ckaihatsu
15th April 2013, 19:06
Update from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression
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1. On The Passing Of Michael McConnell
2. April 17 - International Palestinian Prisoners Day
3. Chicago Action For International Palestinian Prisoners Day
4. Two Protests To Free Aafia Siddiqui!
1. On The Passing Of Michael McConnell
Arab American Action Network Statement
Michael McConnell (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=68282b55f4&e=b3b6009f90) passed away on Sunday, April 7th, after a long struggle with cancer.
Visitation is Thursday, April 11, from 4 to 9 p.m. at John E. Maloney Funeral Home, 1359 W. Devon Ave.
The memorial service is Friday, April 12, at 4 p.m., at Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ, 619 W. Wellington Ave.
As Midwest Regional Director of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Michael was a great friend to the AAAN and our Arab and Palestinian communities in Chicagoland and beyond.
The AFSC has a long history of organizing and activism in support of Palestinian refugees in the homeland, and Michael epitomized its principled stances over many years of leadership in the U.S. movement to end Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.
Michael and the AFSC were the first of many to reach out to our community and organization when post-9/11 hysteria led to political, legislative, and personal attacks on our people and institutions, helping to organize "peace circles" around mosques, community centers, and churches in the Arab neighborhoods.
He also played, along with the Reverend Dan Dale of Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ, a leading role in gathering dozens of signatures from religious leaders on a statement in defense of civil liberties, immediately after the FBI raids on the homes of peace and international solidarity activists, including the AAAN's Executive Director, in September of 2010.
The people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Lebanon, Africa, Latin America, and Chicago owe Michael and the AFSC a debt of gratitude for their unwavering commitment to peace with justice. We remember that Michael McConnell never used one word without the other. He believed truly that there could be no peace without justice.
We will miss him dearly.
Hatem Abudayyeh,
on behalf of the constituents, staff, and board of the
Arab American Action Network (AAAN)
2. April 17 - International Palestinian Prisoners Day
National Call In Day
Demand justice for Arafat Jaradat and Maysara Abuhamdieh and
Demand freedom for Samer Issawi and all Palestinian political prisoners.
Call on President Obama and the State Department, Wednesday, April 17, from 8 AM to 4 PM CST, to take action:
1) Call President Obama at 1-202-456-1111
2) Call US Secretary of State John Kerry at 1-202-647-4000 (pick option 4 for the operator and ask to leave a message for Kerry) and the Office of Near East Affairs at 1-202-647-7209 (you will get transferred to Marguerite Pickett to leave a message)
Sample message: “My name is _____ from __________ and I urge the administration to:
- Sanction Israel for the deaths of Arafat Jaradat and Maysara Abuhamdieh and
- Demand the Israelis immediately free hunger striker Samer Issawi and release all Palestinian administrative detainees and political prisoners."
Join the worldwide campaign on Twitter at 2PM CST on Wednesdays to demand the release of Samer Issawi. Check @samerissawi1 for the hash tag to use.
Follow "The Free Samer Issawi Campaign" page on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Free-Samer-Issawi-Campaign/194111744067340?ref=ts&fref=ts
Israeli authorities detain Issawi without charges. He was released from prison in October 2011 as a part of the Shalit prisoner swap, but was detained again without charge on July 7, 2012. Issawi has refused food since August 2012 to protest his detention.
3. Chicago Action For International Palestinian Prisoners Day
Wednesday April 17, 5:30pm
At The Bean In Millennium Park
Join the Palestinian community and Palestine solidarity activists from across Chicago for our "Intifada Theater" production in support of International Palestinian Prisoners Day. April 17 is the day when activists around the world demand justice and freedom for all Palestinian political prisoners.
There are still over 4,800 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails, including children and administrative detainees (jailed without charge or trial). Over the past months we have seen Samer Issawi remain on hunger strike for over 260 days until he wins freedom without conditions; we have seen Arafat Jaradat tortured to death in Israeli prison; and Maysara Abuhamdieh die of cancer after being refused proper medical treatment by the Israeli prison service. The Israelis have continued their illegal policies of jailing Palestinians without charge or trial, jailing children in violation of all international laws, and torturing prisoners regardless of their age or gender.
But we also see the resistance of Palestinian prisoners to this repression through waves of hunger strikes throughout the Israeli prison system. We have seen Palestinians taking to the streets to protest the treatment of the men and women who resist the occupation of their land. And we have also seen the protests by Palestine solidarity activists around the world supporting the demand for justice and freedom for all Palestinian political prisoners.
4. Two Protests To Free Aafia Siddiqui!
Texas Rally Demands "Free Aafia Siddiqui!"
Fort Worth, TX – About 60 people gathered here at the U.S. District Court building, March 29, to demand “Free Aafia Siddiqui!” Dr. Siddiqui is a Pakistani woman who was kidnapped in Pakistan and tortured. She is now a political prisoner held in a Texas prison.
Rally Organized In Favor of Dr. Aafia in Fort Worth
DALLAS: American former Attorney General from 60's Mr. Ramsey Clark has said that he concluded after going through all the facts in Dr Aafia Siddiqui's trial that she is innocent and America unjustly kept her in prison.
Protest at Texas Women's Prison Demands Freedom for Aafia Siddiqui
Fort Worth, TX – More than 40 protesters gathered at the Carswell federal prison, March 30, to demand freedom for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui and the other women political prisoners held here.
Hundreds of cars slowed as they passed by, to see what the protest was about. The saw a large banner with Aafia Siddiqui’s face and the demand "Free Aafia" along with signs demanding freedom for Aafia Siddiqui and jailed activist attorney Lynne Stewart.
South Africa Protest Demands "Free Dr. Aafia Siddiqui!"
Durban, South Africa – Protesters flocked to the U.S. consulate here, March 22, on the tenth anniversary of the abduction of Dr. Siddiqui and her three children in Karachi, Pakistan.
follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend
Copyright © 2013 Committee to Stop FBI Repression, All rights reserved.
Thanks for your ongoing interest in the fight against FBI repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists!
Our mailing address is:
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
PO Box 14183
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Add us to your address book
unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences
Is this email not displaying correctly?
View it in your browser. (http://us2.campaign-archive1.com/?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=35509510f0&e=b3b6009f90)
1. On The Passing Of Michael McConnell
2. April 17 - International Palestinian Prisoners Day
3. Chicago Action For International Palestinian Prisoners Day
4. Two Protests To Free Aafia Siddiqui!
1. On The Passing Of Michael McConnell
Arab American Action Network Statement
Michael McConnell (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=68282b55f4&e=b3b6009f90) passed away on Sunday, April 7th, after a long struggle with cancer.
Visitation is Thursday, April 11, from 4 to 9 p.m. at John E. Maloney Funeral Home, 1359 W. Devon Ave.
The memorial service is Friday, April 12, at 4 p.m., at Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ, 619 W. Wellington Ave.
As Midwest Regional Director of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Michael was a great friend to the AAAN and our Arab and Palestinian communities in Chicagoland and beyond.
The AFSC has a long history of organizing and activism in support of Palestinian refugees in the homeland, and Michael epitomized its principled stances over many years of leadership in the U.S. movement to end Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.
Michael and the AFSC were the first of many to reach out to our community and organization when post-9/11 hysteria led to political, legislative, and personal attacks on our people and institutions, helping to organize "peace circles" around mosques, community centers, and churches in the Arab neighborhoods.
He also played, along with the Reverend Dan Dale of Wellington Avenue United Church of Christ, a leading role in gathering dozens of signatures from religious leaders on a statement in defense of civil liberties, immediately after the FBI raids on the homes of peace and international solidarity activists, including the AAAN's Executive Director, in September of 2010.
The people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Lebanon, Africa, Latin America, and Chicago owe Michael and the AFSC a debt of gratitude for their unwavering commitment to peace with justice. We remember that Michael McConnell never used one word without the other. He believed truly that there could be no peace without justice.
We will miss him dearly.
Hatem Abudayyeh,
on behalf of the constituents, staff, and board of the
Arab American Action Network (AAAN)
2. April 17 - International Palestinian Prisoners Day
National Call In Day
Demand justice for Arafat Jaradat and Maysara Abuhamdieh and
Demand freedom for Samer Issawi and all Palestinian political prisoners.
Call on President Obama and the State Department, Wednesday, April 17, from 8 AM to 4 PM CST, to take action:
1) Call President Obama at 1-202-456-1111
2) Call US Secretary of State John Kerry at 1-202-647-4000 (pick option 4 for the operator and ask to leave a message for Kerry) and the Office of Near East Affairs at 1-202-647-7209 (you will get transferred to Marguerite Pickett to leave a message)
Sample message: “My name is _____ from __________ and I urge the administration to:
- Sanction Israel for the deaths of Arafat Jaradat and Maysara Abuhamdieh and
- Demand the Israelis immediately free hunger striker Samer Issawi and release all Palestinian administrative detainees and political prisoners."
Join the worldwide campaign on Twitter at 2PM CST on Wednesdays to demand the release of Samer Issawi. Check @samerissawi1 for the hash tag to use.
Follow "The Free Samer Issawi Campaign" page on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Free-Samer-Issawi-Campaign/194111744067340?ref=ts&fref=ts
Israeli authorities detain Issawi without charges. He was released from prison in October 2011 as a part of the Shalit prisoner swap, but was detained again without charge on July 7, 2012. Issawi has refused food since August 2012 to protest his detention.
3. Chicago Action For International Palestinian Prisoners Day
Wednesday April 17, 5:30pm
At The Bean In Millennium Park
Join the Palestinian community and Palestine solidarity activists from across Chicago for our "Intifada Theater" production in support of International Palestinian Prisoners Day. April 17 is the day when activists around the world demand justice and freedom for all Palestinian political prisoners.
There are still over 4,800 Palestinian political prisoners held in Israeli jails, including children and administrative detainees (jailed without charge or trial). Over the past months we have seen Samer Issawi remain on hunger strike for over 260 days until he wins freedom without conditions; we have seen Arafat Jaradat tortured to death in Israeli prison; and Maysara Abuhamdieh die of cancer after being refused proper medical treatment by the Israeli prison service. The Israelis have continued their illegal policies of jailing Palestinians without charge or trial, jailing children in violation of all international laws, and torturing prisoners regardless of their age or gender.
But we also see the resistance of Palestinian prisoners to this repression through waves of hunger strikes throughout the Israeli prison system. We have seen Palestinians taking to the streets to protest the treatment of the men and women who resist the occupation of their land. And we have also seen the protests by Palestine solidarity activists around the world supporting the demand for justice and freedom for all Palestinian political prisoners.
4. Two Protests To Free Aafia Siddiqui!
Texas Rally Demands "Free Aafia Siddiqui!"
Fort Worth, TX – About 60 people gathered here at the U.S. District Court building, March 29, to demand “Free Aafia Siddiqui!” Dr. Siddiqui is a Pakistani woman who was kidnapped in Pakistan and tortured. She is now a political prisoner held in a Texas prison.
Rally Organized In Favor of Dr. Aafia in Fort Worth
DALLAS: American former Attorney General from 60's Mr. Ramsey Clark has said that he concluded after going through all the facts in Dr Aafia Siddiqui's trial that she is innocent and America unjustly kept her in prison.
Protest at Texas Women's Prison Demands Freedom for Aafia Siddiqui
Fort Worth, TX – More than 40 protesters gathered at the Carswell federal prison, March 30, to demand freedom for Dr. Aafia Siddiqui and the other women political prisoners held here.
Hundreds of cars slowed as they passed by, to see what the protest was about. The saw a large banner with Aafia Siddiqui’s face and the demand "Free Aafia" along with signs demanding freedom for Aafia Siddiqui and jailed activist attorney Lynne Stewart.
South Africa Protest Demands "Free Dr. Aafia Siddiqui!"
Durban, South Africa – Protesters flocked to the U.S. consulate here, March 22, on the tenth anniversary of the abduction of Dr. Siddiqui and her three children in Karachi, Pakistan.
follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend
Copyright © 2013 Committee to Stop FBI Repression, All rights reserved.
Thanks for your ongoing interest in the fight against FBI repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists!
Our mailing address is:
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
PO Box 14183
Minneapolis, MN 55414
Add us to your address book
unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences