those in Austria who struggle against racism and other forms of bigotry, we are asking that all task forces within the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity, network rise to support our friends and allies in Austria. We are encouraging all human rights task forces to hold a vigil, protest, or public forum to publicize the recent developments in Austria and how your community can respond. Let's mobilize our communities to write our congressional representatives as well as Austria's Ambassador to the United States. Additionally we are asking you to generate letters to the editor for your local papers. We have enclosed:

1. A sample media release to use to advertise your event (as well as an alternative version coming directly from the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity). The media release can also be used to generate letters to the editor from your local membership and talking points for writing your Congressional Representatives.
2. Three ready-to-print postcard templates. Please activate your community to send postcards to your congressional representatives and the Austrian Ambassador. You can use the sample media release to create talking points.
3. We have enclosed a special compilation of articles on Jörg Haider and the Freedom Party from Searchlight magazine. These can be a useful supplement for reporters, your presentations, media releases and Op-Ed's in your local paper.

If you have any questions you can contact the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity at 206-233-9136 or the Colorado/Wyoming office at 303-839-5953. You may also write e-mail to ncamh@aol.com.

As Maya Angelou once said, "History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again." It is now our time to face history and ourselves and make the difference!

Yours in struggle,

Eric K. Ward
Marlene Hines
On behalf of the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity

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For Immediate Release
February 4, 2000

Grassroots Human Rights Groups in the U.S. Protest Extreme Right Victory in Austria

The inclusion of Austria's extreme right Freedom Party in the new coalition government has the leaders of the United States and European Union deliberating over how to respond. Meanwhile the citizens of Austria, Norway, Britain, Gemany and elsewhere in Europe have moved swiftly to demonstrate their opposition. Now communities throughout the Northwestern United States are joining with their counterparts in Europe to denounce this victory for the extreme right.

"From across the Northwest, we want to deliver a clear message to the people of Austria," explained Terre Rybovich, director of the Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity, which encompasses the six states of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington and Wyoming. "We stand with those who support democracy and dignity for all Austrians. We stand with those who oppose the simplistic and the bigoted."

Support for the Freedom Party and its leader Jörg Haider is rooted both in current attitudes toward immigrants and in decades-old ambivalence (if not support) for Nazis. Americans may have been surprised when ex-United Nations secretary general Kurt Waldheim was elected president in 1986, after his participation in Adolph Hitler's Wehrmacht had been publicized. And yet a poll conducted after the election found that 22% of Austrians believed that "no Jews should live in Austria." Thirty-seven percent agreed that "Jews are too influential," while 39% believed that, "if there are too many foreigners in the country, then one should let them feel that they are not wanted." Almost fifty years earlier the majority of Austrians expressed enthusiastic support for the peaceful Nazi takeover of their territory. After the war more than 600,000 Nazi party members were incorporated into Austria's new political system of two parties, conservative and social democratic.

Often one looks to economic hardship for an explanation when the extreme right succeeds. Ironically, Austria has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the European Union, 6.9%, with zero inflation. Only 8% of the population of 8 million is comprised of"foreigners." In fact, when commenting on Austria's social and economic miracle, the Pope termed it the "island of the blessed." In this case the Freedom Party's victory appears to be driven more by ideology and historical legacy than by economic despair.

The Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity (representing the 1999 merger of the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment with the Coalition for Human Dignity) comprises a network of 120 community human rights task forces located in six states of the region. All 120 task forces are encouraged to send their own messages of support to their counterparts in Austria, and to express their concern to Austria's Ambassador to the United States, His Excellency Peter Moser, and to their congressional representatives in Washington, DC.

Efforts are also being made to coordinate responses with our counterpart organizations throughout Europe, including Searchlight Magazine in London (editors@s-light.demon.co.uk), which has supplied information for this press release.

For further information contact:
Terre Rybovich, Executive Director, Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity, 206-233-9136
Jonn Lunsford, Research Director, Northwest Coalition for Human Dignity, 360-756-0914
Marlene Hines, Director, Colorado/Wyoming Project, 303-839-5953.