Bigotry and racism are oppressive ideas that run afoul of individualist ideals. Anti-Arab racism and anti-Muslim bigotry are two forms of bigotry that have for at least the past decade been used to justify a litany of criminal acts of tyranny and state violence. The New York Police Department has “designated entire mosques ‘terrorism enterprises’ in order to justify the use of invasive methods to spy on congregants and imams.”

The United States government held Muslim blogger Tarek Mehanna in solitary confinement for years before convicting him and sentencing him to years in prison, merely for expressing opinions online. The U.S. government and their allies regularly use bombs to murder innocents in primarily Muslim countries like Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen. The Holy Land Five are incarcerated by the U.S. government merely for making charitable donations and offering humanitarian aid to suffering Palestinians. The French government bans veils worn by Muslim women. Belgium enforces a similar discriminatory ban.

Anarchists, libertarians, and radicals should stand against these oppressive state policies and the bigotry that fuels them. But under the name “Students for a Stateless Society UGent,” some racists have chosen to enlist anarchism’s name to the cause of racism and violent oppression. Last week the Students for a Stateless Society network made it clear that we will not stand for this kind of bigotry. S4SS UGent are not our comrades, nor are they anarchists. Here is our statement of disassociation from these bigots.