Drop the Charges against Rasmea Odeh

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Drop the Charges against Rasmea Odeh

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By Arab American Action Network

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Oct. 23 statement from the Arab American Action Network. We urge all our readers to participate in the national call in day.

Statement from the Arab American Action Network

The Arab American Action Network (AAAN) condemns the politically-motivated arrest and indictment of Rasmea Yousef Odeh, our beloved Associate Director. The sixty-five year old was arrested at her home yesterday by agents from the Department of Homeland Security, alleging an immigration violation on a 20-year-old application. Rasmea, who has made it her life's work to serve and help empower Palestinian and Arab families, is the victim of another witch-hunt by our federal law enforcement agencies, which continue to violate the civil rights of Arabs and Muslims with impunity, particularly those who are critical of U.S. support for Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people.

Rasmea is a leading member of Chicago's Arab and Muslim communities, and her decade of service here has changed the lives of thousands of people, particularly disenfranchised Arab women and their families. She has been with the AAAN since 2004, and as Associate Director, is responsible for the management of day-to-day operations and the coordination of our Arab Women's Committee, which has a membership of close to 600 and leads our work in the areas of defending civil liberties and immigrant rights. She is a mentor to hundreds of immigrant women, as well as many members of our staff and board, and is a well-known and respected organizer throughout Chicagoland, the U.S., and the world.

Earlier this year, Rasmea received the "Outstanding Community Leader Award" from the Chicago Cultural Alliance, which described her as a woman who has "dedicated over 40 years of her life to the empowerment of Arab women, first in her homes of Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon, where she was an activist and practicing attorney, and then the past 10 years in Chicago."

Rasmea is a community icon who recently completed a Master's degree in Criminal Justice from Governors State University. She overcame vicious torture by Israeli authorities while imprisoned in Palestine in the 70s, and is a proud reminder of the millions of Palestinians who have not given up organizing for their rights of liberation, equality, and return.

It is appalling that our government is now attempting to imprison her once again. We condemn this attack on our friend and colleague Rasmea, as well as the broader pattern of persecuting Arabs and Muslims who are outstanding and outspoken leaders in their communities in the U.S.

We ask all of our supporters to call Barbara McQuade, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit, at 313.226.9501 or 313.226.9100, on Friday, October 25th, from 8 AM to 4 PM CST, to demand that she Drop the Charges Now!

We will also be mobilizing to support Rasmea at her next hearing in Detroit on November 1st. Details coming soon.

And for more information, email the Coalition to Protect People's Rights at [email protected]
Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]






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Call to say, "Drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh!"


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Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net)

Call-in Day to Drop the Charges against Rasmea Odeh

Statement from the Arab American Action Network

Send photos of support for Rasmea!


Call-in Day to Drop the Charges against Rasmea Odeh

Call U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan

Barbara McQuade

313-226-9501 or 313-226-9100

Friday, October 25th

8 a.m. to 4 pm CDT

Demand of U.S. Atty McQuade:

Drop the Charges against Rasmea Yousef Odeh!


The Committee to Stop FBI Repression is circulating this

Statement from the Arab American Action Network

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Rasmea Yousef Odeh


October 23, 2013

The Arab American Action Network (AAAN) condemns the politically-motivated arrest (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=78f1a3c8db&e=b3b6009f90) and indictment of Rasmea Yousef Odeh, our beloved Associate Director. The sixty-five year old was arrested at her home yesterday by agents from the Department of Homeland Security, alleging an immigration violation on a 20-year-old application. Rasmea, who has made it her life's work to serve and help empower Palestinian and Arab families, is the victim of another witch-hunt by our federal law enforcement agencies, which continue to violate the civil rights of Arabs and Muslims with impunity, particularly those who are critical of U.S. support for Israel's crimes against the Palestinian people.

Rasmea is a leading member of Chicago's Arab and Muslim communities, and her decade of service here has changed the lives of thousands of people, particularly disenfranchised Arab women and their families. She has been with the AAAN since 2004, and as Associate Director, is responsible for the management of day-to-day operations and the coordination of our Arab Women's Committee, which has a membership of close to 600 and leads our work in the areas of defending civil liberties and immigrant rights. She is a mentor to hundreds of immigrant women, as well as many members of our staff and board, and is a well-known and respected organizer throughout Chicagoland, the U.S., and the world.

Earlier this year, Rasmea received the "Outstanding Community Leader Award" (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=c9b8c655b7&e=b3b6009f90) from the Chicago Cultural Alliance, which described her as a woman who has "dedicated over 40 years of her life to the empowerment of Arab women, first in her homes of Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon, where she was an activist and practicing attorney, and then the past 10 years in Chicago."

Rasmea is a community icon who recently completed a Master's degree in Criminal Justice from Governors State University. She overcame vicious torture by Israeli authorities while imprisoned in Palestine in the 70s, and is a proud reminder of the millions of Palestinians who have not given up organizing for their rights of liberation, equality, and return.

It is appalling that our government is now attempting to imprison her once again. We condemn this attack on our friend and colleague Rasmea, as well as the broader pattern of persecuting Arabs and Muslims who are outstanding and outspoken leaders in their communities in the U.S.

We ask all of our supporters to call Barbara McQuade, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit, at 313.226.9501 or 313.226.9100, on Friday, October 25th, from 8 AM to 4 PM CST, to demand that she Drop the Charges Now!

We will also be mobilizing to support Rasmea at her next hearing in Detroit on November 1st. Details coming soon.

And for more information, email the Coalition to Protect People's Rights at [email protected]

Send photos of support for Rasmea!
Support Rasmea!
Send us your pictures
Right now we want to get Rasmea's story out there! We are calling on everyone to send us their picture holding up the following message:

'I am ________ and I support Rasmea!'

You can fill in the blank with any self-identifier: your name, your occupation, or any other description. Some examples may be:

"I am a stay-at-home dad and I support Rasmea!"

"I am a youth organizer and I support Rasmea!"

"I am a supporter of Palestinian human rights and I support Rasmea!"

Hold the sign up and snap a selfie, then send it to [email protected]
Put it up as your Facebook/Twitter profile pic, Google Account image, or anything else!
Just remember we may use your image in future publications and informational pamphlets that get published online or distributed as hard copies.


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Thanks for your ongoing interest in the fight against FBI repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists!
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ILPS-US Stands in Solidarity with Rasmea Odeh

By International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS)

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the International League of Peoples’ Struggles-U.S.

The International League of Peoples’ Struggles-US chapter condemns the cowardly arrest of 65 year-old Palestinian leader, Rasmea Yousef Odeh. Odeh, Associate Director of the Arab American Action Network (AAAN), was arrested at her home by agents from the Department of Homeland Security on October 22, 2013. Odeh was charged with an alleged immigration violation on a decades-old application.

This latest attack against Odeh, a deeply respected elder and community leader in both the Palestinian and Arab-American communities in Illinois, is part and parcel to the brutal US-Zionist occupation and assault against the Palestinian people (both in Palestine and in the diaspora). Being a Palestinian immigrant Odeh has called many places home but no matter where she lived she always dedicated her life to serving the people.

Over the last decade her advocacy had a special emphasis on the empowerment of immigrant Arab women in Chicago. Having survived years of persecution and torture as a political prisoner in the hands of the US-Zionist state in occupied Palestine, Odeh shines as a beacon of strength and hope for millions of Palestinians and freedom-loving people around the world who dare to dream and struggle for self-determination.

The persecution of Rasmea Odeh and other Palestinian activists here shows the hypocrisy of the US administration's sweet words about peace in the Middle East and recognizing Palestinian self-determination. On the ground in Palestine, the Zionist-Israeli terror forces murder people daily with the weapons they get from the United States. The so-called US budget crisis has interfered with neither the FBI's attack on free speech and civil liberties of Palestinians and Arab Americans here nor the endless flow of US weapons to the Israeli apartheid state.

This arrest is part of the on-going political witch hunt targeting all peoples standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people and other oppressed peoples around the world fighting for self-determination. Just like the US government’s coordinated FBI-raids targeting 23 international solidarity activists in 2010, her arrest and persecution is nothing less than a violation of civil, political and human rights. It is also a maneuver intended to silence activism and pre-empt people from seeking justice.

In both situations, the US-government criminalizes both our inalienable and collective human right to self-determination and international covenants that guarantee civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. The right to self-determination is a fundamental right, enshrined in both the United Nation Charter, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. The ILPS-US recognizes that is not merely a right, but a necessity, that peoples assert their collective rights to wage struggles for self-determination and national liberation in order to defeat free themselves from oppression by imperialist-backed and-financed tyranny.

The ILPS-US recognizes that one of our most powerful actions against political repression in the United States is solidarity. Solidarity that is seen and heard in the streets. We stand in solidarity with just struggles for peace and freedom around the world, and we stand in solidarity with Rasmea Odeh.

ILPS-US calls on all its member organizations and allies to defend Rasmea Odeh.
The ILPS-US stands in solidarity with Rasmea Odeh and demands that the charges be dropped immediately!

The ILPS-US supports the call to action of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression for mass mobilizations on November 1.

Hands Off Rasmea Odeh and all Palestinian activists!

Drop the Charges Against Rasmea Odeh Now!

End All US Aid to the Racist State of Israel!

Stop the Repression against all activists!
Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]






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By staff

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Chicago, IL – About 50 people protested here, Oct. 24, to oppose Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people and also to call for the U.S. government to drop charges against local Palestinian activist, Rasmea Odeh. The demonstration took place outside the Chicago Hilton where a fundraising event for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) was held.

Odeh was arrested at her home the morning of Oct. 22 by agents of the Department of Homeland Security on allegations of an immigration violation.

According to Hatem Abudayyeh of U.S. Palestinian Community Network-Chicago, “The IDF enforces Israel's occupation of the West Bank and siege of Gaza. Now the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Justice are enforcers of that illegal occupation as well.” He added, “We will raise our voices to oppose this fundraiser and to show our support for Rasmea Odeh. Her voice and ours won’t be silenced.”

Odeh is a well-known activist in the Palestinian community and is a symbol of the enduring spirit of the Palestinians in the face of years of oppression at the hands of the Israeli occupation.

The protest was sponsored by the Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago, Jewish Voice for Peace-Chicago, American Muslims for Palestine, U.S. Palestinian Community Network-Chicago, Committee for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine, Anti-War Committee-Chicago, Code Pink-Chicago and the ANSWER Coalition-Chicago.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]






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ADC Expresses Deep Concern over the Indictment of Rasmea Yousef Odeh


ADC joins a broad coalition of rights groups in expressing deep concern over the recent indictment of Rasmea Yousef Odeh. Ms. Odeh is a Palestinian-American activist who has been a leader among the Arab-American community in Chicago on many social issues, including women's empowerment.

ADC, along with the Center for Constitutional Rights, and 64 other organizations, has signed on to a joint statement standing against the indictment of Ms. Odeh. ADC believes that the indictment of Ms. Odeh is part of a wave of authorities targeting Palestinian activism.

The letter states:

"The 2010 raids, the Grand Jury subpoenas that accompanied them, and this indictment against a 65 year old woman who suffered for a decade in Israeli prisons before coming to the U.S. in 1995, are a clear signal that federal authorities, along with Israel and its supporters in the U.S., are continuing to search for ways to intimidate and silence those who are effective advocates for Arab American communities, and who speak out for Palestinian rights."

The full text of the letter can be read here. (http://www.adc.org/fileadmin/ADC/Pdfs/SolidarityStatement-RasmeaOdeh_10_24.pdf)

Ms. Odeh alleged to have committed immigration fraud for not reporting her imprisonment in the 1960s in Israel when she applied to become a U.S. citizen. ADC finds it appalling, and insulting, that a member of the Arab American community can be targeted in such a matter.

ADC will continue to address the matter, and work with partners to ensure charges against Ms. Odeh are dropped. It is vital that we come together in solidarity with Rasmea Odeh, who is a pillar of strength in our community and a voice for justice.

*There is no relation between Rasmea Odeh and Alex Odeh



ADC | 1990 M Street, NW Suite 610 | Washington DC, 20036 | Tel: 202-244-2990 | Fax: 202-333-3980
©2013ADC. All rights reserved. ADC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

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Take Action: USPCN Strongly Condemns Arrest and Indictment of Rasmea Yousef Odeh


http://uspcn.org/uspcn-logo.jpg

US Palestinian Community Network
www.uspcn.org + [email protected] + Twitter @USPCN

The United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) strongly condemns the arrest and indictment of Rasmea Yousef Odeh by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She is a founding member of the Chicago chapter of USPCN and a mentor to all of its organizers, and we pledge to fight this injustice with all of our strength.

Rasmea has dedicated her whole life to Palestine and Palestinian communities across the world, from her case management and social services work with internally displaced refugees after the 1967 Israeli occupation to her legendary status as an advocate for women’s rights and empowerment in Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and now Chicago. Her career spans close to five decades and her influence spans continents.

Early morning Tuesday, October 22nd, Rasmea was awakened at her home by a number of federal law enforcement agents, and then taken to federal court in Chicago, where she was charged with Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization for allegedly lying on immigration application questions back in 1994. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office in Detroit, Michigan (which has jurisdiction because that is where she applied for citizenship), Rasmea failed to mention an arrest from over 40 years ago. That arrest was ordered by an Israeli military court, the same system that allows almost no right to due process, and today holds hundreds of Palestinians without charge, under “administrative detention,” amongst over 7,000 political prisoners, including 179 children, in total. That arrest was by an army in Palestinian territories that even the U.S. government says is illegal for Israel to militarily occupy. And that arrest led to Rasmea being subjected to years of unspeakable, inhumane, and illegal torture by Israeli prison authorities.

USPCN unequivocally rejects all the charges against Rasmea, as they are nothing but a pretext to criminalize her and her continued work on behalf of our community, including the leading role she played in helping to organize both USPCN national popular conferences in 2008 and 2010, each attended by over 1,200 people. This arrest proves, as in the cases of the Holy Land 5, Sami Al-Arian, Muhammad Salah and Abdelhalim Ashqar, and countless others, that yet again, federal law enforcement in the U.S. is working in coordination with Israel and its Occupation Army to harass, repress, and sow fear in Palestinian communities and their supporters here.

In addition, the lead prosecutor in the Holy Land 5 case, and career anti-Palestinian ideologue and racist, Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas, was present at Rasmea’s hearing on the morning she was arrested. This proves beyond a doubt that this case is not about any alleged immigration violation, but rather a witch-hunt against another community leader who has dedicated her life to organizing for the Right of Return and Palestine’s decolonization.

Rasmea Yousef Odeh is a living legend in the eyes of thousands across the world. In the past 9 years in Chicago, she has been a leader in defending the rights of immigrants and promoting equality and legalization for all. She is the founder of the Arab Women’s Committee, which provides social services, English language and civics instruction, organizing training, and social, personal, and leadership development to over 600 Arab immigrant women in Chicagoland. She advocates for the civil, economic, and political rights of Arabs, Palestinians, Muslims, Africans and African Americans, Latinos, Asians, and all other immigrants, communities of color, and marginalized people. And she is one of our precious elders, a 65 year-old woman who still leads by example and organizes block to block and house to house.

In the U.S., witch-hunts, FBI raids, phony “material support for terrorism” charges, and other attempts to silence Palestinian community members, students, academics, organizers, and activists, as well as our supporters, are not working. The Palestinian-led Boycott Divestment Sanctions Movement is in full swing, gaining more support and strength across the world everyday. National Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) just wrapped up its largest conference ever at Stanford University in the Bay Area of California. The Presbyterian Church in the U.S. is poised to pass a divestment resolution next year. Israel’s supporters and apologists for its Apartheid policies are confronted everywhere they try to spew their racist propaganda. USPCN held a successful national strategic planning meeting just two weeks ago. And, of course, our heroic people in all of historic Palestine, as well as our refugees in surrounding Arab countries, are courageously resisting capitulation, occupation, and colonization in the belly of the Israeli beast. Israel and its U.S. patron are reeling and on the ropes. Keep the pressure on!

If convicted, Rasmea faces up to 10 years in prison, being stripped of her U.S. citizenship, and probable deportation. We cannot allow this to happen! USPCN calls on all people of conscience everywhere to support Rasmea and all Palestinians in our fight against these charges. We are asking our members and supporters to:

Call Barbara McQuade, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, at 313.226.9501 or 313.226.9100, or email [email protected], to demand that she Drop the Charges Now!
Example script and talking points to use:

“Hello, my name is ________ and I am calling from _________. I am calling to demand that U.S. Attorney McQuade drop the immigration charges against Rasmea Yousef Odeh. She is a beloved leader in the community and has worked tirelessly to serve and help empower Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim families throughout the Chicagoland area.

Rasmea is a community icon and was recently awarded an "Outstanding Community Leader" award from the Chicago Cultural Alliance for her over 40 years of dedication and service to people across the Arab World and the U.S.

These charges are a political attack on her as an individual, and on Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim communities across the U.S. as a whole. I stand in unequivocal support of Rasmea and demand that these charges be dropped immediately!”

Send statements of support and solidarity to [email protected]
Join us to pack the courtroom on either November 13 or 14 for Rasmea’s first hearing in Detroit. And if you cannot make it to Detroit, participate in a national day of action to support Rasmea wherever you are. Stay tuned for the specifics.
Like this Facebook page and tweet with the hashtag #justice4rasmea.
Send us your pictures holding up the following message:
"I am ________ and I support Rasmea!"

You should fill in the blank with a self-identifier: your name, your occupation, or any other description. Some examples are "I am a stay-at-home dad and I support Rasmea!" "I am a youth organizer and I support Rasmea!" and "I am a supporter of Palestinian human rights and I support Rasmea!"

Hold the sign up and snap a selfie, then send it to [email protected] Put it up as your Facebook/Twitter profile pic, Google Account image, or anything else! Just remember we may use your image in future publications and informational pamphlets that get published online or distributed as hard copies.

Stay tuned to www.stopfbi.net for updates on the case, and for more information about our work upholding Palestinian rights to Equality, Self-Determination, and Return, and defending Rasmea and other Palestinians under attack, go to www.uspcn.org.


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Please sign the petition for Rasmeah Odeh!


NEW: Please sign the petition for Rasmeah Odeh! (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=f0d1e838c2&e=b3b6009f90)


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Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net)

Sign the petition (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=edd2246b7f&e=b3b6009f90):

Drop the Charges against
Rasmea Yousef Odeh

Sign the petition here (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=cf96a0366d&e=b3b6009f90)

Signing the petition will generate a direct email to:

• U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara McQuade
• Assistant U.S. Attorney for Northern Illinois Barry Jonas
• U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder
• and other public officials
demanding that the charges against Rasmea Odeh be dropped.

https://gallery.mailchimp.com/8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227/images/Rasmea0e385a.jpg

Full petition text
We, the undersigned, demand that U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade stop the indictment of Rasmea Yousef Odeh and drop all federal charges.

Sixty-six year old Rasmea Odeh is a Palestinian-American feminist, activist, educator and community leader. She has served as the associate director of the Arab American Action Network (AAAN) in Chicago since 2004. For the past 10 years, Rasmea has built unprecedented community support for close to 600 Arab immigrant women on issues related to English literacy, gender violence, inter-generational cultural conflicts, racial profiling, immigrant rights, and access to social and economic resources. She has established community-wide education projects related to civil and human rights, social justice, and community economic development and workshops that allow Arab immigrant women to tell, write, and perform their immigration stories while improving their writing skills. In 2013, Rasmea received the "Outstanding Community Leader Award" from the Chicago Cultural Alliance, which described her as a woman who has "dedicated over 40 years of her life to the empowerment of Arab women, first in her homes of Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon, where she was an activist, and then the past 10 years in Chicago."

On October 22, the Department of Homeland Security arrested Rasmea in her home for alleged immigration fraud as part of an ongoing witch-hunt that targets Arabs and Muslims who criticize U.S. and Israeli policy and labels them “terrorists.”

Rasmea has been demanding justice for Palestinians for most of her life. Like the experience of approximately 20% of the total Palestinian population of the West Bank and Gaza, she spent time as a political prisoner in Israeli jails in the 1970’s. There, she was violently tortured and humiliated-- despite the international legal prohibition on torture and ill-treatment.

Like their Israeli ally, the U.S. federal government has a history of targeting individuals who express public support for Palestine and over and over, Palestinian and Arab American activists are disproportionately targeted in such cases. According to the Palestine Solidarity Legal Support, their organization, in partnership with the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), Palestine Solidarity Legal Support (PSLC) in collaboration with the National Lawyers Guild and other organizations, “has documented over 75 cases of intimidation and legal bullying in 2013 alone. These include perceived surveillance, FBI contacts, and discriminatory enforcement of laws against advocates for Palestinian rights.” Now decades in the making, this U.S. government strategy targets Palestinian immigrants, Palestinian Americans, and their supporters in order to quell any and all support for Palestinian rights in the U.S. and globally. According to CCR and PSLC, it is no coincidence that federal prosecutors are now targeting Rasmea, who is a pillar in the same community where 23 anti-war and Palestinian rights activists, many who’s homes were raided by the FBI, were subpoenaed to testify before a Grand Jury in 2010. There have been no indictments against the 23 activists subpoenaed presumably because of a lack of evidence.

The U.S. government's portrayal of Palestinians as violent and inhuman fuels the case against Rasmea and as a result, the U.S. mainstream betrays Palestinians like Rasmea, leaving them with little support. The corporate media makes matters worse. By telling the story of Rasmea’s past as though she was a possible terrorist legitimately and legally arrested by the Israeli government, the media covers up that Israel occupies Palestinian land and arrests and tortures Palestinians systematically and illegally. The sensationalized media portrayal of Rasmea’s “terrorist past” dehumanizes Rasmea and justifies the ongoing state violence committed against her and the larger Arab American and Arab immigrant communities.

We stand in solidarity with Rasmea Yousef Odeh!
We demand the charges placed on Rasmea Yousef Odeh to be dropped immediately!

For more info, go to StopFBI.net
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Thanks for your ongoing interest in the fight against FBI repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists!
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Protests to demand: Drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh now!

By Committee to Stop FBI Repression
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following call from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. We urge all our readers to support this effort.

U.S. Attorney sets arraignment date for Rasmea Odeh, Nov. 13

Demand: Drop the charges on Rasmea Odeh now!

Local protests across the country at Federal Buildings. Join us in Detroit

Palestinian community activist Rasmea Yousef Odeh will be arraigned in the U.S. District Court, 231 W Lafayette Boulevard in Detroit, Michigan on Wednesday, November 13th at 1:30 p.m. We will gather at the court building at 12:30.

Rasmea was arrested Tuesday, October 22nd, at her home in Chicago by agents of the Department of Homeland Security, FBI and ICE. She is charged with immigration fraud. Allegedly, in her application for citizenship, she didn’t mention that she was arrested in Palestine 45 years ago and tried in an Israeli military court that does not recognize the rights of Palestinians to due process. She is now facing being stripped of U.S. citizenship, a prison term of ten years and probably, after prison, deportation.

Rasmea is the associate director of the Arab American Action Network (AAAN), one of the oldest institutions in the Arab community in Chicago. She leads a women’s committee with 600 Arab and Muslim women and she is also a leader in the immigrant rights movement in Chicago.

The Committee to Stop FBI Repression calls for supporters of Rasmea to pack the courtroom in Detroit. The charges against her are a political attack on her as an individual and on Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities across the U.S. as a whole. The U.S. government is now carrying out enforcement of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. They are attacking Rasmieh as they attacked the Holy Land Foundation, as they attacked the 23 anti-war and international solidarity activists in 2010 and as they attacked Carlos Montes.

If you can be in Detroit, join us there.

If you can’t be in Detroit, hold local protests, vigils, banner drops, or other actions on November 13 to show support for Rasmea as she faces this persecution.


Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]






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Campaign to ‘Drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh’ grows

By staff

Minneapolis, MN - The struggle against the unjust indictment against veteran Palestinian American activist Rasmea Odeh is rapidly growing. Odeh, a respected leader in Chicago’s Arab and Muslim community, will have an arraignment hearing on a trumped-up immigration charge in Detroit on Nov. 13. She faces up to ten years in prison and deportation. A rally in support of Odeh will take place in front of the Detroit U.S. District Court building (231 W Lafayette Boulevard) at noon on Nov. 13. Mobilizations to attend the rally and hearing are underway in Chicago and Michigan.

Coinciding with the Detroit hearing and rally, actions in solidarity with Rasmea Odeh will take place across the U.S. Cities planning solidarity actions include Minneapolis, Salt Lake City, Milwaukee, Oakland and Philadelphia.

A statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression points out, “The charges against her are a political attack on her as an individual and on Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities across the U.S. as a whole. The U.S. government is now carrying out enforcement of the Israeli occupation of Palestine. They are attacking Rasmea as they attacked the Holy Land Foundation, as they attacked the 23 anti-war and international solidarity activists in 2010 and as they attacked Carlos Montes.”

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Attorney: Why is Rasmea Odeh targeted now?

By staff

Chicago, IL - Michael Deutsch of the National Lawyers Guild and the People’s Law Office spoke Nov. 12 about the case of Rasmea Yousef Odeh, a 65-year-old, Palestinian American, women's rights activist who was recently indicted and tomorrow faces arraignment Nov. 13 in U.S. District Court in Detroit. The immigration charge against Odeh could result in ten years in prison and deportation for violations in her application for citizenship.

Deutsch said the situation, “appears to be the Department of Homeland Security behaving in a discriminatory fashion, targeting Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians for selective prosecution.”

He recounted the history since 9/11 of the singling out of these communities by the U.S. government, especially in Chicago, including the case of Dr. Muhammad Salah, who the U.S. Attorney prosecuted for aiding people living under Israeli occupation. Salah’s trial featured Israeli agents testifying in secret with evidence obtained through torture.

Deutsch described the case of the 23 anti-war and international solidarity activists whose homes were raided and who were subpoenaed by the U.S. Attorney in 2010 for their efforts in support of Palestinians. The U.S. Attorney refuses to end this investigation. “The investigation of Rasmea Odeh seems to grow out of the case of the 23, because her colleague at the Arab American Action Network, Hatem Abudayyeh, was one of those raided and subpoenaed.”

From these experiences, Deutsch stated, “We know that the U.S. government works closely with Israeli officials, and therefore it is a certainty that the U.S. government knew of Odeh’s legal history at the time she emigrated and at the time she applied for citizenship. Why then is she being charged now after 20 years of model citizenship and good deeds in service of her community?”

Deutsch also cited a report by the ACLU from August of this year, “Muslims Need Not Apply,” which exposes the “Controlled Application Review and Resolution Program” of the Immigration Services. “This program targets Muslim, Arab, Middle Eastern and South Asian immigrants to deny them their requests for citizenship,” explained Deutsch.

These examples together were the basis of his statements of concern about discriminatory, selective prosecution.

Hatem Abudayyeh - a co-worker of Rasmea Odeh for almost ten years and who also represented the U.S. Palestinian Community Network and the Committee Against Political Repression - reminded everyone that Odeh was born in the same exact year that her people were pushed out of Palestine in 1948 and, because of that experience, she has dedicated her whole life to social justice. She is a mentor to dozens of activists and organizers across the country and leads a women's rights organization of over 600 members.

Abudayyeh also said that Odeh is receiving massive support from all across the world, including almost 100 organizations in the U.S. that have written letters or signed onto statements condemning the indictment.

“We are taking a charter bus and a car caravan to be with Rasmea tomorrow at her arraignment in Detroit. Hundreds from Michigan will meet us there. And hundreds more in Gainesville, Philadelphia, D.C., New York, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Salt Lake City and other towns across the U.S. will be rallying in support of Rasmea and to demand that U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade drop the charges now.”

Margaret Jackson, interim Regional Director of the American Friends Service Committee, spoke against the racism of the U.S. government for this political attack on a Palestinian woman and stated, “As a person of color, I can tell you I’ve experienced racism in this society.” To show her support of the human rights work that Rasmea has done in Chicago, she declared, “I’m proud to stand with Rasmea Odeh.”

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Big Detroit rally for Rasmea Odeh’s day in court

By Tom Burke

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Detroit, MI - More than 100 people joined a rally in solidarity with Palestinian women’s leader Rasmea Odeh as she went to court here Nov.13. Agents of the Department of Homeland Security arrested Odeh on Oct. 22 at her home in Evergreen Park, a suburb of Chicago. Odeh is charged with immigration fraud. Allegedly, in her application for citizenship, she did not mention that she was arrested in Palestine 45 years ago, by an Israeli military court that detains Palestinians without charge - a court that has over 200 children in prison today and does not recognize the rights of Palestinians to due process.

Hatem Abudayyeh, who works with Rasmea Odeh and is one of the Anti-War 23 raided by the FBI three years ago, said outside the court, “Rasmea is guilty of nothing and this is a ridiculous charge. She is a 65-year-old leader of Palestinian, Arab-American and Muslim women in this country. The immigration charge is a pretext to go after her. Just as the U.S. government used political repression against African American, labor and other movements in the past, it is now repressing movements for social justice in our country again today. The U.S. and Israeli governments are angry because we are effective at organizing and changing attitudes of the people in this country about war and occupation in the Middle East. The boycott, divest and sanctions movement against Israeli Apartheid is growing and spreading; making a dent. The U.S. government is not able to criminalize the political activity of the Anti-War 23 and they will not be able to do it to Rasmea Odeh either!”

Another protester, Farah Erzouki, came with 12 students from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Erzouki, who is with Students for Justice in Palestine, said, “We represent the SJP both in Michigan and nationally and came to show solidarity and support for Rasmea Odeh. We oppose the U.S. government targeting people’s political beliefs. It affects groups like SJP on campus, with many chapters and leaders facing disciplinary charges for expressing their free speech or protesting on campus. So we plan to leaflet on campus and do educational forums. We oppose the repression of all people, but especially Palestinians.”

Students for a Democratic Society in Chicago sent Kait McIntyre to Detroit to speak at the rally: “Rasmea’s dedication to justice is shown by her leadership on the Arab Women’s Committee and leading work in the areas of civil liberties and immigration rights at the Arab American Action Network. We believe her work should be applauded, not condemned!”

Protesters came from Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Grand Rapids and Detroit, Michigan, as well as from Chicago and Milwaukee. Solidarity rallies also took place in Oakland, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Tampa, Gainesville, Philadelphia and Salt Lake City.

At today’s arraignment lawyer Jim Fennerty explained that Rasmea Odeh pled not guilty. The lawyers will begin to go through 600 pages of documents and plan for a trial. There will be more protests at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, in Detroit, in the coming months. Detroit is Odeh’s original city of U.S. residence.

Before travelling home by bus with scores of supporters from Chicago, Rasmea was smiling and in good spirits. She joined the crowd in front of the court building, stating, “Thank you for your support. Thank you from me. It means a lot for me and my people!”

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Salt Lake City stands with Rasmea Odeh

By staff

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Salt Lake City, UT – On Nov. 13, the October 7th Anti-War Committee hosted a rally joined by Workers World Party and the Revolutionary Students Union to demand the U.S. government drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh. Rasmea Odeh is a Palestinian-American community organizer and international solidarity activist who has held U.S. citizenship for over 20 years. The U.S. government charged Odeh with an immigration violation, alleging she violated the law by not identifying her arrest by the Israeli army more than 40 years ago. The U.S. government is engaging in clear political repression.

The Committee’s protest brought together people to stand with Rasmea Odeh and received support from numerous people on the street. They held signs in front of Salt Lake’s federal building that read, “Stop FBI repression” and “Support Rasmea Odeh.” Ian de Oliveria of the October 7th Committee said, “Rasema’s story touches a lot of people personally because of her struggle as a woman and an immigrant.”

The October 7th Committee Anti-War Committee has promised to join with activists locally and around the country in support of Rasmea Odeh and demand a stop to political repression.
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Great response to online petition demanding ‘Drop charges against Rasmea Odeh’

By staff

Chicago, IL – More than 2500 people have signed the online petition demanding the federal government drop the charges against longtime Palestinian community leader Rasmea Odeh. Odeh is facing a trumped up immigration charge that could lead to imprisonment, the stripping of her U.S. citizenship and deportation.

Jess Sundin, of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression states, “The online petition is a powerful tool in two ways. First, each signature generates direct messages to those in power who will decide whether and how to proceed with Rasmea's case. The decision to prosecute an immigration case 20 years after Rasmea entered the U.S. is politically motivated. It's important that we pressure them to stand down, making it clear that the world is watching this case and standing behind this important Palestinian community leader.”

“Second, we are trying to build a base of support that Rasmea can count on. Everyone who signs on can be contacted again as the need for new actions arise. This is a concrete way to lend your support today and to stand by for whatever is needed next to defend Rasmea Odeh in the days ahead,” said Sundin.

Fight Back! readers can sign the petition by going to http://www.stopfbi.net/sign-petition-rasmea-odeh

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Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh given Nelson Mandela Award

By staff

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Chicago, IL - Despite being the target of a major political attack by the U.S. government, Rasmea Odeh continues to work for the Palestinian people.

This is why the 22nd Annual People’s Thanksgiving Dinner, held in Chicago Dec. 8, honored her with the “Nelson Mandela Award: Opposing Israeli Apartheid is not a Crime.”

70 people gathered to recognize her and a number of other important activists. They met at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood, despite an early blizzard that made getting to the church hazardous.

In presenting the award, Muhammad Sunkari of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network referred to the late leader of the national liberation movement in South Africa. “When Ted Koppel interviewed him after his release from prison, Mandela defended the ANC’s [African National Congress] ties to the Palestine Liberation Organization. He called the Palestinians, ‘comrades in arms.’ I would say that a great example of a comrade of Mandela is Rasmea Odeh.”

In accepting the award, Odeh was in good spirits. She thanked everyone, saying, “I need your support, and we all need each other’s support to stand strong and continue.”

The event is held annually by Fight Back! news and Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO). The dinner raised over $3000 for Odeh’s defense campaign, as well as $1000 to help continue the work of Fight Back! news.

Another emotional moment in the dinner was an award presented to Pete Camarata. Camarata was a co-founder of the Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU). His award, entitled the “Big Bill Haywood: Class Struggle Award” was presented to him by Richard Berg. Berg, a long time reformer in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), has known Camarata for 25 years.

The framed award, reading, “For his lifelong dedication to the liberation of the working class,” was accepted by Camarata’s stepson, Jackson Potter. Potter is the staff coordinator of the Chicago Teachers Union. He explained that Camarata couldn’t attend the dinner because he is fighting cancer.

A statement from Camarata read in part, “I thank FRSO for the award, and I accept it with the knowledge that my activism belongs to the movement and the brave people who built TDU, the movement in this country and around the world.”

Awards were also presented to Sarah Simmons and Newland Smith, both activists in the Anti-War Committee-Chicago and to Michael Sampson, a Dream Defender from Tallahassee, Florida.

Joe Iosbaker of FRSO spoke to the crowd. He noted that last year’s event celebrated the successful defense of Carlos Montes. “Next year, we plan to be back here to celebrate with Rasmea for a victory over this new attack!”

Iosbaker put the defense of Odeh in a broader context, including the ongoing investigation of 23 anti- war and international solidarity activists by the U.S. attorney. “Our advances can be quickly taken from us by the likes of Mayor Emmanuel or President Obama or Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas.” Citing the many crimes of the U.S. empire at home and abroad Iosbaker continued, “We in FRSO have come to the conclusion that the existing order of things is unacceptable. For that reason we have decided to build a revolutionary organization.”

Summing up, Iosbaker said, “Whenever we celebrate the advances made in the struggles we are part of, FRSO always names the way of life that is better than capitalism - that way of life is called socialism. We know a big change will take a lot of work, but we do think it will happen.”

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Minneapolis holds community dinner to support Rasmea Odeh

By staff

Minneapolis, MN - More than 30 people came together here, Dec 12, for a community dinner to build support for Chicago Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh. Odeh, who is facing a trumped immigration case in Detroit, is at risk for prison and deportation.

Meredith Aby of the Minnesota Committee to Stop FBI Repression told the crowd, “Rasmea Odeh overcame vicious torture by Israeli authorities while imprisoned in Palestine in the 1970s. She is one of the millions of Palestinians who have not given up organizing for their rights to liberation, equality and return. It is shameful that the U.S. government is now attempting to imprison her once again.”

Tracy Molm, also of the MN Committee to Stop FBI Repression, urged people to take action, and encouraged to sign the online petition demanding the charges against Odeh be dropped.

A link to the petition can be found here: http://www.stopfbi.net/2013/10/23/solidarity-palestinian-american-activist-rasmea-odeh

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Holiday appeal for Rasmea Odeh from Meredith Aby


By Committee to Stop FBI Repression

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following appeal from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression.

Happy Holidays to our friends and supporters,

On Sept. 24, 2010 my life changed as the FBI rummaged through my home looking for evidence of “material support for terrorism” as I stood holding my 18-month-old. I felt alone when they came to my home but I have not felt alone since. Locally and nationally the response from the peace and justice movements has been amazing. Thank you for standing with me and the other 22 anti-war and international solidarity activists who were raided and subpoenaed in 2010.

The Committee to Stop FBI Repression plays a key role in leading the national effort to defend the Anti-War 23. It coordinates our national outreach and organizing on our case and against state repression. Our activists speak out against surveillance and political repression on the national and local level at conferences and protests. We are on the forefront nationally and locally in defending our rights to protest and to show solidarity.

Currently we are organizing support for Rasmea Odeh, the newest activist to be caught up in the crosshairs of the FBI’s investigation of Midwest solidarity and anti-war activists. We continue to be concerned about the FBI’s continued investigation into our movement but we are not afraid to organize against war! Thanks for standing with us!

Your Support is Key!

We could not have kept the Anti-War 23 out of jail, stopped the attack on Carlos Montes, or continued our grassroots organizing for civil liberties without YOUR support. Thank you.

The Committee to Stop FBI Repression is a grassroots all volunteer national organization. We hope you can support our work by contributing financially to support this important work. Your contribution will be spent organizing against state repression, funding our legal support of Rasmea Odeh and our continued activism around the case of the Anti-War 23.

Peace,

Meredith Aby-Keirstead

Donate here: http://www.stopfbi.net/donate

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International Women’s Day to highlight Rasmea Odeh


International Women's Day: Support Rasmeah Odeh


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Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net)

We are asking groups to organize International Women’s Day events in solidarity with Rasmea Odeh on Saturday, March 8, 2014.

We include here two videos that are helpful to people who want to learn about and express solidarity with Rasmea Odeh.

“]2013 Outstanding Community Leader (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=2e9acdac51&e=b3b6009f90)”

“Press Conference on Palestinian Activist Rasmea Odeh (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=0c5b5e1cf8&e=b3b6009f90)”


Call for International Women’s Day--Rasmea Odeh

The Committee to Stop FBI Repression is calling on groups to celebrate International Women’s Day with events highlighting “Support for Rasmea Odeh.”

Rasmea Odeh, originally from Palestine, is a 65-year-old U.S. citizen arrested in October 2013 for allegedly falsifying her immigration application, because she did not report that an Israeli Military Court detained, imprisoned and tortured her in 1969.

This is the latest political attack on an Arab-American connected to the FBI raids and political repression against the Anti-war 23 in Chicago, IL, Minneapolis, MN, and Grand Rapids, MI. Assistant US Attorney Barry Jonas who directs the “ongoing investigation” of the Anti-war 23, and also put the Holy Land Five charity leaders in prison, was coming and going from the Chicago courtroom on the day of Rasmea Odeh’s arrest. Jonas is directing the targeted political repression.

Rasmea Odeh is going on trial in Detroit, where she originally entered the U.S. We are campaigning for these outrageous charges to be dropped and we will be packing the courtroom in Detroit, MI.

Rasmea Odeh is the Associate Director of the Arab American Action Network and won the “Outstanding Community Leader Award” from the Chicago Cultural Alliance in 2013 for her work with the Arab Women’s Committee and other groups. Odeh recently completed a Master's degree in Criminal Justice from Governors State University. She overcame vicious torture by Israeli Military authorities while imprisoned in Palestine in the 70s, and is familiar to millions of Palestinians who have not given up organizing for their rights of liberation, equality, and return.

We are asking groups to organize events on Saturday, March 8, 2014, International Women’s Day, calling attention to the “Support for Rasmea Odeh” campaign.

“I support Palestine! I support women! I support Rasmea!”

Sign the Rasmea Odeh petition at http://www.stopfbi.net/


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Thanks for your ongoing interest in the fight against FBI repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists!
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Chicago International Women’s Day demands justice for Rasmea Odeh

By staff

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/Delores%20Phillips%20and%20Rasmea%20Odeh%20%282%29 .jpg

Chicago IL - To mark International Women’s Day (IWD) in Chicago, and to honor leading Palestinian women’s rights organizer Rasmea Odeh, 70 activists came together here, March 8, for a panel and dinner titled, “Winning Justice for Palestine & for Rasmea Odeh.”

The dinner saw one woman speaker after another rising to recognize IWD and the guest of honor, Rasmea Odeh. Odeh is the community activist from Chicago who faces a trial in June on charges that could result in deportation and prison time. She was arrested in October 2013 and charged with violations on a questionnaire for citizenship from 20 years ago. She is the victim of another politically-motivated witch-hunt by federal law enforcement in their campaign to intimidate Palestinian community and solidarity activists.

Professor Nadine Naber spoke about the history of IWD, and the honored place that Rasmea Odeh holds in the eyes of Palestinian people across the world for her history as a political prisoner and of organizing against Israel’s occupation. Naber offered a powerful analysis of how the U.S. empire claims that women in the Arab and Muslim worlds are oppressed and powerless, and cannot fight for their own rights, which is used to justify U.S. wars and occupations. She went on to say that Odeh and so many other strong women and women’s organizations are self-determined and do not want or need U.S. intervention.

Sarah Chambers of the Chicago Teachers Union spoke about the teachers at her school, mainly women, who made national news when they refused to give the Illinois Standard Achievement Test to their students in protest of the education program of Mayor Rahm Emanuel, which values non-stop standardized testing over critical thinking and creative learning skills.

Kait McIntyre talked about the efforts of the Anti-War Committee-Chicago to oppose new wars, as well as that group’s ongoing support for Palestine and for Rasmea Odeh . McIntyre used the opportunity to announce that she is running on an anti-war platform for the board of directors of Boeing Company. Chicago-based Boeing is the second largest arms manufacturer in the world and is bidding for the Pentagon contract to build a new, more deadly combat drone.

Delores Phillips of the United Electrical workers thanked Odeh for standing up for her rights, in the same way that Phillips, newly elected president of UE Local 1118, and her fellow union activists have been standing up for their rights against the bosses in her workplace. She closed with, "We should support Rasmea in her struggle by showing other women that they are not alone. No woman should go without emotional, physical, educational, mental and financial support!"

And Lulu Martinez of the Immigrant Youth Justice League described the international headlines made by her and eight other undocumented students - the Dream 9 - who ‘self deported’ by presenting themselves to federal agents in Arizona. She spent 15 days in a federal detention center there, and talked about that experience in prison, which made her respect greatly Odeh’s history as a political prisoner, as well as the tens of thousands of Mexican and other Latino women who have been deported in the past decade.

The pre-dinner panel began with Palestinian activists Rama Kased, who is based in San Francisco and is a National Coordinating Committee Member of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, and Tarek Khalil of the Chicago chapter of the American Muslims for Palestine, speaking on the prospects of the peace talks in Palestine.

Khalil criticized the terms of the negotiations, which he believes violated Palestinians’ rights from the outset. He suggested, like most Palestinians around the world, that the right to return for all Palestinian refugees and their descendants should be the main demand in any negotiations.

Kased declared that the Palestinian national bourgeoisie, represented by a small sector of the Palestinian Authority, stands to gain economically from a peace treaty, but that the vast majority of Palestinians will not. She also suggested that Palestine-support activists in the U.S. must analyze the issue not only from a human rights standpoint, but mostly from a “liberation framework,” especially since, as she explained, “We are not in the state-building stage of our struggle yet. We are still in the national liberation stage.” In answer to a question from the floor, she supported that the Palestine Liberation Organization needed to be reconstituted, and stated confidently that unity discussions happen regularly in Palestine and beyond, but “this fact just does not make the news here in the states.”

After the analysis, solidarity activists on the panel held up the gains made by the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement. Leila Abdelrazaq, a leader in both Students for Justice in Palestine at DePaul University and on the national level, expressed the power of the BDS campaigns to pressure Israel. "BDS forces everyone to see that they can participate in opposing the occupation of Palestine.” She also gave an account of the BDS victories nationally; including the forced resignation of Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson from Oxfam International, the global human rights organization. Johansson chose being a spokesperson for the Israeli company, SodaStream, with its main factory located on occupied Palestinian land in the West Bank, over human rights. BDS activists declared victory and made international news pressuring her to uphold the boycott of SodaStream.

Bill Chambers of the Palestine Solidarity Group wrapped up the panel by describing local BDS efforts, and asking people to join the BDS coalition in Chicago. Chambers also called for support of a new effort in Illinois to stop a bill in the state legislature. The bill would punish any college or university where faculty members went along with the boycott of Israeli educational institutions. The bill is in reaction to the historic resolution against Israeli apartheid adopted by the American Studies Association in the fall.

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Call for Nakba Commemorations to highlight Rasmea Odeh’s case

Thursday, May 15th, 2014, the commemoration of Al Nakba: Call attention to the “I Support Rasmea” campaign


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Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net)
Call for Nakba Commemorations to highlight Rasmea Odeh’s case

On or around

Thursday, May 15th, 2014


the commemoration of Al Nakba: Call attention to the “I Support Rasmea” campaign.

The United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=3cd5a083eb&e=b3b6009f90) and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR) (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=acae25998e&e=b3b6009f90) are calling on groups across the country to commemorate Al-Nakba on or around May 15th, with events highlighting the "I Support Rasmea" campaign.

Rasmea Odeh, a U.S. citizen who was born in Lifta, Palestine, just outside Jerusalem, was exiled along with her family in 1948, when Lifta was forcibly depopulated and ethnically cleansed (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=4416d0e13d&e=b3b6009f90) along with over 400 other towns and villages, to make room for the settler colonialist state of Israel—what Palestinians call “Al Nakba,” the Catastrophe. Last October, she was arrested and indicted for allegedly falsifying information on her immigration application from 20 years ago, a ridiculous claim that is nothing but pretext for another legal and political attack on another Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim leader in the U.S.

In 1947-8, over 750,000 Palestinians like Rasmea were driven from their homes by European Jewish gangs and militias that eventually became the Israeli state’s armed forces. These Palestinians and their descendants make up the largest refugee population in the world, close to 5 million people; and although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights generally, and UN General Assembly Resolution 194 specifically, guarantee their Right to Return to the homes and lands from which they were exiled, Israel and the U.S. have blocked its implementation for 66 years.

When Israel became a state on 78% of historical Palestine on May 15th, 1948, the settler colonialists who declared it owned a mere 6% of the land. The military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem, in 1967, gave Israel control of the entirety of Palestine and its people. All of Israel sits on stolen land. All of Palestine is illegally occupied. This is the essence of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, self-determination, and Return.

Rasmea is the Associate Director of the Arab American Action Network and won the “Outstanding Community Leader Award” from the Chicago Cultural Alliance in 2013 for her work with the Arab Women’s Committee and other groups. She also recently completed a Master's degree in Criminal Justice from Governors State University. She overcame vicious torture by Israeli Military authorities while imprisoned in Palestine in the 70s, and is a legend to millions of Palestinians who continue to organize for their rights of liberation, equality, and return.

Rasmea is scheduled to go on trial on June 10th in Detroit, where she originally entered the U.S. We are campaigning for these outrageous charges to be dropped and will be asking all friends and supporters to join us in packing the courtroom every day of her trial.

Like so many Palestinian elders, Rasmea is a living embodiment of Al Nakba, a heroic woman who is still standing after being kicked off her land and oppressed for decades by the Israelis, and now facing similar criminalization in the U.S. For this reason, we are asking groups to organize events on or around Thursday, May 15th, 2014, the commemoration of Al Nakba, calling attention to the “I Support Rasmea” campaign. And for those many cities and organizations that already have Nakba Day activities planned, we are asking you to highlight Rasmea's case as well.

“I Support Palestine! I Support Women! I Support Rasmea!”

Sign the Rasmea Odeh petition (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=08ddb4b224&e=b3b6009f90) at http://www.stopfbi.net/ and visit http://www.uspcn.org.

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Call for Nakba Commemorations to highlight Rasmea Odeh’s case

This year, commemorate Al-Nakba and highlight the case of Rasmea Odeh.
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Call for Nakba Commemorations to highlight Rasmea Odeh’s case

On or around
Thursday, May 15th, 2014

the commemoration of Al Nakba: Call attention to the “I Support Rasmea” campaign.

The United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN) and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR) are calling on groups across the country to commemorate Al-Nakba on or around May 15th, with events highlighting the “I Support Rasmea” campaign.

http://www.uspcn.org/wp/wp/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/rasmea-194x300.jpg

Rasmea Odeh, a U.S. citizen who was born in Lifta, Palestine, just outside Jerusalem, was exiled along with her family in 1948, when Lifta was forcibly depopulated and ethnically cleansed along with over 400 other towns and villages, to make room for the settler colonialist state of Israel—what Palestinians call “Al Nakba,” the Catastrophe. Last October, she was arrested and indicted for allegedly falsifying information on her immigration application from 20 years ago, a ridiculous claim that is nothing but pretext for another legal and political attack on another Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim leader in the U.S.

In 1947-8, over 750,000 Palestinians like Rasmea were driven from their homes by European Jewish gangs and militias that eventually became the Israeli state’s armed forces. These Palestinians and their descendants make up the largest refugee population in the world, close to 5 million people; and although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights generally, and UN General Assembly Resolution 194 specifically, guarantee their Right to Return to the homes and lands from which they were exiled, Israel and the U.S. have blocked its implementation for 66 years.

When Israel became a state on 78% of historical Palestine on May 15th, 1948, the settler colonialists who declared it owned a mere 6% of the land. The military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, and Jerusalem, in 1967, gave Israel control of the entirety of Palestine and its people. All of Israel sits on stolen land. All of Palestine is illegally occupied. This is the essence of the Palestinian struggle for freedom, self-determination, and Return.

Rasmea is the Associate Director of the Arab American Action Network and won the “Outstanding Community Leader Award” from the Chicago Cultural Alliance in 2013 for her work with the Arab Women’s Committee and other groups. She also recently completed a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Governors State University. She overcame vicious torture by Israeli Military authorities while imprisoned in Palestine in the 70s, and is a legend to millions of Palestinians who continue to organize for their rights of liberation, equality, and return.

Rasmea is scheduled to go on trial on June 10th in Detroit, where she originally entered the U.S. We are campaigning for these outrageous charges to be dropped and will be asking all friends and supporters to join us in packing the courtroom every day of her trial.

Like so many Palestinian elders, Rasmea is a living embodiment of Al Nakba, a heroic woman who is still standing after being kicked off her land and oppressed for decades by the Israelis, and now facing similar criminalization in the U.S. For this reason, we are asking groups to organize events on or around Thursday, May 15th, 2014, the commemoration of Al Nakba, calling attention to the “I Support Rasmea” campaign. And for those many cities and organizations that already have Nakba Day activities planned, we are asking you to highlight Rasmea’s case as well.

“I Support Palestine! I Support Women! I Support Rasmea!”

Sign the Rasmea Odeh petition at http://www.stopfbi.net/ and visit http://www.uspcn.org.

Copyright © 2014 USPCN, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you signed up to receive USPCN alerts.

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USPCN
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White Plains, NY 10603

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All Out for Detroit: Rasmea Odeh's Trial begins June 10!


On June 10, come out in Detroit, Michigan to support Palestinian leader Rasmea Odeh.
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All Out for Detroit: Rasmea Odeh’s Trial Begins June 10!

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ALL OUT FOR DETROIT
To Defend Rasmea Odeh

Rasmea Odeh, Palestinian community leader and icon, begins her trial on June 10th. Despite months of Rasmea Defense Committee organizing in Chicago and across the nation, the U.S. government refuses to drop its case against Rasmea, who they are alleging lied on an immigration application she filled out 20 years ago.

If found guilty, she could face up to ten years in federal prison, an immediate revocation of her citizenship, and then deportation from the United States.

NOT UNDER OUR WATCH!

The charge against Rasmea is nothing but another political attack by the U.S. government, meant to defame and criminalize another Palestinian, Arab and Muslim leader who has dedicated her life to the empowerment of her people, as well as to intimidate and repress entire communities that are organizing for justice and liberation.

We know Rasmea never lied about any part of her life. She was brutally tortured into a confession by the Israelis 45 years ago, and now the U.S. is trying to brutalize her once again. After giving so much of her life to others, Rasmea now needs our support. We have already received statements of support from over 100 organizations and more than 3,000 people have signed the online petition for Rasmea. Now, we have to show our presence in the court rom.

That is why we are putting out the call: All Out for Detroit!

Join us on June 10th in Detroit, Michigan, for the beginning of Rasmea’s trial. We will pack the courtroom and rally outside every day of the trial to show the broad support Rasmea has across all communities.

Locations and times are still to be announced, but regularly updated information will be found at:

www.stopfbi.net
www.uspcn.org

You can also reach the Rasmea Defense Committee directly at [email protected]

I SUPPORT RASMEA ACTION PLAN:

1) Sign the petition to drop the charges:
http://www.iacenter.org/rasmeaodehpetition/

2) Send statements of support and solidarity to [email protected]

3) Like Drop the Charges Against Rasmea on Facebook and Tweet using #justice4rasmea.

4) Send us your pictures holding up the following message: “I am _____ and I SUPPORT RASMEA.” (Fill in the blank with a self-identifier – your name, occupation , or any other description. Examples: “I am a youth organizer and I support Rasmea!” or “I am a supporter of Palestinian Human Rights and I support Rasmea!” Hold the sign up, snap a selfie, and send it to [email protected] Then make it your Facebook/Twitter/Google profile picture! Remember, we may use your image in publications or informational pamphlets either online or in distributed hard copies.)

DONATE: To help support Rasmea’s defense fund, go to http://stopfbi.net/donate. You must also send an email [email protected], noting the amount and its designation to Rasmea in order for the funds to be allocated correctly.

If you want your donation to be tax deductible, the donation must be in the amount of $100 or more and you must pay by check to “NLG Foundation” with “Rasmea defense fund” on the memo line.

Please mail these checks to:
Arab American Action Network
ATTN: Rasmea Defense Fund
3148 W. 63rd Street, 2nd Floor
Chicago, IL 60629


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Rasmea Odeh pleading “NOT guilty,” going to trial

Many press reports incorrect

By staff

Detroit, MI - Contrary to erroneous press reports, Rasmea Odeh is not pleading guilty. Today in the U.S. District Court here she requested a change of counsel and reported to Judge Paul Borman that she is going to trial.

Hatem Abudayyeh of her defense committee said, "She has committed no crime and the government has no case. She has been in this country for 20 years, a citizen for 10 of them, and an upstanding one at that. Rasmea supports the empowerment of immigrant women through leadership development programming she leads in Chicago. She works closely with Black, Latino, Asian, white and other communities in Chicago, to promote multiculturalism, racial and social justice. She is supported so broadly by colleagues in Chicago that she was awarded an Outstanding Community Leader award by the Chicago Cultural Alliance in 2013."

Abudayyeh added, "The charge brought against her is just a pretext for the continuation of federal law enforcement repression against Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims in this country. This policy attempts to scapegoat and intimidate our community into staying silent and not raising its voice against injustice."

Mick Kelly, of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, states, "Hundreds of people are being mobilized right now to travel to Detroit to fill the courtroom during Rasmea’s trial and provide support. We will be here every day, showing the world that she will not be alone.”

Kelly added, "There has already been a massive outpouring of love and support for Rasmea across the U.S. and the world, because people see this prosecution for what it is - a political attack on a 66-year-old Palestinian woman who has dedicated her life to progress and social justice for her people and all people. We will stand with her to fight these charges."

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]






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Rasmea Odeh pleads "Not guilty!" New trial date (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=03f62b0929&e=b3b6009f90) set for Oct. 21. All out for Detroit!

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New date of October 21st set for trial of Rasmea Odeh

Palestinian American organizer from Chicago, Rasmea Yousef Odeh, appeared in U.S. District Court in Detroit, Michigan, on Wednesday, May 28th, 2014, with a new attorney, Michael Deutsch of the People’s Law Office in Chicago. Deutsch filed an official appearance as Odeh’s representative, and was granted a continuance on her trial until October 21st, 2014. Judge Paul Borman also ruled that the deadline for pre-trial motions had passed, and seemed reluctant to budge on this issue, but Deutsch stated afterward that “as the case develops, hopefully, he’ll be more flexible.”

Odeh is being charged with Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization, but is strongly asserting her innocence. Deutsch, who has represented political activists and victims of police and government civil rights violations since 1970, was pleased with the ruling and has begun working on a strategy for the defense.

The Rasmea Defense Committee, which, since Odeh’s arrest and release on bond last October, has been demanding that the U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan, Barbara McQuade, drop the charges immediately. Rania Shkairat, a member of this committee in Chicago, said, “We are extremely happy that such a prominent attorney as Michael Deutsch is on the case, and that we now have more time to continue our organizing to pressure the government to drop the charge. Rasmea is a wonderful role model for women like me who have dedicated their lives to social justice, and we will do everything in our power to clear her name.”

Hundreds of supporters of Rasmea were mobilizing to pack the courtroom in Detroit on June 10th, the original trial start date. Even though there is now a continuance, the defense committee is still raising the calls, “All Out for Detroit!” and “Drop the Charges Now!”

Stay tuned to the United States Palestinian Community Network (uspcn.org) and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net) for updates and action steps.

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Copyright © 2014 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

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June 10: Call-in Day for Rasmea Odeh


Tuesday, June 10: Call US Atty Barbara McQuade at 313-226-9100: "Drop the Charges against Rasmea Yousef Odeh!"


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Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net)


Call-in Day to Drop the Charges against Rasmea Odeh

5 more actions to take

Rasmea Defense Committee Statement

More Background!


Call-in Day to Drop the Charges against Rasmea Odeh
Call U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan
Barbara McQuade
313-226-9100 or 313-226-9501 (voicemail)
Tuesday, June 10
9 am to 5 pm EDT

Demand of U.S. Atty McQuade:
"Drop the Charges against Rasmea Yousef Odeh!"

When you call, you could say,

"Hello, my name is ________ and I am calling from _________. I am calling to demand that U.S. Attorney McQuade drop the immigration charges against Rasmea Odeh. She is a beloved leader in the community and has worked tirelessly to serve and help empower Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim families throughout the Chicagoland area.

Rasmea is a community icon and was recently awarded an "Outstanding Community Leader" award from the Chicago Cultural Alliance for her over 40 years of dedication and service to people across the Arab World and the U.S.

Rasmea was convicted 45 years ago by an Israeli military kangaroo court, the result of a confession forced by vicious physical and sexual torture. She never committed any crimes, so the charges against her now ring hollow. These charges are a political attack on her as an individual, and on the collective Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim communities across the U.S.

I stand in unequivocal support of Rasmea and demand that these charges be dropped immediately!"

The June 10 Call-in Day is jointly sponsored by
the Committee to Stop FBI Repression and
the US Palestinian Community Network.

https://gallery.mailchimp.com/8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227/images/Rasmea0e385a.jpg
Rasmea Yousef Odeh


5 more actions to take

1) All out for Detroit to defend Rasmea Odeh!
Mobilize to support Rasmea at her next hearing in Detroit on October 21st, 2014 (stay tuned to www.uspcn.org and www.stopfbi.net for updates).

2) Sign the petition to drop the charges against Rasmea:
http://www.stopfbi.net/sign-petition-rasmea-odeh

3) Call and send photos of support for Rasmea!
Send us a picture holding up the following message:
'I am ________ and I support Rasmea!'

You can fill in the blank with any self-identifier: your name, your occupation, or any other description. Some examples may be: "I am a stay-at-home dad and I support Rasmea!" "I am a youth organizer and I support Rasmea!" or "I am a supporter of Palestinian human rights and I support Rasmea!"

Hold the sign up and snap a selfie, then send it to [email protected] Put it up as your Facebook/Twitter profile pic, Google Account image, or anything else! Just remember we may use your image in future publications and informational pamphlets that get published online or distributed as hard copies.

4) Join the Facebook page & Tweet:
Facebook page at Drop The Charges Against Rasmea Now! and
Tweet using #Justice4Rasmea

5) Solidarity Statements
Have your organization sign or write a solidarity statement (email to: [email protected]).

Rasmea Defense Committee Statement
For immediate release: Wednesday, May 28, 2014

New date of October 21st set for trial of Rasmea Odeh

Palestinian American organizer from Chicago, Rasmea Yousef Odeh, appeared in U.S. District Court in Detroit, Michigan, on Wednesday, May 28th, 2014, with a new attorney, Michael Deutsch of the People’s Law Office in Chicago.

Last week, Odeh decided not to accept a plea agreement that would have revoked her U.S. citizenship and forced her deportation, and instead dismissed her previous attorney. This morning, Deutsch filed an official appearance as Odeh’s representative, and was granted a continuance on her trial until October 21st, 2014. Judge Paul Borman also ruled that the deadline for pre-trial motions had passed, and seemed reluctant to budge on this issue, but Deutsch stated afterward that “as the case develops, hopefully, he’ll be more flexible.”

Odeh is being charged with Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization, but is strongly asserting her innocence. Deutsch, who has represented political activists and victims of police and government civil rights violations since 1970, was one of the lawyers for the Attica prisoners following the 1971 uprising and state massacre of 29 inmates, and in 2006, successfully defended Muhammad Salah and Abdelhaleem Ashqar, two Palestinians accused of running a terrorist-recruiting and financing cell in the U.S. They were both acquitted of racketeering and criminal conspiracy charges, and Deutsch was lauded for essentially making the case a referendum on Palestine liberation.

Deutsch stated that he is pleased with the judge’s ruling on the Odeh case, and has begun working on a strategy for the defense.

Ever since Odeh’s arrest and release on bond last October, the Rasmea Defense Committee has been demanding that the U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan, Barbara McQuade, drop the charges immediately. Rania Shkairat, a member of this committee in Chicago, said, “We are extremely happy that such a prominent attorney as Michael Deutsch is on the case, and that we now have more time to continue our organizing to pressure the government to drop the charge. Rasmea is a wonderful role model for women like me who have dedicated their lives to social justice, and we will do everything in our power to clear her name.”

Hundreds of supporters of Rasmea were mobilizing to pack the courtroom in Detroit on June 10th, the original trial start date. Even though there is now a continuance, the defense committee is still raising the calls, “All Out for Detroit!” and “Drop the Charges Now!”

Stay tuned to the United States Palestinian Community Network (uspcn.org) and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net) for updates and action steps.

- End -

More Background!
PSLS, CCR and 64 other rights groups sign statement opposing indictment of Palestinian-American activist Rasmea Odeh

October 23, 2013

The below-signed organizations are deeply disturbed by and stand opposed to the indictment yesterday of Rasmea Yousef Odeh, a Palestinian-American community activist who has dedicated 10 years to the Chicago Arab-American community, working with women on issues ranging from promoting literacy and political education to addressing domestic violence and anti-Arab and Muslim sentiment.

Rasmea’s indictment for alleged immigration fraud comes at a time when advocates for Palestinian rights and immigration rights activists have been facing increasing pressure all over the country. Exactly three years ago, 23 anti-war and Palestinian rights activists were subpoenaed to testify before a Grand Jury, and several of their homes were raided by the FBI.There have been no indictments against the 23 activists subpoenaed in 2010, presumably because of a lack of evidence. It is no coincidence that federal prosecutors are now targeting Rasmea, who is a pillar in the same community.

The 2010 raids, the Grand Jury subpoenas that accompanied them, and this indictment against a 65 year old woman who suffered for a decade in Israeli prisons before coming to the U.S. in 1995, are a clear signal that federal authorities, along with Israel and its supporters in the U.S., are continuing to search for ways to intimidate and silence those who are effective advocates for Arab American communities, and who speak out for Palestinian rights.

In the last year alone, Palestine Solidarity Legal Support, in partnership with the Center for Constitutional Rights, and in collaboration with the National Lawyers Guild and other organizations, has documented over 75 cases of intimidation and legal bullying. These include perceived surveillance, FBI contacts, and discriminatory enforcement of laws against advocates for Palestinian rights. Rasmea’s arrest and indictment must be viewed within this wider context of widespread attempts to intimidate people into silence on one of the most pressing human rights issues of our time. Rasmea’s indictment is also an illustration of increasingly draconian enforcement of immigration laws, which have left immigrant communities devastated at the hands of Obama’s Department of Homeland Security.

Rasmea is an exemplary citizen who recently finished a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice, and has a law degree from Jordan. She has overcome amazing odds after being convicted by the Israeli military court system in 1969 for her alleged association with a leftist Palestinian nationalist group that the U.S. designated a terrorist organization. The military courts operate exclusively to subjugate occupied Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza. They routinely bypass all but a modicum of due process, and justify holding individuals without charge or trial for months and years, often in abusive conditions and subject to torture. Rasmea’s activism against the Israeli occupation in the 1960s resulted in her imprisonment in Israeli prisons for 10 years, and it is surely her community activism in the U.S. that has made her, and by extension, the community that relies on her, the target of this indictment.

We call for solidarity with Rasmea!

SIGNED:

Al-Awda New York, Palestine right to Return Coalition
American Friends Service Committee
American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
American Muslims for Palestine
Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace and Justice in the Middle East
AROC: Arab Resource & Organizing Center
Bay Area Committee to Stop Political Repression (BACSPR)
Bay Area Women in Black
Boston Coalition for Palestinian Rights
Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign – Vancouver
Brooklyn College Students for Justice in Palestine
Canada Palestine Association
Center for Constitutional Rights
Chicago Movement for Palestinian Rights
College and University Workers United
Committee for a Just Peace in Israel and Palestine
Committee for Open Discussion of Zionism
Council on American-Islamic Relations – Chicago
CUNY Law Students for Justice in Palestine
Friends of Deir Ibzi’a
Grassroots Global Justice Alliance
Hampshire College Students for Justice in Palestine
International League of People’s Struggles
INCITE! Women and Trans* People of Color Against Violence
Independent Jewish Voices-Vancouver
Interdenominational Advocates for Peace (IDAP)
International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network
Jadaliyya
JEWS SAY NO!
Jewish Voice for Peace
Jewish Voice for Peace – Bay Area
Jewish Voice for Peace – Chicago
Jewish Voice for Peace – Detroit
Jewish Voice for Peace — Philadelphia
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return
Justice for Palestinians, San Jose, CA
Labor for Palestine
Legalease Collective, CKUT, Montreal
Minnesota Break the Bonds Campaign
Muslim Defense Project of the National Lawyers Guild – New York Chapter
National Lawyers Guild Free Palestine Subcommittee
National Lawyers Guild Chicago
National Students for Justice in Palestine
New York City Labor Against the War
NYC Queers Against Israeli Apartheid
PAWA: Palestinian American Women’s Association
Palestine Aid Society
Palestinian Christian Alliance for Peace (PCAP)
Palestine Solidarity Group – Chicago
Palestine Solidarity Legal Support
Queers Against Israeli Apartheid (Toronto)
Red Sparks Union – Vancouver
San Francisco Women in Black
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network
Socialist Action
Solidarity: a socialist, feminist, anti-racist organization
Sunbula: Arab Feminists for Change
The Dream Defenders
Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East
United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC)
US Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
US Palestinian Community Network
WBAI Justice and Unity Campaign
Women of Colour Collective at the McGill Faculty of Law
Voice of Palestine

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Copyright © 2014 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

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Rasmea trial date changed. + Tell prosecutor to drop charges on June 10


Rasmea Odeh's trial moved up to Sept. 2. Please call Atty General McQuade on June 10!


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Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net)

Rasmea Defense Committee - Friday, June 6th, 2014

Judge Paul Borman sets September 2

June 10 Call-in Day to Say "Drop the Charges Now!"


Judge Paul Borman sets
September 2 as the new trial date

Michael Deutsch, attorney for Rasmea Odeh, informed the Rasmea Defense Committee that he and the U.S. Attorney's office in Detroit were summoned to a conference call by Judge Paul Borman this morning. Borman informed the attorneys that he is moving Odeh's trial date from October 21st, which was previously agreed upon only 9 days ago, to September 2nd, 2014.

"This gives us six less weeks to organize to support Rasmea, but we'll be ready nonetheless," said Zena Ozeir, one of the coordinators of the defense work in Detroit. "With mobilization from Chicago, Indiana, Minnesota, Michigan, and all parts Midwest, we will fill the courtroom every day of the trial."

The defense committee wants to also remind everyone to call U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade Tuesday, June 10th, and demand that she “Drop the Charges Now!”

June 10 Call-in Day to Say "Drop the Charges Now!"
Details:
Call Barbara McQuade,
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan
313-226-9100 or 313-226-9501 (voicemail)
Tuesday, June 10
9 am to 5 pm EDT
Demand of U.S. Atty McQuade:
“Drop the Charges against Rasmea Odeh!”

When you call, you could say,
“Hello, my name is ________, and I am calling from _________ to demand that U.S. Attorney McQuade drop the immigration charges against Rasmea Odeh. She is a beloved leader in the community and has worked tirelessly to serve and help empower Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim families throughout the Chicagoland area.

Rasmea is a community icon and was recently awarded an “Outstanding Community Leader” award from the Chicago Cultural Alliance for her over 40 years of dedication and service to people across the Arab World and the U.S.

Rasmea was convicted 45 years ago by an Israeli military kangaroo court, the result of a confession forced by vicious physical and sexual torture. She never committed any crimes, so the charges against her now ring hollow. These charges are a political attack on her as an individual, and on the collective Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim communities across the U.S.

I stand in unequivocal support of Rasmea and demand that these charges be dropped immediately!”

Also stay tuned to the United States Palestinian Community Network (uspcn.org) and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net) for regular updates.

-- Rasmea Defense Committee

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Copyright © 2014 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

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Building support for Rasmea Odeh in Salt Lake City

By Justin Richardson

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/slcTom.JPG

Salt Lake City, UT - Activists gathered at the Salt Lake City Public Library on June 4 to hear Tom Burke, of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. Fifteen people listened intently as Burke recounted his experiences as a longtime political activist targeted for repression by the U.S. government. Burke is one of the Anti-war 23.

In 2010 and 2011, the FBI harassed, raided and subpoenaed to a grand jury 23 anti-war activists for their solidarity with international anti-war movements and union organizers overseas. Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas has stated there is an ongoing investigation.

Burke spoke on how to deal with the FBI, “Don’t answer any questions besides your name, your address, and your social if asked. Tell them ‘I am happy to not answer any more questions until I speak with my lawyer.’” He shared the website www.stopfbi.net and urged those attending to read both the FBI raid documents discovered in one activist’s home as well as the FBI affidavits used to raid anti-war activists’ homes.

The main focus of Burke’s talk, however, was Rasmea Odeh. Odeh is an international solidarity and women’s rights activist from Palestine doing tremendous work in the Arab American community in the U.S. She came to the U.S. in the 1990s and is a well-known public figure in Chicago for her activism in women’s rights and healthcare.

The Department of Homeland Security arrested her on Oct. 22, 2013 for allegedly falsifying her immigration documents upon entering the U.S. The government claims Odeh failed to report that the Israeli military tortured and imprisoned her for organizing for Palestinian liberation in her early life. She is now facing 10 years in jail and deportation.

“We must stand in solidarity with Rasmea Odeh. We have to get out, organize and fight to win against the U.S. government repression of a strong progressive woman who stands for all that is good in this world!” Burke said. “Our vision is a world where Palestinians and Jewish people can live together in a single united Palestine in peace.”

Burke finished his talk saying, “We support women, we support Palestine and we must stand in solidarity with Rasmea Odeh!”

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]






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Take Action: Get DoJ to Drop Charges against Rasmea Odeh


American Muslims for Palestine
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Take Action: Get DoJ to Drop Charges against Rasmea Odeh

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Last November, we asked you to write U.S. District Attorney Barbara McQuade calling on her to drop charges against Rasmea Odeh, the 67-year-old Palestinian-American Associate Director of the Arab American Action Network in Chicago.

Now, we are asking you to send her this email (http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=VC65XcES5UXgyvzmByI7mgD1G32uRlIL) today, asking the Department of Justict to drop the charge against Rasmea!

BACKGROUND

In 1969, Israel brutally tortured Rasmea, her father, and her fiancé, eventually extracting from her a “confession” to a crime which she did not commit. Last year, the Obama administration dusted off her ten-year-old application to become a U.S. citizen and charged her with “unlawful procurement of naturalization” for allegedly omitting mention of her time in Israeli prison, despite the fact that Rasmea publicly testified at the UN about the torture she suffered while imprisoned.

Rather than prosecute this torture victim and well-respected community organizer—honored by the Chicago Cultural Alliance last year with its “Outstanding Community Leader Award” in recognition of her devoting “over 40 years of her life to the empowerment of Arab women”—President Obama should make good on his pledge to take “concrete actions against torture and to address the needs of its victims” by dropping the spurious charges against Rasmea.

Even though thousands of people have contacted the U.S. District Attorney, the Obama administration is still pushing for a trial—currently set to begin on September 2—which could result in Rasmea being stripped of her U.S. citizenship and deported.

We need to step up the pressure, which is why we’re joining today with our friends at the US Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), the Committee to Stop FBI Repression and the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation for a national call-in to Drop the Charges against Rasmea Yousef Odeh!

TAKE ACTION

Call U.S. District Attorney Barbara McQuade and ask her to drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh. (Talking points and number below)

Send McQuade this email (http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=LOkjNjjXYGUaJc07mQdHLwD1G32uRlIL).

Read, comment and share this article (http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=NLln%2FGB%2FNcIQkUxmoBz8AwD1G32uRlIL) about Rasmea’s case which was published today in The Hill.

Visit USPCN’s website (http://salsa3.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=PSI7zBWcK%2BKRWaXxk8PanAD1G32uRlIL) for additional ways you can express solidarity with Rasmea and stay updated about her case.

TALKING POINTS AND CONTACT INFO
313.226.9100 or 313.226.9501 (voicemail)

Say:

“Hello, my name is ________ and I am calling from _________. I am calling to demand that U.S. Attorney McQuade drop the immigration charges against Rasmea Odeh. She is a beloved leader in the community and has worked tirelessly to serve and help empower Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim families throughout the Chicagoland area.

Rasmea is a community icon and was recently awarded an “Outstanding Community Leader” award from the Chicago Cultural Alliance for her over 40 years of dedication and service to people across the Arab World and the U.S.

Rasmea was convicted 45 years ago by an Israeli military kangaroo court, the result of a confession forced by vicious physical and sexual torture. She never committed any crimes, so the charges against her now ring hollow. These charges are a political attack on her as an individual, and on the collective Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim communities across the U.S.

I stand in unequivocal support of Rasmea and demand that these charges be dropped immediately!”

Thank you for taking action in solidarity with Rasmea Odeh.

American Muslims for Palestine
10101 S. Roberts Road
Palos Hills, IL 60465

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San José rallies for Rasmea Odeh

By staff

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/Odehsanjose.jpg

San José, CA - On June 10, the South Bay Committee Against Political Repression (South Bay CAPR), the San Jose Peace and Justice Center, and Justice for Palestinians sponsored a rally at the Martin Luther King, Junior library in support of Rasmea Odeh. They called on the prosecutor to drop the charges and asked why the Obama administration was persecuting a victim of torture. In addition to those organizations, speakers from the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR), La Colectiva Justicia and the International League of People’s Struggle (ILPS) gave solidarity statements and Kalila did a peace dance before and after the speakers.

The protest united a broad range of activists, including anti-political repression, anti-war, Palestine solidarity, Palestinian, Arab and Filipinos activists, youth and student organizers. During the rally hundreds of flyers about Rasmea Odeh were given out to passersby. A number of new people signed up for the South Bay CAPR and activists promised to action again on Sept. 2, the date that Odeh’s trial is scheduled to start.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]






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Make these new calls for Rasmea, June 26, the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture


Thursday, June 26. Call in solidarity with Rasmea Odeh on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=edab3f6ab0&e=4f67ca75e4). Also, please share this article from The Hill (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=294a091ca1&e=4f67ca75e4).


Is this email not displaying correctly?
View it in your browser. (http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=191872ff3f&e=4f67ca75e4)


Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net)
Call in solidarity with Rasmea Odeh on the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture.


Thursday, June 26

Call-in Day for Rasmea Odeh: "Drop the charges now!"
Call Jonathan Tukel in Detroit at 313-226-9749
Chief of National Security Unit, U.S. Attorney’s office, Eastern District of Michigan

Call Barbara McQuade at 313-226-9100 or
313-226-9501 (voicemail)

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan


When you call say, “Hello, my name is ________, and I am calling from _________ to demand that U.S. Attorney McQuade drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh."

Make the call!
Thursday, June 26, 9 am to 5 pm Eastern Time
Rasmea Odeh goes on trial in Detroit on September 8, 2014.

Our first call-in day two weeks ago had the U.S. Attorney’s office answering its phones non-stop all day, proof that Rasmea has massive community support. Let’s keep the pressure on the prosecution!

Rasmea Odeh is a beloved leader and works tirelessly to serve and empower Palestinian, Arab American, and Muslim families in Chicago and across the country.

Rasmea is a community icon and recently won an “Outstanding Community Leader” award from the Chicago Cultural Alliance for her 40+ years of dedication and service.

Rasmea was tortured by the Israeli Military and convicted by an Israeli military kangaroo court 45 years ago. Her confession was forced by vicious physical and sexual torture. She never committed any crime, so the charges against her today are false and unjust. These charges are a political attack on her, on her community, and on all anti-war and Palestine support activists.

Call in today and support Rasmea Odeh. Demand the charges be dropped!

Also stay tuned to the United States Palestinian Community Network (uspcn.org) and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net) for regular updates.

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Copyright © 2014 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

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New: Online action for Rasmea Odeh! Please sign today.

Contact your Congress members for Rasmea! (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=da6eed16f6&e=b3b6009f90) This generates messages to your U.S. Reps and Senators. July 10 is the roll-out date, so please do it today!

Is this email not displaying correctly?
View it in your browser. (http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=6c6471af00&e=b3b6009f90)


Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net)
Online action for Rasmea Odeh! (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=8566dd219f&e=b3b6009f90)
Please sign TODAY (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=b231c5c854&e=b3b6009f90), July 10, so we hit them big on the day that this goes “live.”

This is a way to target your federal Representative and Senators, asking them to send letters to Attorney General Eric Holder. Note that this one does not replace the current CSFR petition (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=1c806ab421&e=b3b6009f90); they have different messages and targets. So share both links today!

As Israel is intensifying its U.S.-sponsored brutality toward the Palestinian people, the United States is moving ahead with its prosecution of Rasmea Odeh—a survivor of Israeli torture and a beloved Chicago-area Palestinian-American community organizer—despite thousands of you who have written to and called the District Attorney to drop the spurious immigration-related charges against her.

But we won't be deterred.

Please take a moment to write and call your Members of Congress expressing your concern about Rasmea’s prosecution and asking them to send a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder about the case. Click here to get to

Please share the links for both the the July 10 Day of Action (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=4a2daff166&e=b3b6009f90) and the CSFR petition (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=99a0a11d94&e=b3b6009f90) widely!

This day of action is sponsored by:
American Muslims for Palestine
Council on American-Islamic Relations Chicago
Committee to Stop FBI Repression
Defending Dissent Foundation
National Lawyers Guild
US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation
United States Palestinian Community Network

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Copyright © 2014 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
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REMINDER: Rasmea’s status hearing in Detroit July 31; Make Zakat-eligible donation


Rasmea's status hearing has been moved to July 31 - find out how you can help!
View this email in your browser (http://us8.campaign-archive1.com/?u=0ce8bf015c0d49d11d99fdefb&id=03bd1760fe&e=266d74dd41)


Eid Saeed to all who celebrate!

A few days ago, Judge Borman changed the date of the status hearing from Friday, August 1st, to Thursday, July 31st.

Join the National Rasmea Defense Committee--United States Palestinian Community Network, Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR), Coalition to Protect People's Rights (CPPR), American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)-Chicago, American Muslims for Palestine, Anti-War Committee (AWC)-Chicago, AWC-Minneapolis, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Committee Against Political Repression, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-Chicago, CAIR-Michigan,Lifta Society, National Lawyers Guild (NLG), National Students for Justice in Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago, Palestine Solidarity Legal Support,Palestinian Youth Movement-USA Branch, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, and many others--as we accompany Rasmea Odeh to Detroit for a veryimportant status hearing on Thursday, July 31st, 2014.

WHERE: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan

231 W. Lafayette Blvd., in Detroit, Michigan

WHEN: We will gather on Thursday, July 31st, at 1 PM Eastern Standard Time (hearing begins at 2 PM EST)

* There are cars departing Chicago at 6:30 AM on July 31st. If you want a seat in one of the cars, or if you are planning to drive and can take others, please write to Joe Iosbaker of CSFR at [email protected]

** People mobilizing for the hearing from other cities and states should also email Iosbaker, so that we can get as accurate a count as possible of attendees.

*** In addition, for those who cannot go to Detroit, we are calling for support rallies to be organized across the country on the day of the hearing. Already, Minneapolis' Anti-War Committee has one scheduled, and we will announce others.

**** Lastly, call the prosecutors on July 31st and demand that they drop the charges!

Thursday, July 31, 9 am to 5 pm Eastern Time

Call Jonathan Tukel in Detroit at 313-226-9749
Chief of National Security Unit, U.S. Attorney’s office, Eastern District of Michigan

Call Barbara McQuade in Detroit at 313-226-9100 or
313-226-9501 (voicemail)
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan

When you call, you can say, “Hello, my name is ________, and I am calling from _________ to demand that U.S. Attorney McQuade drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh."

Background: On October 22nd, 2013, Rasmea was arrested by the Department of Homeland Security and charged with Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization, for allegedly failing to disclose that she had been imprisoned by the Israelis in Palestine over 45 years ago. The wrongful conviction in Palestine was the result of vicious physical and sexual torture by the Israelis, so Rasmea is fighting this U.S. charge in a Detroit courtroom, where the full trial begins on September 8th.

Like so many other victims of political repression in this country, especially African Americans; Puerto Ricans; Mexicans, Latinos, and other immigrants; Arabs and Muslims; and peace activists; she has committed no crime, and is only under attack because she is a Palestinian icon, known worldwide as a leading representative of the legitimate Palestinian struggle for self determination, independence, and the Right of Return.

Please join us in Detroit for this status hearing. We must fill the courtroom, and be outside with our banners, posters, and flags--to show the judge, the prosecutors, and the whole world that Rasmea has broad and unqualified support.

See uspcn.org and stopfbi.net for more information, and our recent press release below:

Replace pro-Israeli judge, say Odeh lawyers (published July 16th)

In a major development, attorneys for Palestinian community leader Rasmea Odeh filed a motion July 14th, calling for Judge Paul D. Borman to step down from the case. The supporting brief argues that Borman, as a life-long and dedicated supporter of Israel, cannot play the “neutral and detached” role that the law requires.

A spurious report from the Associated Press irresponsibly presumes that the defense is bringing this motion because Judge Borman is an American Jew. Odeh and her attorneys, including Michael Deutsch, who is an American Jew himself, deny this, noting that the motion and supporting brief extensively document Borman’s close ties to the State of Israel, never once mentioning his religion. The AP article has been picked up across the country, and the national Rasmea Defense Committee demands a retraction.

Odeh has pled not guilty to Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization, a charge alleging that she failed to mention, in her 2004 application for U.S. citizenship, that she was arrested in Palestine 45 years ago, and tried in an Israeli military court that “convicts” 99.74% of Palestinians who come before it. Odeh was physically and sexually tortured into a confession by Israeli prison authorities in 1969.

The motion describes how this is important to her defense: “The defendant’s case directly raises issues about the legality of the continuing 47 year belligerent occupation of the West Bank by the State of Israel and the State’s policy of sanctioning the systematic torture of Palestinian detainees by the Israeli military and security police.”

In the papers filed with the court this week, attorneys Deutsch and James Fennerty describe Judge Borman’s long history of support for Israel, including fund raising for, and donating millions of dollars of his own money to the state. They argue: “Clearly, one who has been a life-long supporter and promoter of Israel and has deep ties to the State of Israel spanning over 50 years, who no doubts believes that Israel is a great democracy and protector of human rights, cannot be ‘reasonably’ said to be impartial when these claims of torture and illegality are raised by a Palestinian defendant.

“Further, it is reasonable to conclude that as a result of this Court’s many trips to Israel, and its active support and substantial efforts in fund raising for the State of Israel, that this Court has ‘personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning this case.’”

According to one of the defense committee’s spokespeople, Hatem Abudayyeh, “This motion is about trying to get Rasmea a fair trial. Borman’s bias is clear.

“Winning this case is not limited to a legal strategy,” Abudayyeh continued. “Thousands of people from across the country are supporting and fighting for Rasmea Odeh. We are urging the government to drop the charges against her. If they don’t, we are mobilizing to fill the courtroom every day of the trial.”

The trial is set for September 8 in Detroit.

Step Down, Judge Borman!

www.uspcn.org

www.stopfbi.net

************************************************** ***********

To: Family, Friends, and All Supporters of Justice.

Re: Donating to Rasmea's defense fund.

As we near the end of Ramadan, we hope that you all had a wonderful month. Ramadan is a time of reflection, spiritual development and renewed efforts to bring ease to those who are struggling with injustice here at home and around the world.

Rasmea Odeh is a beloved and respected leader who has organized in support of hundreds of families, especially women and children, in the Arab and Muslim communities of Chicagoland. Last year, the Chicago Cultural Alliance named Rasmea as its Outstanding Community Leader for her more than 40 years of community service.

Our dear sister is currently facing trial on politically motivated charges based the outcome of an Israeli military kangaroo court 45 years ago. The Israeli military viciously tortured Rasmea until she confessed to a crime she did not commit. Now the US Attorney's Office is using that tortured confession as a basis for immigration charges. She faces the revocation of her US citizenship, 10 years in prison, and deportation. These charges are a political attack on her, on her community, and on all anti-war and Palestine support activists.

Rasmea and our Palestinian community needs your support! Sheikh Jamal Said of the Mosque Foundation has assured us that payments to Rasmea’s defense fund are Zakat eligible. Please donate NOW!

Thank you very much and Eid Mubarak!

Sincerely,

Mofeed Bages, Shafic Budron, Abder Ghouleh, Amani Ghouleh, Sofian Hasan, Rafeeq Jaber, Dima Khalidi, Rasmea Odeh, Kristin Szremski, Mansour Tadros

Coalition to Protect People's Rights coordinating committee

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Rasmea Odeh court hearing, Judge Borman refuses to stop down

By Tom Burke

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/OdehDetriot.jpg

Detroit, MI - As Rasmea Odeh appeared at the U.S. Court in Detroit here July 31, 120 supporters made a long picket line near the front steps. The crowd held big posters with Odeh’s photo saying, “I support Rasmea!” A number of large white SUVs from the Department of Homeland Security, with armed men loitering around them, lined the streets near the picket. Still, that could not stop Rasmea Odeh from smiling brightly as people chanted for dropping the case against her.

Organizers and activists came from Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis and other Michigan cities and college towns. The young people led chants of, “Rasmea Odeh is under attack! What do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

The U.S. government is putting Rasmea Odeh on trial in Detroit on Sept. 8. Prosecutor Tukel is claiming she committed fraud by not writing about her arrest, torture and imprisonment by the Israeli military in 1969. Odeh lives in Chicago and has been a U.S. citizen for ten years, but now she is being targeted and threatened with ten years imprisonment and deportation. Friends and supporters are pointing towards her popular and award winning organizing of Arab American women as the reason for U.S. government attention now.

After speeches outside by Palestinian American, Muslim and anti-war leaders, supporters filed in and packed the courtroom, with several supporters denied access to the crowded courtroom.

Judge Borman, appearing anxious, admitted to having just finished writing a response to the defense lawyers’ call for him to step down from the trial due to his financial and material aid to Israel. Defense attorneys are arguing Borman cannot possibly judge a trial fairly when he is politically, financially and emotionally invested. Judge Borman said he did not agree and would not recuse himself.

Borman then addressed defense motions and was visibly confused. The defense moved ahead. They focused on calling a psychological expert to testify on Rasmea Odeh’s “intent” in not writing on an immigration form about her torture and rape at the hands of the Israeli military.

Outside the court Deutsch said, “It is not for the judge to decide. It is for the jury to decide.”

Judge Borman ordered that the next hearing on the case will take place Sept. 2. At that time he is expected to rule on the motions in front of him. Rasmea Odeh’s trial will begin shortly after that on Sept. 8.

Jess Sundin, from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression urged people to attend. “We know that this judge is an ardent supporter of the Israeli occupation. It’s imperative that we have a strong presence at the trial, to pressure him to offer some bit of fairness in a trial that is all about the crimes Israel committed against Rasmea Odeh. People from across the country are making plans to be in Detroit.”

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

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Freedom for Palestine and Rasmea rally

By Meredith Aby-Keirstead

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/saraOdeh.JPG

St. Paul – 150 people gathered here for Women Against Military Madness’ weekly Friday Palestine vigil, Aug. 1, at the intersection of Summit and Snelling Avenues. Protesters chanted “Free Palestine” and got honks from drivers. This was the third Friday vigil since the start of the recent upsurge in Palestine.

Protesters heard from Sherine Mashni who has close ties to the conflict in Palestine. She is a family member of both 16-year-old Muhammad Abu Khudair who was killed by Israeli settlers and of 15-year-old Tariq Khieder who was beaten by Israeli police, arrested and then kept on house arrest before finally being allowed to return home to Tampa, Florida. She thanked the crowd for protesting and continuing to demand an end to the attack on Gaza.

This week’s vigil also addressed the case of Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh who had a court date in Detroit the day before. Sarah Martin, of the Minnesota Committee to Stop FBI Repression, spoke to the crowd about Odeh’s case.

Martin stated, “Rasmea’s life embodies that of Palestinians. In 1948 her family was driven out of their village along with 750,000 other Palestinians in what is known as Al Nakba or the catastrophe. As she grew up she became involved in the struggle for the liberation for Palestine. Then In 1969, on Eid, the Israeli army came to her house and arrested her, her father and her sister. For the next 25 days she was tortured in unspeakable ways night and day. She was beaten, sexually assaulted and electrocuted. Only when she was convinced her father would be tortured, she signed a confession. She spent the next ten years in prison and was released in a prisoner exchange. Some years later she came to this country and has been here for 20 years. For the past 10 years she has been in Chicago working with the AAAN (Arab American Action Network). She now faces 10 years in prison and deportation after that.”

Martin continued, “Yesterday in Detroit, which is where her trial is being held, there was a hearing. She and her defense team asked that Judge Borman recuse himself because he is an ardent Zionist, but he refused. On a positive note, the courtroom was packed with so many of her supporters that not everyone could get in. There was a picket line outside the court. Her trial will begin Sept. 8 and is expected to last about three weeks. We are calling on people to attend as many days as they can.”

This week’s vigil was co-sponsored by WAMM, the Minnesota Anti-War Committee and the Minnesota Committee to Stop FBI Repression.

The next protest will be at Senator Klobuchar’s office at 1200 Washington Avenue S in Minneapolis on Aug. 6 at 4:30 p.m. There will be a rally, which focuses on the senator’s record followed by a march to the Star Tribune newspaper to challenge the mainstream media’s blackout of the local grassroots Palestine solidarity movement. The Minnesota Anti-War Committee is organizing the rally and march.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

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Justice for Rasmea

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/FloridaStandsWithRasmea.jpeg

By Joe Iosbaker

Chicago, IL - Rasmea Odeh is an activist in the Palestinian community in Chicago. Her story is the story of Palestinian refugees here.

She lost her family home in Palestine during Al Nakba, “the Catastrophe,” as Palestinians call the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. Hundreds of Palestinian villages were assaulted by the Israeli terrorist militias that slaughtered thousands and drove 750,000 into exile.

Then in 1967, Israel occupied the rest of Palestine, including the West Bank, where Odeh was a college student. Under the illegal occupation, condemned countless times by votes in the U.N., 20% of the Palestinian people were detained. Like tens of thousands living under that occupation, Odeh was arrested by the Israeli army and charged with a crime; she was then tried without due process, tortured into confessing to the crime and sentenced to life in prison.

Ten years later, Odeh was released in a prisoner exchange. She testified to a U.N. hearing on torture. Some years later, she emigrated to the U.S., where she became a citizen. She has devoted decades of her life to social justice issues, including the past ten years to her work in Chicago with the Arab American Action Network, where she is a leading advocate for women’s rights and immigrant rights.

Because she has been outspoken in defense of her community and Palestine, in the fall of 2013 she was arrested in her home in the Chicago suburbs by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

When she was brought before a judge that morning, only Hatem Abudayyeh, her lawyer, Jim Fennerty, myself and a few friends and family members were with her. Once word got out, many thousands have taken her side, rallying, pledging and acting in her defense.

Why is the government putting her on trial?

That morning in October, an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Chicago charged Odeh with a violation on her application for citizenship. But that is only a pretext.

A federal prosecutor with a history of hatred of Palestine was present at court when Odeh appeared: Barry Jonas, best known for having prosecuted the Holy Land Five, the Palestinian men who headed the largest Muslim charity in the U.S. They are imprisoned for as long as 65 years for the crime of providing food and medicine to the wrong children – the children of Gaza. For Jonas, feeding those children is aiding terrorism, and the U.S. court system has taken that stand as well. For the U.S. government, Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims are targeted for their opposition to Israel and to U.S. wars in their homelands.

Since the morning of her arrest, Odeh’s case has been shown to be linked to the investigation by Jonas of anti-war and international solidarity activists. That investigation began during a permitted peace protest at the Republican National Convention in 2008. The FBI and its Joint Terrorism Task Force sent in undercover agents to spy on the organizers. When the agents learned that the anti-war movement also supports the people of Colombia and Palestine, the U.S. Attorney set up a federal grand jury and got a judge to swear out warrants to search the homes of long time community, labor and anti-war leaders in Chicago and Minneapolis.

On the morning of Sept. 24, 2010, 70 Joint Terrorism Task Force agents raided seven homes and an office and visited homes in three other states. Ultimately, 23 people were subpoenaed to the grand jury. This case is the largest coordinated act of repression of people involved in political activism since the 1960s.

All 23 refused to testify – refused to tell the grand jury who they knew and worked with in the anti-war movement, in Palestine solidarity work, or in Colombia or Palestine. Those activists were able to stop the grand jury, despite the threat of prison time for refusing to testify, because of support received by the peace movement, labor and civil libertarians, including a dozen members of Congress. An Assistant U.S. Attorney had been overheard complaining that the activists were having “their day in the sun,” but threatened that the case against them wasn’t over. Until today, the government has refused to drop the investigation.

Hatem Abudayyeh was one of those whose home was raided in Chicago in 2010. Abudayyeh is the director of the Arab American Action Network, and Odeh is his co-worker. The connection could not be clearer. But to punctuate the connection, the FBI visited a Palestinian businessman in Chicago in April, and asked him about both Abudayyeh and Odeh.

U.S. legal system upholds Israeli occupation

Outside the courtroom in Chicago in October, Abudayyeh looked over the crowd of seven or eight DHS agents milling around outside the room where Odeh met with her lawyer, Jim Fennerty, after the reading of the indictment. After listening to the Assistant U.S. Attorney citing Odeh’s confession, gained through sadistic torture by Israel’s army in their illegal occupation, Abudayyeh remarked loud enough for the agents to hear, “So you work for Israel now?”

In the U.S. legal system, confessions extracted through torture are not acceptable in a court of law. However, over and again, exceptions have been made when it comes to the actions of Palestinians in support and defense of their compatriots. In two previous federal cases, the Holy Land Five and the case of Muhammad Salah, tortured confessions were allowed to be entered as evidence and both were key to the convictions. Now Odeh’s torture is being upheld by the Department of Justice again.

In Chicago, the police department is so well known for its torture of African American suspects that it cost Mayor Richard M. Daley the 2016 Olympics. The fact that Chicago has become the torture capital of the U.S. can’t be missed.

To justify their use of a coerced confession, the U.S. Attorney has had to resort to demonization, claiming that Rasmea Odeh is a ‘terrorist’ hiding in the Chicago suburbs. The anti-war and international solidarity activists were “violent,” conspiring to provide “material support” to “foreign terrorist organizations” in Palestine and Colombia.

The intent of Barry Jonas and the Department of Justice is to criminalize protest. They want to make a crime out of opposing the number one source of violence in the world today: U.S. wars. They want to make solidarity a crime, if it is expressed for people struggling against U.S.-backed governments, like Colombia, and U.S.-funded occupations, like the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

An empire in crisis

Attacking Rasmea Odeh for something that occurred in 1969 seems like an act of desperation. In the mind of Barry Jonas, a 67-year-old woman who has worked for decades nurturing refugee and immigrant communities is dangerous, and has to be put in prison and then deported. In the same way, Immigration and Customs Enforcement tears apart hundreds of thousands of Latino immigrant families to maintain ‘border security.’

Why is Barry Jonas so scared? Could it be he sees the end of the so-called Peace Process and the Two State Solution, since the Arab Spring protests swept away the Mubarak regime, the most powerful Arab government partnering with the criminals in Tel Aviv? Perhaps he fears that the rise of the Boycott/Divestment/ Sanctions movement will be for Israel what it was for the original apartheid state of South Africa – the tolling of the bell of justice. Barry Jonas, like all Zionists, must harbor the fear that the verdict is in on Israel: it is a racist state, living on stolen land and borrowed time.

Call to action

Detroit is the location of the trial. Judge Paul Borman has set Monday, Sept. 8 for the opening of the proceedings. All those who know Rasmea Odeh, care for her, and love justice, are mobilizing to be in court with her. Those that can’t go should help raise money for the defense and to help send others to Detroit.

Pack the courtroom. Put Israel on trial for its crimes. Justice for Rasmea.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]






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[ckaihatsu]

Judge Borman forced to step down in case of Rasmea Odeh

By staff

Detroit, MI - Judge Paul D. Borman was forced to remove himself from the case of Palestinian community leader Rasmea Odeh, Aug 11. Late last month, Judge Borman stridently denied a defense motion calling on him to step down. The motion asserted that his lifelong support for the state of Israel - whose arrest, torture and conviction of Odeh for alleged Jerusalem bombings in 1969 is at issue in this case - would not allow for a fair trial. Odeh has pleaded not guilty to the charge of Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization and vehemently refutes the Israeli convictions, which were based on a forced confession after extended periods of vicious physical and sexual torture.

In an unexpected turn of events, Borman admitted his financial ties to Israel, “could be perceived as establishing a reasonably objective inference of a lack of impartiality in the context of the issues presented in this case.” Defense claims of pro-Israel bias are vindicated, and Borman has removed himself. The case has been randomly re-assigned to U.S. District Judge Gershwin A. Drain.

When Borman refused the motion for him to step down on July 31, he dismissed defense arguments about his decades of trips to and fundraising for Israel, claiming his “religious convictions” did not bring his impartiality into question.

According to supporters, Borman was falsely covering Zionist ideology with Judaism. “We opposed Judge Borman not because of his Jewish faith, but because of his decades of support for the state of Israel,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, a spokesperson for Odeh’s defense committee. “Rasmea overcame vicious torture by Israeli authorities while imprisoned in Palestine in the 70s. She has committed no crime and the government has no case. We need a judge willing to listen to a defense that puts Israel on trial for its crimes against Rasmea, and against all Palestinians.”

Supporters of Odeh hail this as a victory for the defense, but are redoubling efforts to win justice for Rasmea.

Abudayyeh continued, “This case is a political attack on the Palestine liberation movement and that means we need a political defense as much as a legal defense. Thousands of people from across the country are fighting for Rasmea, demanding that the government drop the charges against her. If they don’t, we are still going all out for Detroit, to fill the courtroom every day of the trial.”

A status hearing in front of Judge Drain is still planned for Tuesday, Sept. 2, in Detroit, and the Rasmea Defense Committee is calling for supporters to pack the courthouse and to call the prosecutors to demand that they drop the charges on that day. The date of the actual trial will be rescheduled.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

Breakthrough in Rasmea case. Let's turn up the heat! Call-in day Aug. 18

We got Judge Borman to step down (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=b25bb8dd9b&e=b3b6009f90). Now we have to keep up the pressure! Call-in Day, Monday, Aug. 18. It's time to DROP the CHARGES against Rasmea Odeh.

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Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net)

1. Monday, Aug. 18: Call the prosecutors and tell them, “Drop the charges now!”
2. Important Update! Judge Borman forced to step down in Rasmea Odeh trial!
3. Come to Detroit on Sept. 2, Rasmea Odeh Status Hearing
4. Organize a protest in your city or on your campus Sept. 2


1. Monday, Aug. 18: Call the prosecutors and tell them, “Drop the charges now!”
Call Jonathan Tukel in Detroit at 313-226-9749
Chief of National Security Unit, U.S. Attorney’s office, Eastern District of Michigan

Call Barbara McQuade at 313-226-9100 or
313-226-9501 (voicemail)
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan

When you call say, “Hello, my name is ________, and I am calling from _________ to demand that U.S. Attorney McQuade drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh." (first name pronounced Russ-MEE-yuh)

Make the calls!
Monday, August 18, from 9 am to 5 pm Eastern Time

2. Important Update! Judge Borman forced to step down in Rasmea Odeh trial!

Detroit, MI - Judge Paul D. Borman was forced to step down from the bench (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=254ef3f4ad&e=b3b6009f90) on in the case of Palestinian community leader Rasmea Odeh on August 11. On July 31, when 120 activists attended Rasmea Odeh’s pretrial hearing Detroit, they witnessed Judge Borman denying a defense motion calling for recusal, for him to step down from the case.

In an unexpected turn of events this past week, Borman admitted his financial ties to Israel, “could be perceived as establishing a reasonably objective inference of a lack of impartiality in the context of the issues presented in this case.” Defense claims of pro-Israel bias are vindicated, and Borman has removed himself. The case is now randomly re-assigned to U.S. District Judge Gershwin A. Drain.

The U.S. government is putting Rasmea Odeh, a torture victim, on trial in Detroit. Odeh, who organizes Arab American women to empower themselves and speak out, was arrested, tortured, raped, and convicted by the Israeli military in 1969. She has lived in the U.S. for 20 years and won her citizenship ten years ago. Now, however, the U.S. government is putting her on trial for fraud, for not writing about the Israeli military conviction on her paper work.

When Borman refused the motion to step down on July 31, he dismissed defense arguments about his decades of trips to and fundraising for Israel, claiming his “religious convictions” did not bring his impartiality into question.

According to supporters, Borman was falsely covering Zionist ideology with Judaism. “We opposed Judge Borman not because of his Jewish faith, but because of his decades of support for the state of Israel,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, a spokesperson for Odeh’s defense committee. “Rasmea overcame vicious torture by Israeli authorities while imprisoned in Palestine in the 1970s. She has committed no crime and the government has no case. We need a judge willing to listen to a defense that puts Israel on trial for its crimes against Rasmea, and against all Palestinians.”

Supporters of Odeh hail this as a victory for the defense, but are redoubling efforts to win justice for Rasmea. People are being asked to sign the Rasmea Odeh petition at www.StopFBI.net.

Abudayyeh continued, “This case is a political attack on the Palestine liberation movement and that means we need a political defense as much as a legal defense. Thousands of people from across the country are fighting for Rasmea, demanding that the government drop the charges against her. If they do not drop the charges, we are still going all out for Detroit, to fill the courtroom every day of the trial.”

A status hearing in front of Judge Drain is still planned for Tuesday, Sept. 2, in Detroit, and the Rasmea Defense Committee is calling for supporters to pack the courthouse and to call the prosecutors to demand that they drop the charges on that day. The date of the actual trial is being rescheduled.

The national Rasmea Defense Committee includes United States Palestinian Community Network, Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR), Coalition to Protect People’s Rights (CPPR), 8th Day Center for Justice, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)-Chicago, American Muslims for Palestine, Anti-War Committee (AWC)-Chicago, AWC-Minneapolis, Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace and Justice in the Middle East, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Committee Against Political Repression, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-Chicago, CAIR-Michigan, Friends of Sabeel-North America, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, International League of Peoples’ Struggle-U.S., Jewish Voice for Peace, Lifta Society, National Boricua Human Rights Network, National Lawyers Guild (NLG), National Students for Justice in Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago, Palestine Solidarity Legal Support, Palestinian Youth Movement-USA Branch, St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, United African Organization, United National Antiwar Coalition, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Voces de la Frontera, and Women Against Military Madness.

3. Come to Detroit on Sept. 2, Rasmea Odeh Status Hearing

Join us, the National Rasmea Defense Committee as we travel with Rasmea Odeh to court in Detroit on September 2 for a status hearing with the new judge. We are asking you to join Rasmea Odeh’s supporters to rally and protest outside the court on Tuesday, September 2, the day after Labor Day. Palestine solidarity and civil liberty activists from Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids and other Michigan cities will join Rasmea Odeh and pack the courtroom. You can make a difference in stopping this ugly U.S. government targeting of a great woman and Palestinian leader. Join us in saying, “No more torture! Drop the charges now!”

4. Organize a protest in your city or on your campus Sept. 2

In addition, for those who cannot go to Detroit, we are calling for support rallies to be organized across the country on the day of the hearing.


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Copyright © 2014 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
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[ckaihatsu]

Defense motion says illegal investigation + Call in Sept 2


Read below for important update on the case. Also, Rasmea Odeh will be back in court Sept. 2 (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=e6d2910401&e=b3b6009f90) Lets keep the heat on! Call Jonathan Tukel 313-226-9749 and call Barbara McQuade, 313-226-9100 (or 313-226-9501). "Drop the Charges against Rasmea Odeh!"


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Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net)

1. Tuesday, Sept. 2: Call the prosecutors and tell them, 'Drop the charges now!'

2. UPDATE: Motion made in federal court to dismiss charges against Rasmea Odeh

3. Come to Detroit on Sept. 2, Rasmea Odeh Status Hearing

4. Organize a protest in your city or on your campus Sept. 2


1. Tuesday, Sept. 2: Call the prosecutors and tell them, 'Drop the charges now!'
Call Jonathan Tukel in Detroit at 313-226-9749
Chief of National Security Unit, U.S. Attorney’s office, Eastern District of Michigan

Call Barbara McQuade at 313-226-9100 or
313-226-9501 (voicemail)
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan

When you call say, “Hello, my name is ________, and I am calling from _________ to demand that U.S. Attorney McQuade drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh." (first name pronounced Russ-MEE-yuh)

Make the calls!
Tuesday, Sept. 2, from 9 am to 5 pm Eastern Time

2. UPDATE: Motion made in federal court to dismiss charges against Rasmea Odeh
Defense says charges are product of illegal investigation violating First Amendment

Attorneys representing Chicago’s long-time Palestinian community leader, Rasmea Odeh, have filed a motion in Detroit’s U.S. District Court to dismiss the indictment against her. They are doing so on the grounds that the charges are the product of an illegal investigation targeting both Palestine solidarity efforts and organizing in the Palestinian community.

“Rasmea is facing up to ten years in jail and deportation. She is a Palestinian who has stood up for the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim community in Chicago, and to end the occupation of Palestine as well. Rasmea suffered vicious torture and sexual abuse in Israeli prisons, and the U.S. government is trying to victimize her again,” states Hatem Abudayyeh of the national Rasmea Defense Committee.

The motion tells how the FBI and the Justice Department investigated and are attempting to “criminalize” efforts to empower Chicago’s Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities, as well as work to build solidarity with the struggle in Palestine.

In January 2010, Chicago Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Fox, as part of his investigation into Palestine and international solidarity activists, initiated a request to the state of Israel - through the Office of International Affairs, Criminal Division, of the U.S. Department of Justice - for their records on Rasmea Odeh.

Later that year, on Sept. 24, 2010, the home of Hatem Abudayyeh, who works with Odeh in the offices of the Arab American Action Network, was raided by the FBI. Also raided by the FBI that day were the homes of six other Midwest anti-war and Palestine solidarity activists. In the following months, Brandon Fox’s name appeared as the contact person on subpoenas delivered to 23 pro-Palestine and anti-war activists, ordering them to appear before a grand jury investigating “material support of terrorism.” No one testified and, due to broad public support and a strong defense campaign, no one was indicted.

In July 2011, the Israelis sent a set of documents to Assistant U.S. Attorney Fox, purportedly supporting the claim that Odeh had been imprisoned by the Israelis. Rasmea Odeh was indicted two years later for alleged errors in filling out her naturalization paperwork.

The defense motion states, “Interestingly, the indictment was obtained by the office of the United States Attorney's office from the Eastern District of Michigan, through a grand jury sitting in the Eastern District of Michigan. The United States Attorney in Illinois, which was the office that initiated the request for the Israeli documents and was carrying out the investigation, apparently passed the case to the office in Michigan, to divert attention from its failed efforts to criminalize…” the work of Palestinian American and solidarity activists in Chicago.

Jess Sundin, of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression says, “We want Detroit District Judge Gershwin Drain to dismiss the indictment against Rasmea. Rasmea is a great person who has done great things. The charges need to be dropped.”

An important hearing in Rasmea Odeh’s case is scheduled for Sept. 2, in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, at 231 W Lafayette Boulevard, in Detroit, Michigan. A picket line outside the court building will start at 2:00 p.m. and the hearing will begin at 3:00 p.m. The Rasmea Defense Committee, United States Palestinian Community Network, and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR) are mobilizing to fill the courthouse.


The national Rasmea Defense Committee includes United States Palestinian Community Network, Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR), Coalition to Protect People’s Rights (CPPR), 8th Day Center for Justice, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)-Chicago, American Muslims for Palestine, Anti-War Committee (AWC)-Chicago, AWC-Minneapolis, Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace and Justice in the Middle East, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Committee Against Political Repression, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-Chicago, CAIR-Michigan, Friends of Sabeel-North America, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, International League of Peoples’ Struggle-U.S., Jewish Voice for Peace, Lifta Society, National Boricua Human Rights Network, National Lawyers Guild (NLG), National Students for Justice in Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago, Palestine Solidarity Legal Support, Palestinian Youth Movement-USA Branch, St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, United African Organization, United National Antiwar Coalition, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Voces de la Frontera, and Women Against Military Madness.

3. Come to Detroit on Sept. 2, Rasmea Odeh Status Hearing

Join us, the National Rasmea Defense Committee as we travel with Rasmea Odeh to court in Detroit on September 2 for a status hearing with the new judge. We are asking you to join Rasmea Odeh’s supporters to rally and protest outside the court on Tuesday, September 2, the day after Labor Day. Palestine solidarity and civil liberty activists from Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids and other Michigan cities will join Rasmea Odeh and pack the courtroom. You can make a difference in stopping this ugly U.S. government targeting of a great woman and Palestinian leader. Join us in saying, “No more torture! Drop the charges now!”

Court Hearing for Rasmea Odeh
Sept. 2
2:00 p.m. - Picket line outside the court building
231 W Lafayette Boulevard, in Detroit
Hearing starts at 3:00 p.m.

The Rasmea Defense Committee, United States Palestinian Community Network, and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR) are mobilizing to fill the courthouse.

4. Organize a protest in your city or on your campus Sept. 2

In addition, for those who cannot go to Detroit, we are calling for support rallies to be organized across the country on the day of the hearing. Also, spread the word about the call-in day!


follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend
Copyright © 2014 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

[ckaihatsu]

Motion made in federal court to dismiss charges against Rasmea Odeh

Defense says charges are product of illegal investigation violating First Amendment

By staff

Chicago, IL - Attorneys representing Chicago’s long-time Palestinian community leader, Rasmea Odeh, have filed a motion in Detroit’s U.S. District Court to dismiss the indictment against her. They are doing so on the grounds that the charges are the product of an illegal investigation targeting both Palestine solidarity efforts and organizing in the Palestinian community.

“Rasmea is facing up to ten years in jail and deportation. She is a Palestinian who has stood up for the Palestinian, Arab and Muslim community in Chicago, and to end the occupation of Palestine as well. Rasmea suffered vicious torture and sexual abuse in Israeli prisons, and the U.S. government is trying to victimize her again,” states Hatem Abudayyeh of the national Rasmea Defense Committee.

The motion tells how the FBI and the Justice Department investigated and are attempting to “criminalize” efforts to empower Chicago’s Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities, as well as work to build solidarity with the struggle in Palestine.

In January 2010, Chicago Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Fox, as part of his investigation into Palestine and international solidarity activists, initiated a request to the state of Israel - through the Office of International Affairs, Criminal Division, of the U.S. Department of Justice - for their records on Rasmea Odeh.

Later that year, on Sept. 24, 2010, the home of Hatem Abudayyeh, who works with Odeh in the offices of the Arab American Action Network, was raided by the FBI. Also raided by the FBI that day were the homes of six other Midwest anti-war and Palestine solidarity activists. In the following months, Brandon Fox’s name appeared as the contact person on subpoenas delivered to 23 pro-Palestine and anti-war activists, ordering them to appear before a grand jury investigating “material support of terrorism.” No one testified and, due to broad public support and a strong defense campaign, no one was indicted.

In July 2011, the Israelis sent a set of documents to Assistant U.S. Attorney Fox, purportedly supporting the claim that Odeh had been imprisoned by the Israelis. Rasmea Odeh was indicted two years later for alleged errors in filling out her naturalization paperwork.

The defense motion states, “Interestingly, the indictment was obtained by the office of the United States Attorney's office from the Eastern District of Michigan, through a grand jury sitting in the Eastern District of Michigan. The United States Attorney in Illinois, which was the office that initiated the request for the Israeli documents and was carrying out the investigation, apparently passed the case to the office in Michigan, to divert attention from its failed efforts to criminalize…” the work of Palestinian American and solidarity activists in Chicago.

Jess Sundin, of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression says, “We want Detroit District Judge Gershwin Drain to dismiss the indictment against Rasmea. Rasmea is a great person who has done great things. The charges need to be dropped.”

An important hearing in Rasmea Odeh’s case is scheduled for Sept. 2, in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, at 231 W Lafayette Boulevard, in Detroit, Michigan. A picket line outside the court building will start at 2:00 p.m. and the hearing will begin at 3:00 p.m. The Rasmea Defense Committee, United States Palestinian Community Network, and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR) are mobilizing to fill the courthouse.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

Sept 2 Call In Day: Drop the Charges against Rasmea Odeh


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End the Occupation

Monday, September 1, 2014

Demand End to U.S. Persecution of Palestinian-American Activist


http://org.salsalabs.com/o/641/images/rasmea%20(439x627).jpg


Dear Chris,

An important hearing in the case of Rasmea Odeh is scheduled for Tuesday, September 2, and your support is needed!

On October 22nd, 2013, Rasmea, 67, was arrested by the Department of Homeland Security and charged with Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization for allegedly failing to disclose that she had been imprisoned by Israel over 45 years ago.

In 1969, Israel brutally tortured Rasmea, eventually extracting from her a “confession” to a crime which she did not commit. The Obama administration has dusted off her 10-year-old application to become a U.S. citizen and charged her for allegedly omitting mention of her time in Israeli prison, despite the fact that Rasmea publicly testified at the United Nation about the torture she suffered while imprisoned.

Call the prosecutors September 2 from 9:00am-5:00pm EDT and tell them: Drop the charges now!

Call Jonathan Tukel at 313-226-9749 (Chief of National Security Unit, U.S. Attorney’s office, Eastern District of Michigan) and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara McQuade at 313-226-9100 or 313-226-9501 (voicemail).

When you call, say: “Hello, my name is ________, and I am calling from _________ to demand that U.S. Attorney McQuade drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh.”

If you are in the Detroit area, please consider joining the US Palestinian Community Network to fill the courthouse. Rasmea's supporters will be gathering at 2:00pm EDT September 2 at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (231 W. Lafayette Blvd). The hearing begins at 3:00pm EDT.

Attorneys representing Rasmea have filed a motion and brief to dismiss the indictment against her on the grounds that the charges are the product of an illegal investigation targeting both Palestine solidarity efforts and organizing in the Palestinian community.

You can learn more about Rasmea's through these two articles: "Why is Obama's DOJ prosecuting a torture victim?" (http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=v1ctTIXntMBdStj5zhggGxeFljUPvJ9E) and "Judge in case against Palestinian-American pulls out due to Israel business ties." (http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=HPA%2B8z9spjQYZ9MbHL1T9ReFljUPvJ9E)

Thanks for taking action.

-US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation



Chris, take these actions:

1. Call prosecutors and demand they drop the charges now against Rasmea Odeh.

2. Follow @Justice4Rasmea on Twitter and like on Facebook for updates.




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[ckaihatsu]

Rasmea Odeh trial set for Nov. 4

By staff

Detroit, MI – 70 supporters of Palestinian community leader Rasmea Odeh gathered here in the rain Sept. 2, before the latest court hearing in her case. When pressed by security to leave the sidewalk in front of the courthouse, the crowd stood firm. The addressed the U.S. Attorney in charge of Odeh’s case with chants led from a bullhorn across the street, shouting, “Hey McQuade, you must know, Rasmea’s case has got to go!”

Odeh has pled not guilty to the bogus charge of Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization, a charge which stems from Israeli convictions that were based on a forced confession after extended periods of vicious physical and sexual torture.

After filing into the courthouse for the 3:00 p.m. hearing, supporters learned that it would be closed to the public. They crowded in the hallway outside the chambers of Judge Gershwin Drain, waiting for news on what would happen next in the case of this beloved community leader.

After the closed session with the judge, defense attorney Michael Deutsch spoke to supporters, assuring them that the judge was aware of the outpouring of support for Odeh. “The judge knew that you were here. We told him so, and asked him to make arrangements for a bigger courtroom for the trial. Your presence is critically important.” He explained that Drain’s usual courtroom is smaller than that of Judge Borman, whose courtroom had been filled by supporters at earlier hearings. Borman was forced to step down from the case because of his close ties to Israel.

Judge Drain set Nov. 4 for the start of Odeh‘s trial, with an important hearing on Oct. 2. That will be a public hearing on several motions, including one to dismiss the charges against her. The motion argues that the indictment of Odeh sprang from what defense attorneys call an illegal federal investigation of 23 Palestinian and international solidarity activists, described by Rasmea Defense Committee spokesperson, Hatem Abudayyeh, as “a violation of our constitutional First Amendment rights.” Other important defense motions on the table that day include ones to allow testimony at trial by a torture expert, to exclude Israeli occupation court documents and to secure State Department documents from interviews with U.S. citizens who were among the 500 arrested by Israeli occupation forces in the massive sweep when Rasmea Odeh was arrested in 1969.

Frank Chapman, of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, expressed “complete and unqualified solidarity.” He said, “We have a future together,” citing solidarity from Palestinians to protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, and support by the Arab American Action Network (AAAN, the community organization where Odeh serves as Associate Director) for “victims of police crimes in the city of Chicago, many of them victims of torture just like Rasmea.” He pledged to bring more people to future hearings.

Jess Sundin, of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, came from Minneapolis and addressed the crowd, “These charges are unfounded. Rasmea has done nothing wrong. The idea that the U.S. government could bring charges against her for the crimes that were committed against her by the Zionist state of Israel is an outrage, an insult to the concepts of justice or democracy. The U.S. government has never stood on the side of justice on the question of Palestine or Palestinians, so it is no surprise that they would try to criminalize Rasmea again. But we’re not going to let that happen - all out for Detroit!” Sundin said she would return to Detroit for future hearings, and people from across the country would mobilize for the trial.

The rally closed after Rasmea Odeh expressed her thanks to those gathered.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

Family members condemn FBI for jailing, killing loved ones

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/TracyTampa.jpg

By Jessica Schwartz

Tampa, FL - 70 people gathered at the First United Church of Tampa, Sept. 13, to hear speakers on FBI repression of Arab, Muslim and anti-war activists in the U.S. Topics discussed included entrapment, preemptive prosecution and solitary confinement. Over 80,000 people are currently under solitary confinement, a reality for many political prisoners in the U.S.

The speakers were Nahla Al-Arian, wife of Dr. Sami Al-Arian; Hatem Fariz; Al-Arian’s co-defendant, who was imprisoned in a Communication Management Unit; Avni Osmakac, brother of Sami Osmakac; Tracy Molm of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression and one of the anti-war 23; and Elena Teyer, mother-in-law of Ibragim Todashev.

Nahla Al-Arian spoke about her husband’s case. Dr. Sami Al-Arian, a Palestinian-American professor lost his job at University of South Florida after comments he made on the Bill O’Reilly show following 9/11. He was later imprisoned and then put under house arrest for supposedly working with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. The reality was that Dr. Al-Arian was giving humanitarian aid to Palestine and was vocally critical of Israel. Due to an agreement with the government, Nahla and Sami Al-Arian will be deported to another country, which has proved difficult given his case and their Palestinian background.

Nahla Al-Arian said, “They just wanted us to disappear.”

Hatem Fariz was a co-defendant with Dr. Al-Arian and endured living in a Communication Management Unit, or CMU. Fariz spent four years in a CMU in Terre Haute, Indiana. Fariz described the deplorable conditions he lived under in the CMU, including waiting over a month to see a doctor, being allotted only two 15-minute phone calls a month, and two hour-long visits a month, which only included immediate family.

“We didn’t send money to kill people. We sent money to feed people”, said Hatem Fariz.

Avni Osmakac is the older brother of Sami Osmakac, an Albanian man who was coerced by the FBI to buy fake weapons for attacks in the Tampa Bay area. Sami Osmakac was put into solitary confinement even before his trial began. Osmakac began showing signs of mental illness in 2010, and started going to mosques for answers, where he met an informant that would entrap him in illegal activity, recorded him making threats, while keeping thousands of other recordings secret for ‘national security’ purposes.

Sami Osmakac sentencing will occur in November at the Sam Gibbons Federal Courthouse in Tampa. On Sept. 15 at Genaro Coffee in St. Petersburg, there will be a film screening of Informant, where Avni Osmakac will also be speaking.

Tracy Molm, one of the 23 anti-war and international solidarity activists subpoenaed by a grand jury, also spoke. The activists had their homes raided and belongings seized in a witch hunt that attempted to silence dissent against the government’s foreign policies. Molm spoke about the connection between their case and Rasmea Odeh, the Palestinian-American activist from Chicago who will be going on trial in November for supposed immigration fraud, based on a 20 year old application where she allegedly omitted an arrest she had in Israel over 40 years ago. While imprisoned in Israel, Rasmea was tortured into a confession.

Despite the struggles endured as a result of her activism, Molm encouraged attendees to use activism to speak out against repression. “The thing that got us into this situation will be getting us out of it,” she said.

Elena Teyer spoke about the murder by the FBI of her late son-in-law, Ibragim Todashev, in Orlando last year. He was questioned by the FBI because of a supposed connection he had with the suspected Boston bombers, all of whom were Chechen-American. He was forced into writing a confession by the FBI and when he attempted to refuse and leave his apartment, they shot him seven times, including once at point-blank range in the head. The FBI initially claimed that Todashev attacked the agents with a weapon, but were inconsistent about the type of weapon and he was later found to be unarmed. According to the autopsy report, three of the shots went through his left arm into his body, which indicated that he arm was close to his body and therefore could not have been trying to attack the officers. “Don’t let them abuse your rights,” Teyer urged the crowd.

The event was sponsored by Friends of Human Rights and Committee to Stop FBI Repression, who are both part of the National Coalition to Protect Civil Freedoms.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

FBI returns personal papers to Hatem Abudayyeh

By Committee to Stop FBI Repression

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Sept. 3 statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression.

Recently, the FBI in Chicago returned to Hatem Abudayyeh the boxes of documents and personal effects they seized from his home four years ago.

Abudayyeh, a well known organizer in the Palestinian community of Chicago, had his home raided on Sept. 24, 2010, and was subpoenaed to a federal grand jury. The investigation involves a total of 23 people: anti-war and international solidarity activists, seven of them Palestinian.

“This is another victory, but it’s not over,” commented Abudayyeh. “According to Barry Jonas, the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is the prosecutor in our case, the government has an eight year statute of limitations on this investigation.”

Lawyers for the activists also believe that the statute gives the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago four more years to investigate.

“There’s no doubt that they copied all the documents, in addition to the thousands of documents seized from the homes of the other anti-war activists, so we’re not out of the woods yet,” continued Abudayyeh. “But this witch hunt must end. They’ve got nothing. All we did was work to end U.S. support for Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and that is not a crime.”

Rasmea Odeh the new target of Jonas

On Oct. 22, 2013, Barry Jonas played a role in the arrest of Rasmea Odeh, a legendary Palestinian leader in Chicago. Since her arrest, Odeh’s case has been linked to the case of the Anti-war 23.

When all 23 refused to testify, with the support of a broad mass movement, the grand jury ground to a halt. The Department of Justice did not stop their efforts to suppress the movements for Palestine and against war, however. They first arrested Carlos Montes, a veteran Chicano activist from East Los Angeles. Thousands of people from around the country spent over a year defeating the prosecution of Montes.

Then the Department of Homeland Security came after Odeh on the pretext that she failed to disclose in her application for citizenship that she had been unjustly imprisoned by the Israeli occupiers of Palestine and tortured into confessing to a crime that she did not commit.

Abudayyeh is the director of the Arab American Action Network, and Odeh is his co-worker.

Jonas was present in court the morning Odeh was arrested. He has a long history of persecution of Palestinians in this country for their efforts to support their homeland. He was the prosecutor in the case of the Holy Land Five, the leaders of the largest Muslim charity in the U.S. They are in prison and sentenced for up to 65 years.

Prosecutors and judiciary work together to uphold Israel’s criminal occupation

The case against Odeh turns on a confession extracted through sadistic, sexual torture by the Israelis. Barry Jonas upholds tortured confessions, as do many judges. Odeh’s lawyers objected to Paul Borman in Detroit, the first judge assigned to her case, because of his close ties to Israel and support for the occupation of Palestine. They feared that he would be one of those judges for whom Israel’s record of torture posed no problem. Borman was compelled by legal action and public pressure to recuse himself and step down from the case.

Abudayyeh concluded: “Our efforts helped push Borman out of Rasmea’s case, but we have to redouble our efforts to support and defend her.”

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

Oct. 2: Call-in for Rasmea Odeh + updates from last court appearance


Read below for an update on Rasmea Odeh's last court appearance. Next call-in day is Oct. 2!


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Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net)

1. Thursday, Oct. 2: Call the prosecutors and tell them, 'Drop the charges now!'

2. Update on Rasmea’s last court appearance

3. Come to Detroit on Oct. 2, Rasmea Odeh court appearance

4. Organize a protest in your city or on your campus Oct. 2

5. FBI returns personal papers to Hatem Abudayyeh


1. Thursday, Oct. 2: Call the prosecutors and tell them, 'Drop the charges now!'
Call Jonathan Tukel in Detroit at 313-226-9100
Chief of National Security Unit, U.S. Attorney’s office, Eastern District of Michigan

Call Barbara McQuade at 313-226-9501
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan

When you call say, “Hello, my name is ________, and I am calling from _________ to demand that U.S. Attorney McQuade drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh." (first name pronounced Russ-MEE-yuh)

Make the calls!
Thursday, Oct. 2, from 9 am to 5 pm Eastern Time

2. Update on Rasmea’s last court appearance
Rasmea Odeh trial set for Nov. 4, important hearing set for Oct. 2
Protest demands ‘Drop the charges’

Detroit, MI – 70 supporters of Palestinian community leader Rasmea Odeh gathered here in the rain Sept. 2, before the latest court hearing in her case. When pressed by security to leave the sidewalk in front of the courthouse, the crowd stood firm. The addressed the U.S. Attorney in charge of Odeh’s case with chants led from a bullhorn across the street, shouting, “Hey McQuade, you must know, Rasmea’s case has got to go!”

Odeh has pled not guilty to the bogus charge of Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization, a charge which stems from Israeli convictions that were based on a forced confession after extended periods of vicious physical and sexual torture.

After filing into the courthouse for the 3:00 p.m. hearing, supporters learned that it would be closed to the public. They crowded in the hallway outside the chambers of Judge Gershwin Drain, waiting for news on what would happen next in the case of this beloved community leader.

After the closed session with the judge, defense attorney Michael Deutsch spoke to supporters, assuring them that the judge was aware of the outpouring of support for Odeh. “The judge knew that you were here. We told him so, and asked him to make arrangements for a bigger courtroom for the trial. Your presence is critically important.” He explained that Drain’s usual courtroom is smaller than that of Judge Borman, whose courtroom had been filled by supporters at earlier hearings. Borman was forced to step down from the case because of his close ties to Israel.

Judge Drain set Nov. 4 for the start of Odeh‘s trial, with an important hearing on Oct. 2. That will be a public hearing on several motions, including one to dismiss the charges against her. The motion argues that the indictment of Odeh sprang from what defense attorneys call an illegal federal investigation of 23 Palestinian and international solidarity activists, described by Rasmea Defense Committee spokesperson, Hatem Abudayyeh, as “a violation of our constitutional First Amendment rights.” Other important defense motions on the table that day include ones to allow testimony at trial by a torture expert, to exclude Israeli occupation court documents and to secure State Department documents from interviews with U.S. citizens who were among the 500 arrested by Israeli occupation forces in the massive sweep when Rasmea Odeh was arrested in 1969.

Frank Chapman, of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, expressed “complete and unqualified solidarity.” He said, “We have a future together,” citing solidarity from Palestinians to protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, and support by the Arab American Action Network (AAAN, the community organization where Odeh serves as Associate Director) for “victims of police crimes in the city of Chicago, many of them victims of torture just like Rasmea.” He pledged to bring more people to future hearings.

Jess Sundin, of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, came from Minneapolis and addressed the crowd, “These charges are unfounded. Rasmea has done nothing wrong. The idea that the U.S. government could bring charges against her for the crimes that were committed against her by the Zionist state of Israel is an outrage, an insult to the concepts of justice or democracy. The U.S. government has never stood on the side of justice on the question of Palestine or Palestinians, so it is no surprise that they would try to criminalize Rasmea again. But we’re not going to let that happen - all out for Detroit!” Sundin said she would return to Detroit for future hearings, and people from across the country would mobilize for the trial.

The rally closed after Rasmea Odeh expressed her thanks to those gathered.

3. Come to Detroit on Oct. 2, Rasmea Odeh court appearance

Join us, the National Rasmea Defense Committee as we travel with Rasmea Odeh to court in Detroit on Oct. 2 for an important hearing before Judge Drain. We are asking you to join Rasmea Odeh’s supporters for rally and protest outside the court on Thusday, Oct. 2, Palestine solidarity and civil liberty activists from Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, Grand Rapids and other Michigan cities will join Rasmea Odeh and pack the courtroom. You can make a difference in stopping this ugly U.S. government targeting of a great woman and Palestinian leader. Join us in saying, “No more torture! Drop the charges now!”
Court Hearing for Rasmea Odeh
Oct. 2
9 am. - Picket line outside the court building
231 W Lafayette Boulevard, in Detroit
Hearing starts at 10:00 a.m.

The Rasmea Defense Committee, United States Palestinian Community Network, and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR) are mobilizing to fill the courthouse.

The national Rasmea Defense Committee includes United States Palestinian Community Network, Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR), Coalition to Protect People’s Rights (CPPR), 8th Day Center for Justice, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)-Chicago, American Muslims for Palestine, Anti-War Committee (AWC)-Chicago, AWC-Minneapolis, Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace and Justice in the Middle East, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Chicago Light Brigade, Committee Against Political Repression, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-Chicago, CAIR-Michigan, Friends of Sabeel-North America, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, International League of Peoples’ Struggle-U.S., Jewish Voice for Peace, Lifta Society, National Boricua Human Rights Network, National Lawyers Guild (NLG), National Students for Justice in Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago, Palestine Solidarity Legal Support, Palestinian Youth Movement-USA Branch, St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, United African Organization, United National Antiwar Coalition, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Voces de la Frontera, and Women Against Military Madness.


4. Organize a protest in your city or on your campus Oct. 2
In addition, for those who cannot go to Detroit, we are calling for support rallies to be organized across the country on the day of the hearing. Also, spread the word about the call-in day!

5. FBI returns personal papers to Hatem Abudayyeh

Sept. 3 statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression

Recently, the FBI in Chicago returned to Hatem Abudayyeh the boxes of documents and personal effects they seized from his home four years ago.

Abudayyeh, a well known organizer in the Palestinian community of Chicago, had his home raided on Sept. 24, 2010, and was subpoenaed to a federal grand jury. The investigation involves a total of 23 people: anti-war and international solidarity activists, seven of them Palestinian.

“This is another victory, but it’s not over,” commented Abudayyeh. “According to Barry Jonas, the Assistant U.S. Attorney who is the prosecutor in our case, the government has an eight year statute of limitations on this investigation.”

Lawyers for the activists also believe that the statute gives the U.S. Attorney’s office in Chicago four more years to investigate.

“There’s no doubt that they copied all the documents, in addition to the thousands of documents seized from the homes of the other anti-war activists, so we’re not out of the woods yet,” continued Abudayyeh. “But this witch hunt must end. They’ve got nothing. All we did was work to end U.S. support for Israel’s occupation of Palestine, and that is not a crime.”

Rasmea Odeh the new target of Jonas

On Oct. 22, 2013, Barry Jonas played a role in the arrest of Rasmea Odeh, a legendary Palestinian leader in Chicago. Since her arrest, Odeh’s case has been linked to the case of the Anti-war 23.

When all 23 refused to testify, with the support of a broad mass movement, the grand jury ground to a halt. The Department of Justice did not stop their efforts to suppress the movements for Palestine and against war, however. They first arrested Carlos Montes, a veteran Chicano activist from East Los Angeles. Thousands of people from around the country spent over a year defeating the prosecution of Montes.

Then the Department of Homeland Security came after Odeh on the pretext that she failed to disclose in her application for citizenship that she had been unjustly imprisoned by the Israeli occupiers of Palestine and tortured into confessing to a crime that she did not commit.

Abudayyeh is the director of the Arab American Action Network, and Odeh is his co-worker.

Jonas was present in court the morning Odeh was arrested. He has a long history of persecution of Palestinians in this country for their efforts to support their homeland. He was the prosecutor in the case of the Holy Land Five, the leaders of the largest Muslim charity in the U.S. They are in prison and sentenced for up to 65 years.

Prosecutors and judiciary work together to uphold Israel’s criminal occupation

The case against Odeh turns on a confession extracted through sadistic, sexual torture by the Israelis. Barry Jonas upholds tortured confessions, as do many judges. Odeh’s lawyers objected to Paul Borman in Detroit, the first judge assigned to her case, because of his close ties to Israel and support for the occupation of Palestine. They feared that he would be one of those judges for whom Israel’s record of torture posed no problem. Borman was compelled by legal action and public pressure to recuse himself and step down from the case.

Abudayyeh concluded: “Our efforts helped push Borman out of Rasmea’s case, but we have to redouble our efforts to support and defend her.”

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Thanks for your ongoing interest in the fight against FBI repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists!
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[ckaihatsu]

All Out for Rasmea in Detroit Oct. 2nd; Call Prosecutors


All Out for Rasmea in Detroit October 2nd
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Rasmea is due in court again on Thursday, October 2nd, for a status hearing. This is her most important court appearance thus far, where arguments will be made by Rasmea's attorneys, Michael Deutsch and Jim Fennerty, regarding the inadmissibility of "evidence" from Israel's notorious military court and prison system, the relevance on the case of the torture Rasmea endured, and the motion to dismiss the indictment altogether because the investigation was based on constitutional, first amendment, and selective prosecution violations.

The Rasmea Defense Committee, USPCN, and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR) are mobilizing to fill the courthouse once again, and we ask you to join us!

WHERE: United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
231 W. Lafayette Blvd., in Detroit, Michigan

WHEN: We will gather on Thursday, October 2nd, at 9 AM Eastern Standard Time (hearing begins at 10 AM EST)

* There are cars departing Chicago in the very late evening on Wednesday, October 1st. If you want a seat in one of the cars, or if you are planning to drive and can take others, please write to [email protected] People mobilizing for the hearing from other cities and states should also email, so that we can get as accurate a count as possible of attendees.

** In addition, for those who cannot go to Detroit, we are calling for support rallies to be organized across the country on the day of the hearing, and for people to call the prosecutors and demand, "Drop the Charges Now!" (See below.)

*********************************************
Call Jonathan Tukel in Detroit at 313-226-9100
Chief of National Security Unit, U.S. Attorney’s office, Eastern District of Michigan

Call Barbara McQuade at 313-226-9501
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan

When you call, say, “Hello, my name is ________, and I am calling from _________ to demand that U.S. Attorney McQuade drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh." (first name pronounced Russ-MEE-yuh)

Make the calls Thursday, Oct. 2, from 9 am to 5 pm Eastern Time!

*************************************
Organize a protest in your city or on your campus Oct. 2

For those who cannot go to Detroit, we are calling for support rallies to be organized across the country on the day of the hearing. Already, there are rallies confirmed in Minneapolis, Tampa, Salt Lake City, and San Jose. Email [email protected] with information about your action. Also, spread the word about the call-in day!

Thank you.

The national Rasmea Defense Committee includes United States Palestinian Community Network, Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR), Coalition to Protect People’s Rights (CPPR), 8th Day Center for Justice, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)-Chicago, American Muslims for Palestine, Anti-War Committee (AWC)-Chicago, AWC-Minneapolis, Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace and Justice in the Middle East, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Chicago Light Brigade, Committee Against Political Repression, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-Chicago, CAIR-Michigan, Friends of Sabeel-North America, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, International League of Peoples’ Struggle-U.S., Jewish Voice for Peace, Lifta Society, National Boricua Human Rights Network, National Lawyers Guild (NLG), National Students for Justice in Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago, Palestine Solidarity Legal Support, Palestinian Youth Movement-USA Branch, St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, United African Organization, United National Antiwar Coalition, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Voces de la Frontera, and Women Against Military Madness.
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[ckaihatsu]

South Florida rally demands: Drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh!

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By Cassia Laham

Fort Lauderdale, FL - Over two dozen people rallied in support of Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh outside of the Federal Courthouse here, Sept. 27. Protesters demanded that charges against Odeh be dropped by U.S. prosecutors or dismissed by presiding Judge Gershwin Drain. Jonathon Tukel, Chief of the National Security Unit and Barbara McQuade, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan hold the power to drop the charges. Prosecutors Tukel and McQuade will be the targets of a national call in day Oct. 2 when Odeh appears at a hearing in front of Judge Drain. Those in attendance at the Sept. 27 protest held a large banner that read “Drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh,” along with signs such as, “I support Palestine, I support women, I support Rasmea!” They also shouted chants including, “Drop the charges, this is garbage!” As those following this highly politicized trial know, Rasmea Odeh is a 67-year-old Palestinian organizer who has been active her whole life in causes ranging from Palestinian solidarity to women’s rights to immigrant rights. Odeh is a people’s hero who was imprisoned for ten years, tortured and sexually assaulted by Israeli soldiers in occupied Palestine for her activism there. She has been living and organizing in the U.S. for 20 years, after being exiled upon her release from the Zionist jail cells. About a year ago, the Department of Homeland Security raided her home and charged her with “Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization,” because she allegedly did not mention her imprisonment in occupied Palestine on her immigration papers. This charge of immigration fraud is part of an ongoing campaign of systematic repression by the U.S. government of anti-war, international solidarity and pro-Palestine activists such as the Holy Land Five and Anti-War 23. At the rally in Fort Lauderdale, those in attendance included young and old, families and students. Protesters showed their support for Rasmea Odeh, despite periods of rain and dozens of cops. They rallied from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30. People’s Opposition to War, Imperialism, and Racism organized the protest. Anas Amireh of Al-Awda (Palestinian Right to Return Coalition) spoke to the crowd in support of Rasmea. “It is unbelievable that this obvious breach of civil rights is happening here, in the U.S.,” he said. “This could happen to any of one of us. But this amazing show of solidarity shows that if it does, we will have strong group of people to rally in our support, like we are today! Free Rasmea!”

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

Judge denies motion to dismiss trumped up charges against Rasmea Odeh

Detroit courtroom packed

By staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Oct. 2 statement from the Rasmea Defense Committee

As Rasmea Odeh sat surrounded by her lawyers in a Detroit federal court, listening to an Arabic language interpreter, her supporters filled the courtroom for a short status hearing on the politically-motivated case alleging that she answered questions untruthfully on her citizenship application 10 years ago. The courtroom filled to capacity, while some 30 supporters were left waiting outside to learn the outcome of today’s hearing.

Judge Gershwin Drain inexplicably allowed only 10 minutes for Michael Deutsch, Rasmea’s lead attorney, to argue each of two motions. Deutsch first argued that her arrest was based on illegal evidence obtained in the 4-year old investigation of the Anti-War 23, which he said was a violation of constitutional and First Amendment rights. No arrests or indictments in the case of the 23 have been made, but the witch hunt continues, and Deutsch told the judge that Rasmea should not have gotten caught up in it. In the motion to dismiss, Deutsch asked for discovery to see communications between U.S. Attorneys in Chicago and Detroit, to establish that the investigation of the 23 anti-war and Palestine activists was the origin of Rasmea’s prosecution today. Drain denied the motion to dismiss without explanation.

The second argument from the defense stated that a torture expert and clinical psychologist, Mary Fabri, from the world-renowned Kovler Center for the Treatment of Survivors of Torture in Chicago, should be allowed to testify about the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) suffered by Rasmea, who had faced vicious physical and sexual torture at the hands of Israeli prison authorities. The government argues that she neglected to disclose her 1969 arrest and conviction by an Israeli military court, but Rasmea has always publicly stated that the conviction was based on a false confession forced by the torture. Deutsch contended that “she [Rasmea] blocked out the past trauma,” and that is why she answered as she did on the immigration application.

“This is at the heart of our defense,” Deutsch continued. Responding to Judge Drain’s questions about what evidence the expert would provide, Deutsch explained the jury needs to consider how Rasmea’s response to questions on her immigration application forms could be affected by her PTSD. “The expert should be allowed to testify, and the jury should decide what it means.” Drain didn’t make a ruling in open court, instead saying he will provide a written opinion within a week.

Deutsch spoke to supporters outside the courthouse, saying, “It is extremely important that you continue to come out to all of these appearances.” In addition, Sarah Martin, one of the Anti-War 23 who had travelled from Minnesota, spoke of the solidarity rallies organized for Rasmea in numerous cities across the country. “People in San Jose, Tampa, Ft. Lauderdale, Salt Lake City, Minneapolis, and Milwaukee are out in the streets voicing their support like we are doing here.” These protests, along with thousands of calls to prosecutors, are part of a growing national movement dedicated to winning justice for Rasmea.

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)-National joined this chorus of voices today with a strong public statement and a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade, demanding that the charges against Rasmea be dropped.

Muhammad Sankari, a member of the national Rasmea Defense Committee, said, “We obviously believe that justice was not served today. Too many of our leaders, like Rasmea, are being targeted by the Justice Department for their activism in support of Palestinian liberation. This case is clearly going to be an indictment of Israel and its brutal policies. We will continue to make that argument as we work to get the charges dropped.”

Rasmea supporters are mobilizing for the next status hearing, which is scheduled for Tuesday, October 21st, at 11 AM, again in Detroit.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

Detroit U.S. Attorney threatens supporters of Rasmea Odeh; tries to criminalize our First Amendment rights. Keep up the pressure!


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Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net)
Rasmea Defense Committee -- October 5th, 2014

Detroit U.S. Attorney threatens supporters of Rasmea Odeh
Bizarre DOJ accusations against Hatem Abudayyeh attempt to criminalize opponents of political repression

In a bizarre and desperate move, prosecutors in the case of Palestinian American leader Rasmea Odeh filed a motion in Federal Court Oct. 3, which characterized the efforts of an important leader of the Rasmea Odeh defense campaign, Hatem Abudayyeh, as “jury tampering” and “almost certainly criminal.” The prosecution then asks Judge Gershwin Drain for an “Anonymous Jury,” which means that the names of the jurors are kept secret from the defense attorneys, and that an array of security measures are put it place during the trial that make it seem like 67-year-old Rasmea Odeh is a dangerous person.

There is no evidence at all for the baseless accusations against the movement in support of Rasmea. The prosecutor’s motion is a clumsy attempt at intimidation and should be condemned by everyone who is concerned about civil liberties.

Here are the facts. Rasmea Odeh is a beloved leader of the Palestinian community in Chicago who is facing trumped up immigration charges. Imprisoned by the Israelis in the late 1960s, due to her work to free Palestine, Rasmea was tortured and sexually abused. She is well-known and respected across the world. The federal government is threatening her with jail and deportation. As a result, a powerful and effective movement organized protests around the country, demanding “Justice for Rasmea.”

Now the prosecutors are waging an attack on everyone involved in this movement to support and defend Rasmea.

They talk about ‘jury tampering.’ Until there is a trial, there is no jury, so how could a jury possibly be tampered with? In any event, at no time have we ever tried to improperly influence a jury. Not once. What we are doing is organizing protests, having people sign petitions and holding educational events. We are encouraging people to attend Rasmea’s court appearances. We are shining a light on the unjust prosecution of Rasmea. We want the government to drop the charges.

In the prosecutor’s motion we are told, “Hatem Abudayyeh has orchestrated a concerted effort to influence the criminal proceedings against defendant, which has resulted, at each proceeding, in a large group outside the Courthouse protesting and parading, carrying signs demanding dismissal of charges and 'Justice for Rasmea' and displaying the Palestinian flag.” Imagine that. Palestinians, Arabs and progressive people responding to an injustice by holding a protest and engaging in activity that is protected by the First Amendment. In the world that the Detroit U.S. Attorney wants, speaking out as we have is, “almost certainly criminal.” On the contrary - it is criminal for the prosecutors to attempt to restrict our constitutional rights.

It is worth noting that there is a distinctly racist, anti-Arab undertone to the prosecutor’s motion, where spirited and dignified protests, with a majority of Palestinian American participants, are described as “hordes” and “mobs.” Again, the federal government is trying to sow fear among people in the U.S. by criminalizing and stereotyping Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims. As one of Rasmea's lawyers said when he was informed of the motion, it, " is only intended to play the 'terrorism' card and is unacceptable."

The prosecutors also have a problem with people who want to petition the government for a redress of grievances, so they complain in their motion that those who want the charges against Rasmea dropped “have previously attempted to flood Department of Justice telephone lines in an attempt to influence these proceedings.”

We will continue to hold call-in days and we will organize even more people to participate in them.

We take the threats of the prosecution seriously. We urge all of our supporters to keep their eyes on Detroit and to be ready to respond to any attacks on leaders of the Rasmea defense campaign.

We see these threats as a sign that our campaign to defend Rasmea Odeh is working. We were successful in getting Zionist Judge Borman off the case. There are now thousands of people across the country engaged in organizing for Rasmea. We will not allow the government to intimidate us. This attack will bring more supporters and strengthen our work further. We will redouble our efforts to make sure the charges against Rasmea are dropped!

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Copyright © 2014 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
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[ckaihatsu]

Salt Lake City calls for charges against Rasmea Odeh to be dropped

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/Rasmea%20suport%20rally%20%282%29.jpg

By Cannon Atkinson

Salt Lake City, UT - Activists braved the cold to stand in front of the Wallace F. Bennett Federal building, Oct. 2, to declare their solidarity with Rasmea Odeh. The anti-war protesters called for U.S. Department of Justice Prosecutor Jonathan Tukel to drop the charges against her. The message came on the same day that Judge Gershwin Drain refused to dismiss her case. The evidence being used against Odeh was obtained illegally during the investigation of the Anti-War 23. Despite the best efforts of Odeh’s defense team, the U.S. government is intent on putting her in prison and deporting her. Groups in eight cities held solidarity protests for the 67-year-old Palestinian American leader from Chicago.

Gregory Lucero, speaking on behalf of Freedom Road Socialist Organization, said, “These attacks affect all activists, from anti-war protesters like the Anti-War 23, to Chicano leaders like Carlos Montes in Los Angeles, to community organizers down in the South and even student leaders here in Utah.” His points echo the concerns of many who support Rasmea Odeh, all of whom are worried about her well-being, but also the potential well-being of their friends and family.

The president of the Revolutionary Students Union of Salt Lake Community College, Sarah Simmons, explained, “It’s important for us to come out here and show others that we will stand up against injustice. Salt Lake stands with Rasmea, the RSU stands with Rasmea, all of us stand with Rasmea.” Members of the Revolutionary Students Union joined in a solidarity chant and promised to return to the campuses and courthouses on Oct. 21 when Odeh appears in Detroit for the next hearing.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

Condemn government threats against supporters of Rasmea Odeh. Add your group's name!


Condemn government threats against supporters of Rasmea Odeh.
Add your organization’s name to this statement by emailing [email protected]


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Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net)

Condemn government threats against supporters of Rasmea Odeh.
Add your organization’s name to this statement.

The Committee to Stop FBI Repression is urging all progressive organizations to sign the following statement. To add your organization to the statement, please email [email protected]

The statement reads:

“The undersigned organizations support the democratic rights of the Rasmea Defense Committee, the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, and other organizations to organize broad, public support to drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh.”

To add your organization to the statement, please email [email protected]

In a chilling attack on civil liberties, prosecutors in the case of Palestinian American leader Rasmea Odeh filed a motion in Federal Court Oct. 3, which characterized the efforts of the Rasmea Odeh defense campaign, as “jury tampering” and “almost certainly criminal.” The prosecution asked Judge Gershwin Drain for an “Anonymous Jury,” which means that the names of the jurors are kept secret from the defense attorneys, and that an array of security measures are put it place during the trial that make it seem like 67-year-old Rasmea Odeh is a very dangerous person.

Everyone who has ever participated in protest at a courthouse against an unjust legal proceeding or raised their voice in defense of a political prisoner should be alarmed at this turn of events.

There is no evidence at all for the baseless accusations against the movement in support of Rasmea. The prosecutor’s motion is a clumsy attempt at intimidation and it is an attack on all of our civil liberties.

The prosecutor’s talk about jury “tampering” is bizarre and dangerous. Until there is a trial, there is no jury, so how could a jury possibly be tampered with? What the prospection is angry about is protected first amendment activity, such as holding rallies at Detroit’s Federal Court Building and organizing call in days to the Department of Justice.

The prosecutor’s motion states that Hatem Abudayyeh, a leader of the effort to drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh, “has orchestrated a concerted effort to influence the criminal proceedings against defendant, which has resulted, at each proceeding, in a large group outside the Courthouse protesting and parading, carrying signs demanding dismissal of charges and 'Justice for Rasmea' and displaying the Palestinian flag.” Palestinians, Arabs and progressive people are responding to an injustice by holding protests and engaging in activity that is protected by the First Amendment. In the world that the Detroit U.S. Attorney wants, speaking out is “almost certainly criminal.” On the contrary - it is criminal for the prosecutors to attempt to restrict our constitutional rights.

It is worth noting that there is a distinctly racist, anti-Arab undertone to the prosecutor’s motion, where spirited and dignified protests, with a majority of Palestinian American participants, are described as “hordes” and “mobs.” Again, the federal government is trying to sow fear among people in the U.S. by criminalizing and stereotyping Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims.

The undersigned organizations support the democratic rights of the Rasmea Defense Committee, the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, and other organizations to organize broad, public support to drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh.

To add your organization as a signer, please email [email protected]

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Copyright © 2014 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

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[ckaihatsu]

Rasmea's next hearing is Oct. 21. Call, call, call!


Call-in Day for Rasmea Odeh Oct. 21. Plus a recap of the events and calls to action from this past week.


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Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net)

Tuesday, Oct. 21: Call the prosecutors and tell them, 'Drop the charges now!'

Come to Detroit on Oct. 21, Rasmea Odeh court appearance

Detroit U.S. Attorney threatens supporters of Rasmea Odeh

Add your organizations name


Tuesday, Oct. 21: Call the prosecutors and tell them, 'Drop the charges now!'
Call Jonathan Tukel in Detroit at 313-226-9100
Chief of National Security Unit, U.S. Attorney’s office, Eastern District of Michigan
Call Barbara McQuade at 313-226-9501
U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan

When you call say, “Hello, my name is ________, and I am calling from _________ to demand that U.S. Attorney McQuade drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh." (First name pronounced Russ-MEE-yuh)
Make the calls!
Tuesday, Oct. 21, from 9 am to 5 pm Eastern Time

From a recent CSFR statement (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=df950a1ce8&e=b3b6009f90):

“The prosecutors also have a problem with people who want to petition the government for a redress of grievances, so they complain in their motion that those who want the charges against Rasmea dropped ‘have previously attempted to flood Department of Justice telephone lines in an attempt to influence these proceedings.’
We will continue to hold call in days and we will organize even more people to participate in them.”
So, call, call call!

Come to Detroit on Oct. 21, Rasmea Odeh court appearance

Facebook event (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=adf43bef71&e=b3b6009f90)

Join us, the National Rasmea Defense Committee as we travel with Rasmea Odeh to court in Detroit on Oct. 21 for an important hearing before Judge Drain. We are asking you to join Rasmea Odeh’s supporters for rally and protest outside the court on Tuesday, Oct. 21, Palestine solidarity and civil liberty activists from Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, Grand Rapids and other Michigan cities will join Rasmea Odeh and pack the courtroom. You can make a difference in stopping this ugly U.S. government targeting of a great woman and Palestinian leader. Join us in saying, “No more torture! Drop the charges now!”

Court Hearing for Rasmea Odeh
Oct. 21
9 am. - Picket line outside the court building
231 W Lafayette Boulevard, in Detroit
Hearing starts at 10:00 a.m.

The Rasmea Defense Committee, United States Palestinian Community Network, and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR) are mobilizing to fill the courthouse.

The national Rasmea Defense Committee includes United States Palestinian Community Network, Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR), Coalition to Protect People’s Rights (CPPR), 8th Day Center for Justice, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)-Chicago, American Muslims for Palestine, Anti-War Committee (AWC)-Chicago, AWC-Minneapolis, Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace and Justice in the Middle East, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Chicago Light Brigade, Committee Against Political Repression, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-Chicago, CAIR-Michigan, Friends of Sabeel-North America, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, International League of Peoples’ Struggle-U.S., Jewish Voice for Peace, Lifta Society, National Boricua Human Rights Network, National Lawyers Guild (NLG), National Students for Justice in Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago, Palestine Solidarity Legal Support, Palestinian Youth Movement-USA Branch, St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, United African Organization, United National Antiwar Coalition, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Voces de la Frontera, and Women Against Military Madness.


Detroit U.S. Attorney threatens supporters of Rasmea Odeh
Bizarre DOJ accusations against Hatem Abudayyeh attempt to criminalize opponents of political repression.

In a bizarre and desperate move, prosecutors in the case of Palestinian American leader Rasmea Odeh filed a motion in Federal Court Oct. 3, which characterized the efforts of an important leader of the Rasmea Odeh defense campaign, Hatem Abudayyeh, as “jury tampering” and “almost certainly criminal.” The prosecution then asks Judge Gershwin Drain for an “Anonymous Jury,” which means that the names of the jurors are kept secret from the defense attorneys, and that an array of security measures are put it place during the trial that make it seem like 67-year-old Rasmea Odeh is a dangerous person.

There is no evidence at all for the baseless accusations against the movement in support of Rasmea. The prosecutor’s motion is a clumsy attempt at intimidation and should be condemned by everyone who is concerned about civil liberties.

Here are the facts. Rasmea Odeh is a beloved leader of the Palestinian community in Chicago who is facing trumped up immigration charges. Imprisoned by the Israelis in the late 1960s, due to her work to free Palestine, Rasmea was tortured and sexually abused. She is well known and respected across the world. The federal government is threatening her with jail and deportation. As a result, a powerful and effective movement organized protests around the country, demanding “Justice for Rasmea.”

Now the prosecutors are waging an attack on everyone involved in this movement to support and defend Rasmea.

They talk about ‘jury tampering.’ Until there is a trial, there is no jury, so how could a jury possibly be tampered with? In any event, at no time have we ever tried to improperly influence a jury. Not once. What we are doing is organizing protests, having people sign petitions and holding educational events. We are encouraging people to attend Rasmea’s court appearances. We are shining a light on the unjust prosecution of Rasmea. We want the government to drop the charges.

In the prosecutor’s motion we are told, “Hatem Abudayyeh has orchestrated a concerted effort to influence the criminal proceedings against defendant, which has resulted, at each proceeding, in a large group outside the Courthouse protesting and parading, carrying signs demanding dismissal of charges and 'Justice for Rasmea' and displaying the Palestinian flag.” Imagine that. Palestinians, Arabs and progressive people responding to an injustice by holding a protest and engaging in activity that is protected by the First Amendment. In the world that the Detroit U.S. Attorney wants, speaking out as we have is, “almost certainly criminal.” On the contrary - it is criminal for the prosecutors to attempt to restrict our constitutional rights.

It is worth noting that there is a distinctly racist, anti-Arab undertone to the prosecutor’s motion, where spirited and dignified protests, with a majority of Palestinian American participants, are described as “hordes” and “mobs.” Again, the federal government is trying to sow fear among people in the U.S. by criminalizing and stereotyping Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims. As one of Rasmea's lawyers said when he was informed of the motion, it, " is only intended to play the 'terrorism' card and is unacceptable."

The prosecutors also have a problem with people who want to petition the government for a redress of grievances, so they complain in their motion that those who want the charges against Rasmea dropped “have previously attempted to flood Department of Justice telephone lines in an attempt to influence these proceedings.”

We will continue to hold call in days and we will organize even more people to participate in them.

We take the threats of the prosecution seriously. We urge all of our supporters to keep their eyes on Detroit and to be ready to respond to any attacks on leaders of the Rasmea defense campaign.

We see these threats as a sign that our campaign to defend Rasmea Odeh is working. We were successful in getting Zionist Judge Borman off the case. There are now thousands of people across the country engaged in organizing for Rasmea. We will not allow the government to intimidate us. This attack will bring more supporters and strengthen our work further. We will redouble our efforts to make sure the charges against Rasmea are dropped!



Add your organizations name: Condemn government threats against supporters of Rasmea Odeh
The Committee to Stop FBI Repression is urging all progressive organizations to sign the following statement. To add your organization to the statement, please email [email protected]

The statement reads:
“The undersigned organizations support the democratic rights of the Rasmea Defense Committee, the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, and other organizations to organize broad, public support to drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh.”

To add your organization to the statement, please email [email protected]

In a chilling attack on civil liberties, prosecutors in the case of Palestinian American leader Rasmea Odeh filed a motion in Federal Court Oct. 3, which characterized the efforts of the Rasmea Odeh defense campaign, as “jury tampering” and “almost certainly criminal.” The prosecution asked Judge Gershwin Drain for an “Anonymous Jury,” which means that the names of the jurors are kept secret from the defense attorneys, and that an array of security measures are put it place during the trial that make it seem like 67-year-old Rasmea Odeh is a very dangerous person.

Everyone who has ever participated in protest at a courthouse against an unjust legal proceeding or raised their voice in defense of a political prisoner should be alarmed at this turn of events.

There is no evidence at all for the baseless accusations against the movement in support of Rasmea. The prosecutor’s motion is a clumsy attempt at intimidation and it is an attack on all of our civil liberties.

The prosecutor’s talk about jury “tampering” is bizarre and dangerous. Until there is a trial, there is no jury, so how could a jury possibly be tampered with? What the prospection is angry about is protected first amendment activity, such as holding rallies at Detroit’s Federal Court Building and organizing call in days to the Department of Justice.

The prosecutor’s motion states that Hatem Abudayyeh, a leader of the effort to drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh, “has orchestrated a concerted effort to influence the criminal proceedings against defendant, which has resulted, at each proceeding, in a large group outside the Courthouse protesting and parading, carrying signs demanding dismissal of charges and 'Justice for Rasmea' and displaying the Palestinian flag.” Palestinians, Arabs and progressive people are responding to an injustice by holding protests and engaging in activity that is protected by the First Amendment. In the world that the Detroit U.S. Attorney wants, speaking out is “almost certainly criminal.” On the contrary - it is criminal for the prosecutors to attempt to restrict our constitutional rights.

It is worth noting that there is a distinctly racist, anti-Arab undertone to the prosecutor’s motion, where spirited and dignified protests, with a majority of Palestinian American participants, are described as “hordes” and “mobs.” Again, the federal government is trying to sow fear among people in the U.S. by criminalizing and stereotyping Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims.

To add your organization to the statement below, please email [email protected]

“The undersigned organizations support the democratic rights of the Rasmea Defense Committee, the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, and other organizations to organize broad, public support to drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh.”

Email [email protected] to add your name!

follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend
Copyright © 2014 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

[Skyhilist]

If anyone is in college on here, check if your school has a Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter. This is an issue that people in my chapter and many other chapters have been campaigning around recently.

[ckaihatsu]

Injustice in Detroit: Oct. 16 ruling paves way for repressive climate at Rasmea Odeh trial

By staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Rasmea Defense Committee.

On October 16, Judge Gershwin Drain made an important ruling in the case of Palestinian American leader Rasmea Odeh. At issue was a bizarre motion by the prosecution that characterized the efforts of the Rasmea Defense Committee as “jury tampering” and “almost certainly criminal.”

While we are pleased that Judge Drain rejected the “Anonymous Jury” motion from the prosecution, we are still very concerned about the ruling to allow partial sequestration. The decision to have the jury meet at a secret location, and drive to the courthouse in a sealed van, creates a militarized and security state atmosphere that will cause apprehension amongst the jury members, and prompt them to believe that Rasmea is somehow dangerous. She is innocent, and this ruling does not guarantee her a fair trial.

Rasmea has done nothing wrong and the trumped up immigration charges against her should be dropped. She is an iconic leader in the Palestinian community of Chicagoland, the U.S., and the world. Forty-five years ago, she was jailed and tortured by the Israeli authorities. That she is facing jail again, this time at the hands of Detroit’s U.S. Attorney, Barbara McQuade, is nothing short of shameful.

The prosecution’s talk about “jury tampering” is an attempt at intimidation and an act of desperation. McQuade’s office is trying to criminalize activities protected by the first amendment, like protesting outside the courthouse and calling the Department of Justice to demand the charges against Rasmea be dropped.

We urge all supporters of civil liberties and Rasmea Odeh to join us in Detroit for her next hearing October 21. Rasmea’s trial starts November 4. Let’s pack the courtroom!

Drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh!

See www.uspcn.org and www.stopfbi.net for more information

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

1-year anniversary of Rasmea’s arrest. Court update + donate to the defense fund


Detroit hearing report on the one-year anniversary of Rasmea’s arrest

Please donate (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=704f4c2040&e=b3b6009f90) to the Rasmea Defense Fund!


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Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net)
Detroit hearing report on the one-year anniversary of Rasmea’s arrest
Keep up the fight to Drop the Charges Now!
Donate here (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=6238d094fe&e=b3b6009f90)
or write a check paid to the order of "CSFR" and mail to:
AAAN
Attn: Rasmea Defense Committee
3148 W. 63rd Street, 2nd Floor
Chicago, IL 60629

In open court, torture expert says Rasmea Odeh suffers from PTSD, and defense slams Israeli military courts

Detroit, October 21, 2014 – Dr. Mary Fabri testified in today’s evidentiary hearing in the case of Palestinian leader Rasmea Odeh. Fabri, a world renowned clinical psychologist who specializes in working with survivors of war trauma and torture, told the court that Rasmea suffers from “chronic” Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The Department of Homeland Security arrested Rasmea almost exactly a year ago, on October 22, 2013, and charged her with Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization, for allegedly answering questions falsely, in her 2004 application for U.S. citizenship, about whether she was ever arrested, convicted, or imprisoned. In 1969, she was sentenced by an Israeli military court that convicts 99.74% of Palestinians who come before it, and served 10 years as a political prisoner. The conviction was based on a confession that was forced in the wake of vicious physical and sexual torture by the Israelis.

Defense attorneys Michael Deutsch and Jim Fennerty contend that the PTSD prompted Rasmea to assume that the questions were addressing her time in the U.S. “I found her to be very credible,” Fabri testified. “As a torture survivor, you develop strategies to live everyday life. Those filters cause you to narrow your focus. She would look at [these questions] with a narrowed filter and a narrowed focus of timeframe.”

When challenged by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Turkel about whether the filter can be controlled, Fabri added, “No, it’s not something you control. It’s automatic.”

Fabri’s testimony is critical to Rasmea’s defense, which argues that the government has to prove “specific intent,” that she willfully lied on her immigration application for the purpose of gaining citizenship.

A few weeks ago, Judge Drain issued a decision agreeing that the government must prove this, but prosecutors have filed a detailed motion asking that he reconsider. Today, Rasmea’s supporters were disappointed to hear that the judge agreed to look at the question again, as he asked the defense to file a written response.

Other major motions were also discussed today, without decisions from Judge Drain. Deutsch argued that documents related to the unlawful Israeli conviction of Rasmea in 1969 should be excluded, since the conviction was based on a confession forced by torture and does not meet U.S. standards of justice.

In addition, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Jebson wanted to enter the word “terrorism” into evidence to describe the alleged crime for which Rasmea was convicted in Palestine. Deutsch rebutted strongly that if the government was allowed to put “terrorism” into evidence, then it “opens up a whole can of worms.” He added that the defense would again then challenge everything about Israel’s military tribunals, including Rasmea’s arrest, torture, and conviction.

Muhammad Sankari, one of the spokespeople for the Rasmea Defense Committee, says, “The prosecution wants to use the word to sway the jury against Rasmea, even though it has nothing at all to do with the alleged immigration fraud. They have hired Matthew Levitt, a discredited ‘terrorism expert,’ to testify against Rasmea. He is a director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank funded by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and has made a career out of fear mongering, scapegoating, and attacking the Arab, Palestinian, and Muslim communities. We are concerned that the prosecutors are doing the same.”

Dozens of Rasmea’s supporters again filled the courtroom today, despite attempts by prosecutors to discourage their efforts. In response to a government motion that portrayed defense committee members as “mobs” and “hordes” that would intimidate a jury, Judge Drain issued several directives to restrict their conduct inside and outside the courtroom.

Unwavering, supporters pledged to redouble their efforts. Several activists from Chicago and Minneapolis have moved to Detroit, where they are working full-time to mobilize people to fill the courtroom every day of the trial, beginning November 4, and expected to last two to three weeks. One of the activists, Jess Sundin of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, said, “We can’t be intimidated and won’t be deterred. This is a huge case for Rasmea and for Palestine, and we are going to win.”

Email [email protected] to make your plans for the trial. Visit uspcn.org and stopfbi.net for more information, and to sign the petition demanding Drop the Charges Now!


follow on Twitter | friend on Facebook | forward to a friend
Copyright © 2014 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

[ckaihatsu]

Detroit court hearing weighs torture in case of Rasmea Odeh

By staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the Rasmea Defense Committee.

In open court, torture expert says Rasmea Odeh suffers from PTSD, and defense slams Israeli military courts

October 21, 2014

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/RasmeaDetroitOct21.jpg

Detroit, MI – Dr. Mary Fabri testified in today’s evidentiary hearing in the case of Palestinian leader Rasmea Odeh. Fabri, a world renowned clinical psychologist who specializes in working with survivors of war trauma and torture, told the court that Rasmea suffers from “chronic” Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

The Department of Homeland Security arrested Rasmea almost exactly a year ago, on Oct. 22, 2013, and charged her with Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization, for allegedly answering questions falsely, in her 2004 application for U.S. citizenship, about whether she was ever arrested, convicted, or imprisoned. In 1969, she was sentenced by an Israeli military court that convicts 99.74% of Palestinians who come before it, and served ten years as a political prisoner. The conviction was based on a confession that was forced in the wake of vicious physical and sexual torture by the Israelis.

Defense attorneys Michael Deutsch and Jim Fennerty contend that the PTSD prompted Rasmea to assume that the questions were addressing her time in the U.S. “I found her to be very credible,” Fabri testified. “As a torture survivor, you develop strategies to live everyday life. Those filters cause you to narrow your focus. She would look at [these questions] with a narrowed filter and a narrowed focus of timeframe.”

When challenged by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Turkel about whether the filter can be controlled, Fabri added, “No, it’s not something you control. It’s automatic.”

Fabri’s testimony is critical to Rasmea’s defense, which argues that the government has to prove “specific intent,” that she willfully lied on her immigration application for the purpose of gaining citizenship.

A few weeks ago, Judge Drain issued a decision agreeing that the government must prove this, but prosecutors have filed a detailed motion asking that he reconsider. Today, Rasmea’s supporters were disappointed to hear that the judge agreed to look at the question again, as he asked the defense to file a written response.

Other major motions were also discussed today, without decisions from Judge Drain. Deutsch argued that documents related to the unlawful Israeli conviction of Rasmea in 1969 should be excluded, since the conviction was based on a confession forced by torture and does not meet U.S. standards of justice.

In addition, Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Jebson wanted to enter the word “terrorism” into evidence to describe the alleged crime for which Rasmea was convicted in Palestine. Deutsch rebutted strongly that if the government was allowed to put “terrorism” into evidence, then it “opens up a whole can of worms.” He added that the defense would again then challenge everything about Israel’s military tribunals, including Rasmea’s arrest, torture, and conviction.

Muhammad Sankari, one of the spokespeople for the Rasmea Defense Committee, says, “The prosecution wants to use the word to sway the jury against Rasmea, even though it has nothing at all to do with the alleged immigration fraud. They have hired Matthew Levitt, a discredited ‘terrorism expert,’ to testify against Rasmea. He is a director at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, a think tank funded by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), and has made a career out of fear mongering, scapegoating and attacking the Arab, Palestinian and Muslim communities. We are concerned that the prosecutors are doing the same.”

Dozens of Rasmea’s supporters again filled the courtroom today, despite attempts by prosecutors to discourage their efforts. In response to a government motion that portrayed defense committee members as “mobs” and “hordes” that would intimidate a jury, Judge Drain issued several directives to restrict their conduct inside and outside the courtroom.

Unwavering, supporters pledged to redouble their efforts. Several activists from Chicago and Minneapolis have moved to Detroit, where they are working full time to mobilize people to fill the courtroom every day of the trial, which begins Nov. 4 and is expected to last two to three weeks. One of the activists, Jess Sundin of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, said, “We can’t be intimidated and won’t be deterred. This is a huge case for Rasmea and for Palestine and we are going to win.”

Email [email protected] to make your plans for the trial. Visit uspcn.org and stopfbi.net for more information, and to sign the petition demanding Drop the Charges Now!

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]






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Rasmea Odeh needs you in Detroit! Please register for a spot now! Trial starts Nov. 4


Rasmea's trial begins Nov. 4th! Register to attend NOW!
View this email in your browser (http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fus8.campaign-archive1.com%2F%3Fu%3D0ce8bf015c0d49d11d99fdefb%26 id%3D1ed98c8c7c%26e%3D266d74dd41&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFs3Lmacx3nhI-C6WdJOFq0YM5fqQ)

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November 4: All out for Detroit to defend Rasmea Odeh! (http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fuspcn.us8.list-manage1.com%2Ftrack%2Fclick%3Fu%3D0ce8bf015c0d49d1 1d99fdefb%26id%3Db47905246e%26e%3D266d74dd41&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFvl3R20MO04FCbIzRZBW-OU37udg)

Register for a spot (http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fuspcn.us8.list-manage.com%2Ftrack%2Fclick%3Fu%3D0ce8bf015c0d49d11 d99fdefb%26id%3D81e8769819%26e%3D266d74dd41&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHvPXRwG4w6ZLKupB8O4wHzKiQ6Sg)

Please join us on Nov. 4 as we travel with Rasmea Odeh to Detroit on the first day of her trial. Rasmea is the 67-year-old Palestinian American leader who was tortured by the Israelis in 1969, and is now being unjustly prosecuted by the U.S. government.

Stand with Rasmea and fill the federal courthouse in Detroit!

Our work is not merely an act of solidarity with Rasmea Odeh, but also serves as a challenge to the unjust prosecution of a beloved Palestinian icon, as well as a refusal to accept the criminalization of an entire community. Her trial is set to begin on Tuesday, November 4th, at the Federal Courthouse at 231 W. Lafayette Blvd, Detroit, Michigan. We are committed to filling the courtroom every day of the trial, which is expected to last up to three weeks. To be successful in helping her win the case, we need you there!

1. Fill the courtroom, starting Tuesday, November 4 (for up to 3 weeks).

Weekdays from 8am to 1pm
at 231 W. Lafayette Blvd., downtown Detroit.
Click here to register (http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fuspcn.us8.list-manage.com%2Ftrack%2Fclick%3Fu%3D0ce8bf015c0d49d11 d99fdefb%26id%3D58df4ed076%26e%3D266d74dd41&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNE_u5IuLtePTsS3-NA2ucydl46FDg).

For those coming to Detroit from out of town: The Rasmea Defense Committee is working hard to support your housing and transportation needs. When you register (http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fuspcn.us8.list-manage.com%2Ftrack%2Fclick%3Fu%3D0ce8bf015c0d49d11 d99fdefb%26id%3D4283ead7f7%26e%3D266d74dd41&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHem1UorOYXjCY8BLRMzXFaSaVxFA), let us know how we can help. General logistical information will be posted soon.

2. Sign the petition (http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fuspcn.us8.list-manage.com%2Ftrack%2Fclick%3Fu%3D0ce8bf015c0d49d11 d99fdefb%26id%3Dba6d9363ba%26e%3D266d74dd41&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNGAQHOia2glaVbnDAc--TnjQnttiw) demanding the US government drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh.

3. Donate here (http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fuspcn.us8.list-manage.com%2Ftrack%2Fclick%3Fu%3D0ce8bf015c0d49d11 d99fdefb%26id%3Ddfe85260fd%26e%3D266d74dd41&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNHb-YL7zRBqW5KvKpTS8BnnBiyWDg). Your support ensures that Rasmea Odeh has the best legal defense, and funds the mobilization to fill the courtroom with Rasmea Odeh supporters.

The national Rasmea Defense Committee includes United States Palestinian Community Network, Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR), Coalition to Protect People’s Rights (CPPR), 8th Day Center for Justice, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)-Chicago, American Muslims for Palestine, Anti-War Committee (AWC)-Chicago, AWC-Minneapolis, Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace and Justice in the Middle East, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Committee Against Political Repression, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-Chicago, CAIR-Michigan, Friends of Sabeel-North America, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, International League of Peoples’ Struggle-U.S., Jewish Voice for Peace, Lifta Society, Middle East Crisis Committee (CT), National Boricua Human Rights Network, National Lawyers Guild (NLG), National Students for Justice in Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago, Palestine Solidarity Legal Support, Palestinian Youth Movement-USA Branch, St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, United African Organization, United National Antiwar Coalition, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Voces de la Frontera, Women Against Military Madness, and Z Collective.
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Vicious, unjust rulings in case of Rasmea Odeh - Come to Detroit Nov. 4, Stand Up for Justice!

By staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Oct 28 statement of Rasmea Defense Committee: Judge Gershwin Drain handed down a series of outrageous and unjust decisions, Oct 27 – 28, in the case of revered Palestinian American leader Rasmea Odeh. The government is going all out to railroad Rasmea, to jail and deport her. There was nothing fair about her being indicted on trumped up immigration charges in the first place. The recent rulings by Judge Drain indicate that there will be nothing fair about Rasmea’s trial either. Determined and collective action by those of us who yearn for justice, and civil and human rights, is imperative. We must fill the streets around the courthouse in Detroit, pack the courtroom during the trial, and organize demonstrations around the country. If there is to be a measure of justice in this case, we are the ones who must provide it. In the late 60s, Rasmea Odeh was jailed by the Israeli occupiers of Palestine, where she was tortured and raped. She has spent the past 20 years in the U.S., making huge contributions to not only the Arab community of Chicagoland, but also the immigrant rights, racial justice, women’s rights, and many other movements. She is being victimized for a second time in Detroit. Judge Drain agreed that Rasmea’s assertion that she faced torture and sexual abuse at the hands of her Israeli captors is “credible,” then contradicted himself and ruled it cannot be brought up in the course of her trial—even though this was at the heart of her defense. Her attorneys had planned to call an expert witness to the stand, but now will not be allowed to. Clinical psychologist Dr. Mary Fabri, who has decades of experience working with torture survivors, would have testified that an error Rasmea allegedly made in filling out immigration forms (the basis for the charge against her) was the result of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Instead, Judge Drain will allow the prosecution to use documents provided by the Israelis as evidence in the case, even though these documents are the products of Israeli military courts and a “legal” system that routinely uses torture. He has even gone so far as to rule that when Rasmea testifies, she can only address issues that the prosecution agrees to allow. No fair minded person can accept any of this. That is why we have to go all out for Tuesday, November 4th, in Detroit. Rasmea Odeh has devoted her entire life to making this world a better place. The U.S. government wants to criminalize those that stand up for Palestine. We cannot allow this to happen. We do not know how long Rasmea’s trial will last, but due to the extreme limits that Judge Drain has placed on the scope of the trial, we are urging supporters to prioritize attending the first week—Tuesday, Nov 4th, through Friday, November 7th. Pack the courtroom! Don’t let them win! Visit http://www.stopfbi.net/ to register your plans to attend the trial.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

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A farewell statement by Dr. Sami A. Al-Arian upon being deported from the U.S.

By staff

Professor Al-Arian is a Palestinian American civil rights and Palestine solidarity activist who was indicted in 2003 and put on trial for aiding the Palestinian resistance organization Islamic Jihad. At the time of his arrest U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft held a press conference announcing the professor’s arrest to the nation. In the U.S. war on terror, Sami Al-Arian was the big test case.

The U.S. government spent more than ten years spying on Al-Arian and intercepting more than 400,000 phone calls. However the U.S. prosecutors could not get a guilty verdict from jurors on any of the 17 charges.

After spending two years in jail while on trial and faced with another trial and more years away from his family, Al-Arian made a plea deal, agreeing to leave the country and going into political exile. Then U.S. prosecutors tried to use their power to punish Al-Arian. Instead of letting professor Al-Arian serve time and leave the country as agreed in negotiations, U.S. prosecutors demanded Al-Arian testify at a federal grand jury in Virginia, which he refused to do based on his agreement with the government. He then was charged with contempt and jailed. Since 2008 he has lived under house arrest and in 2014 the charges against him were dropped. He was deported in early February and now lives in Turkey.

A Statement by Dr. Sami A. Al-Arian

To my dear friends and supporters,

After 40 years, my time in the U.S. has come to an end. Like many immigrants of my generation, I came to the U.S. in 1975 to seek a higher education and greater opportunities. But I also wanted to live in a free society where freedom of speech, association and religion are not only tolerated but guaranteed and protected under the law. That’s why I decided to stay and raise my family here, after earning my doctorate in 1986. Simply put, to me, freedom of speech and thought represented the cornerstone of a dignified life.

Today, freedom of expression has become a defining feature in the struggle to realize our humanity and liberty. The forces of intolerance, hegemony, and exclusionary politics tend to favor the stifling of free speech and the suppression of dissent. But nothing is more dangerous than when such suppression is perpetrated and sanctioned by government. As one early American once observed, “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” Because government has enormous power and authority over its people, such control must be checked, and people, especially those advocating unpopular opinions, must have absolute protections from governmental overreach and abuse of power. A case in point of course is the issue of Palestinian self-determination. In the United States, as well as in many other western countries, those who support the Palestinian struggle for justice, and criticize Israel’s occupation and brutal policies, have often experienced an assault on their freedom of speech in academia, media, politics and society at large. After the tragic events of September 11th, such actions by the government intensified, in the name of security. Far too many people have been targeted and punished because of their unpopular opinions or beliefs.

During their opening statement in my trial in June 2005, my lawyers showed the jury two poster-sized photographs of items that government agents took during searches of my home many years earlier. In one photo, there were several stacks of books taken from my home library. The other photo showed a small gun I owned at the time. The attorney looked the jury in the eyes and said: “This is what this case is about. When the government raided my client’s house, this is what they seized,” he said, pointing to the books, “and this is what they left,” he added, pointing to the gun in the other picture. “This case is not about terrorism but about my client’s right to freedom of speech,” he continued. Indeed, much of the evidence the government presented to the jury during the six-month trial were speeches I delivered, lectures I presented, articles I wrote, magazines I edited, books I owned, conferences I convened, rallies I attended, interviews I gave, news I heard, and websites I never even accessed. But the most disturbing part of the trial was not that the government offered my speeches, opinions, books, writings, and dreams into evidence, but that an intimidated judicial system allowed them to be admitted into evidence. That’s why we applauded the jury’s verdict. Our jurors represented the best society had to offer. Despite all of the fear-mongering and scare tactics used by the authorities, the jury acted as free people, people of conscience, able to see through Big Brother’s tactics. One hard lesson that must be learned from the trial is that political cases should have no place in a free and democratic society.

But despite the long and arduous ordeal and hardships suffered by my family, I leave with no bitterness or resentment in my heart whatsoever. In fact, I’m very grateful for the opportunities and experiences afforded to me and my family in this country, and for the friendships we’ve cultivated over the decades. These are lifelong connections that could never be affected by distance.

I would like to thank God for all the blessings in my life. My faith sustained me during my many months in solitary confinement and gave me comfort that justice would ultimately prevail.

Our deep thanks go to the friends and supporters across the U.S., from university professors to grassroots activists, individuals and organizations, who have stood alongside us in the struggle for justice.

My trial attorneys, Linda Moreno and the late Bill Moffitt, were the best advocates anyone could ask for, both inside and outside of the courtroom. Their spirit, intelligence, passion and principle were inspirational to so many.

I am also grateful to Jonathan Turley and his legal team, whose tireless efforts saw the case to its conclusion. Jonathan’s commitment to justice and brilliant legal representation resulted in the government finally dropping the case.

Our gratitude also goes to my immigration lawyers, Ira Kurzban and John Pratt, for the tremendous work they did in smoothing the way for this next phase of our lives.

Thanks also to my children for their patience, perseverance and support during the challenges of the last decade. I am so proud of them.

Finally, my wife Nahla h​as been a pillar of love, strength and resilience. She kept our family together during the most difficult times. There are no words to convey the extent of my gratitude.

We look forward to the journey ahead and take with us the countless happy memories we formed during our life in the United States.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

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Court denies defense motions for Palestinian American leader Rasmea Odeh

By staff

Detroit, MI – Chicago’s 68-year-old Palestinian community leader, Rasmea Odeh, is set to appear in a Detroit federal court for sentencing on March 12, following her conviction on a single charge of Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization. On Feb. 13 Federal District Judge Gershwin Drain issued an order denying two motions by Odeh’s defense team. One motion called for a new trial because of a number of legal errors in the court’s rulings in her November trial. Another called for the judge to set aside the jury’s decision altogether.

“Since both defense motions challenged how Drain conducted the trial, it came as no surprise when he ruled against Rasmea, and in support of his own decisions,” said Hatem Abudayyeh of the Rasmea Defense Committee. “We know that the conviction was a travesty of justice, and that Judge Drain’s rulings made it impossible for the jury to give Rasmea a fair shake. She survived brutal torture by the Israelis, but the jury never got to hear that.”

Odeh’s attorneys are asking Drain to take her age and poor health into consideration and be lenient in sentencing. They also plan to appeal Odeh’s conviction, so will request the granting of an appeal bond no matter the sentence - which could be up to 10 years in prison, heavy fines and deportation.

Unfazed by this latest ruling, the defense committee is redoubling efforts to win justice. Communities across the country are organizing protests, fundraisers and several events with Rasmea speaking via live stream. A national week of action mobilized hundreds of supporters, with further actions planned for the coming week in at least seven more cities.

“We will not give up in our defense and support of Rasmea as she moves forward to challenge this unjust conviction. She was prosecuted by the U.S. government because she is Palestinian and because, for decades, she has organized for Palestinian liberation and self-determination,” said Jess Sundin of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. “We are already making transportation and housing plans to ensure that we fill Judge Drain’s court room in Detroit on March 12 and hopefully an overflow room as well. Hundreds stood with Rasmea during her trial, and we’re prepared to stand with her again and again until justice is won.”

For more information and background on Rasmea Odeh’s case, go to http://justice4rasmea.org.

The national Rasmea Defense Committee is led by United States Palestinian Community Network, Committee to Stop FBI Repression, and Coalition to Protect People’s Rights; it also 8th Day Center for Justice, Al-Awda NY: the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee-Chicago, ADC National, American Muslims for Palestine, ANSWER Coalition, Anti-War Committee-Chicago, Anti-War Committee-Minneapolis, Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace and Justice in the Middle East, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Chicago Light Brigade, Committee Against Political Repression, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-Chicago, CAIR-Michigan, Friends of Sabeel-North America, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, International League of Peoples’ Struggle-U.S., Jewish Voice for Peace, Korean American Resource and Cultural Center, Latino Organization of the Southwest, Lifta Society, Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice, Middle East Crisis Committee, Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition, National Boricua Human Rights Network, National Lawyers Guild, National Students for Justice in Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago, Palestine Solidarity Legal Support, Palestinian Youth Movement-USA Branch, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, United African Organization, United National Antiwar Coalition, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Voces de la Frontera, Women Against Military Madness and the Z Collective.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

Minneapolis ‘Rock for Rasmea’ big success

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/rock.jpg

By Meredith Aby-Keirstead

On Feb. 21, the MN Anti-War Committee (AWC) held Rock for Rasmea, a multimedia benefit show, to raise money for the legal defense of Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh.

According to AWC member Sophia Hansen-Day, “Over 200 people attended: talented spoken word poets, visual artists and MCs shared thought provoking art, and Rasmea herself shared words on resilience and fighting for your principles. One of the largest Rasmea support events nationally in the campaign thus far, the event was the first in which Rasmea was able to hear crowds chant, 'Justice for Rasmea!' after her Skype talk.

Being able to share such visceral solidarity with Rasmea was among the most moving moments of the event for me.”

More than $6000 was raised, and many people signed up to travel to Detroit for Rasmea’s March 12 sentencing hearing in Detroit.

Karmel Sabri, also a member of the AWC, said, “Rock for Rasmea was a success in the fundraiser aspect but for me the most successful part of the night was raising awareness about Rasmea's case and inspiring people with her story - particularly amongst all the youth that came out to show their support.”

Before Odeh addressed the crowd via live feed from Chicago, Misty Rowan shared two poems, a new one which highlights Rasmea’s story, and an old community favorite that lambasts the FBI for its role in the attack on 23 Midwest international solidarity and Palestinian activists.

Rock for Rasmea set out to engage youth and raise awareness about Rasmea Odeh and all political prisoners targeted by the FBI. The event featured short films curated by Mizna, spoken word poetry, music by several local musicians and a silent auction.

This event was endorsed by the MN Committee to Stop FBI repression, Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP UMN), US Palestinian Community Network- Minnesota Chapter, Minnesota Break the Bonds Campaign, Minnesota Peace Action Coalition, Middle East Peace Now, Veterans for Peace Chapter 27 Minneapolis, and Women Against Military Madness.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

All out for Detroit to support Rasmea at her sentencing Thursday, March 12!


Please be in Detroit Thursday, March 12 (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=5253eb8d97&e=b3b6009f90). Support Rasmea at her sentencing hearing.

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Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net)

All out for Detroit to support Rasmea at her sentencing Thursday, March 12!

Register for a spot (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=134e8a461a&e=b3b6009f90)

Stand with Rasmea and fill the federal courthouse in Detroit! (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=63bbc443e6&e=b3b6009f90)

We are committed to filling the courtroom, and an overflow room, on Rasmea's sentencing day on March 12th. We will also organize a picket in front of the courthouse one hour before the hearing.

To continue to show the support for Rasmea that we did throughout her trial and pre-trial hearings, we need you in Detroit!

Thursday, March 12
at 10 AM EST
(hearing starts at 11 AM EST)
231 W. Lafayette Blvd., downtown Detroit

Please join us on Thursday, March 12th, in Detroit for Rasmea's sentencing hearing. Rasmea was unjustly convicted (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=75bfd4fd4b&e=b3b6009f90) in November of last year, and the prosecution is now asking for an enhanced sentence of 5-7 years in prison. (The vast majority of those convicted of Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization are sentenced to no more than 21 months.)

Rasmea's defense attorneys are arguing that she shouldn't be imprisoned for even one more day (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=51e0cbcc95&e=b3b6009f90), and over 70 important leaders of unions and community-based, faith-based, civil rights, and student organizations, as well as prominent academics and activists, who all wrote letters of leniency to Judge Gershwin Drain, agree.

In addition, it must be made clear that Rasmea will be appealing the conviction regardless of the outcome of the sentencing, so visit the national Rasmea Defense Committee's new website at www.justice4rasmea.org to help us fundraise for the appeal and learn of other action steps you can take.

Rasmea spoke with her supporters across the country by live stream a number of times in the past few weeks, and fundraisers and educational events were organized in New York City, Minneapolis, Chicago, San Francisco, Tucson, Tampa, St. Lake City, Gainesville, Miami, Phoenix, Grand Rapids, Milwaukee, Albuquerque, Seattle, Albany, NY, and other cities. More fundraisers are scheduled for Fishers, IN (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=f2875774ff&e=b3b6009f90), and Chicago (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=a7267da53d&e=b3b6009f90) this coming week. (See a full list of events here (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=b1dc7c66bc&e=b3b6009f90).)

There is still much more organizing to be done!

Register here (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=fc0612df75&e=b3b6009f90) to join us in Detroit on March 12,
visit www.justice4rasmea.org for more information,
or email [email protected] with any questions.

The national Rasmea Defense Committee is led by United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR), and Coalition to Protect People’s Rights (CPPR); and includes 8th Day Center for Justice, Al-Awda NY: the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)-Chicago, ADC National, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), ANSWER Coalition, Anti-War Committee (AWC)-Chicago, AWC-Minneapolis, Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace and Justice in the Middle East, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Chicago Light Brigade, Committee Against Political Repression, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-Chicago, CAIR-Michigan, Friends of Sabeel-North America, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, International League of Peoples’ Struggle-U.S., Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), Korean American Resource and Cultural Center (KRCC), Latino Organization of the Southwest (LOS), Lifta Society, Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice (MECAWI), Middle East Crisis Committee (CT), Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition, National Boricua Human Rights Network, National Lawyers Guild (NLG), National Students for Justice in Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago, Palestine Solidarity Legal Support, Palestinian Youth Movement-USA Branch, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, United African Organization, United National Antiwar Coalition, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Voces de la Frontera, Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), and Z Collective.


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Thanks for your ongoing interest in the fight against FBI repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists!
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[ckaihatsu]

Joe Iosbaker speaks out for Rasema Odeh at Moscow conference

By staff

Fight Back News Service is circulating a speech that U.S. anti-war activist Joe Iosbaker delivered at a conference in Moscow, Feb. 24. The conference, called "Developments in Civil Society in Russia and the USA," featured talks by several generations of anti-imperialist activists. A special guest was the Venezuelan Ambassador to Russia, Hoglys Martinez Nunez.

U.S. imperialism and the war on Arabs and Muslims

There is a growing degree of repression and racist violence in the U.S. Witness the murders of the three Muslim students in Chapel Hill, North Carolina a few weeks ago. For the Black communities in the U.S., there is a police state, which has existed since the Africans were brought to America as slaves. And the U.S. government war on Arabs and Muslims, both abroad and at home, continues and expands, despite the drawing down of troops in Afghanistan and the end of the U.S. occupation of Iraq. I want to highlight the case of the Palestinian activist from Chicago, Rasmea Odeh, as the an example of repression of that community.

Attacks on democracy domestically have always accompanied wars of aggression abroad. To understand U.S. imperialism today, it’s useful to look at the recent developments in the War on Arabs and Muslims; the wars fought abroad just in the past year; the level of racism and Islamophobia whipped up by the politicians and media; and the prosecution of Rasmea Odeh, the newest victim of political repression by Washington.

This War on Arabs and Muslims began with George W. Bush. He used the 911 attacks to justify launch-ing wars of conquest in Afghanistan and Iraq, with plans for Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia and Sudan. The U.S. had been in decline on the world stage since defeat at the hands of the Vietnamese in 1975. What he named the War on Terrorism was intended to put the U.S. back on top, to regain a position of power and profitability enjoyed in the 1950s and ‘60s.

Things didn’t work out that way. The Iraq War ended a disastrous loss, and Afghanistan is an unfolding defeat.

The empire didn’t learn the lesson from these losses that regular people learned - that the era where big powers can remake the map using military force has come to an end. The White House thinks it is a matter of smarter tactics, choosing wars more carefully and keeping the junior partners in NATO on board. Now President Obama deploys a variety of war fighting methods: drone warfare, special operations, color revolutions and proxy armies - but their objective is the same - to use military force and the murder of hundreds of thousands, as in Syria, to maintain and expand U.S. hegemony, to control markets and to ensure profitability.

The newest Iraq War that started in August might seem to be a response to the danger to the world from the Islamic State. However, there’s nothing new about wars of ‘humanitarian intervention.’ The same pretext was used in Libya in 2011. The U.S. was looking for a reason to justify going back into Iraq, and now they have it.

Officially, the War on Terrorism has ended. That rhetoric is no longer used. But in truth, there continues to be a war on the countries and nations of the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. Why are they targeted? Because the countries where they are the majority are the largest oil producers. Because those peoples have had the audacity to believe that their national resources should be theirs to develop.

The endless war on these peoples is required because they refuse to accept the dictates by Washington.

In the U.S., there is a necessary corollary to these wars. It is a domestic war on Arabs and Muslims. The U.S. Attorney’s offices in Chicago, Illinois, and Detroit, Michigan, went after a Palestinian community activist in Chicago named Rasmea Odeh. Rasmea is 67 years old. She was put on trial and convicted in November, and now faces a possible sentence of ten years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and deportation. What crime did she commit? When she emigrated to the U.S. from Palestine, she failed to admit that she had been brutally tortured and raped by Israeli guards in 1969. She didn’t say on her application for citizenship that a kangaroo court of the Israeli occupation - a military occupation which is illegitimate and criminal in the eyes of the world, convicted her of a bombing, based on a confession that they tortured out of her, and which she immediately denied.

There is no due process in Israeli military courts, which ‘convict’ over 99% of Palestinians who come before them, and ‘evidence’ from these should not be accepted in a court in the U.S. U.S. law doesn't allow the use of evidence obtained through torture. The War on Arabs and Muslims has changed that. We use torture against prisoners in our wars abroad, and our courts now uphold the use of torture by the Israelis.

Rasmea was targeted by the U.S. government also as part of the repression of the pro-Palestinian movement. This movement, often called the BDS movement for Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions, has grown in recent years against Israel’s occupation and wars on Gaza.

The case against her grew out of the investigation of 23 anti-war and Palestinian community organizers in Chicago and Minneapolis, who were subpoenaed to a federal grand jury in 2010. I am one of those activists. My home was raided by 25 FBI agents on Sept. 24, 2010. I was targeted for my role as an or-ganizer of a large protest against the Iraq War, and because I am a supporter of the cause of the Palestinian people.

The grand jury is investigating myself and the 23 activists for allegations that we provided ‘material support of terrorism.’ This is a lie. The FBI and the Justice Department investigated us and are at-tempting to ‘criminalize’ efforts to empower Chicago’s Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities, as well as work to build solidarity with the struggle in Palestine. No one testified to that grand jury and, due to broad public support and a strong defense campaign, no one was indicted.

Rasmea was not one of the 23, but she is a colleague of Hatem Abudayyeh, who was raided on the same morning I was. Hatem is the director of the Arab American Action Network in Chicago, a community service organization. Rasmea is the associate director. But it is clear that Rasmea came under attack by the U.S. government because she is Palestinian, and because for decades, she has organized for Palestinian liberation and self-determination, the Right of Return of the Palestinian refugees to their homes, and an end to U.S. funding of Israeli occupation.

On March 12, Rasmea will be sentenced. We are asking the judge for leniency, and we are preparing for the appeal. Rasmea’s story is the tale of the Palestinian people. She and the Palestinians are victims of a brutal occupation that has cost many lives and much suffering.

A growing movement has pledged to continue to work for her until she is out of prison and among the Palestinian community and their supporters. Free Rasmea Odeh.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

Mar. 12 for Rasmea: Come to to Detroit or organize a rally in your city

Rasmea's sentencing (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=ee681caba6&e=b3b6009f90) is March 12. Please come to Detroit or organize a solidarity rally in your town.

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Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net)

Support Rasmea Thursday, March 12!

Come to Detroit or organize solidarity rallies in your city!

Register if you are attending the sentencing hearing in Detroit (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=12f65ffc9b&e=b3b6009f90)

Stand with Rasmea and fill the federal courthouse in Detroit!

We are committed to filling the courtroom, and an overflow room, on Rasmea's sentencing day on March 12th. We will also organize a picket in front of the courthouse one hour before the hearing.

To continue to show the support for Rasmea that we did throughout her trial and pre-trial hearings, we need you in Detroit!

For those who can’t make it to Detroit, organize rallies in solidarity with Rasmea in your city on March 12! Email [email protected] to tell us about them.


Detroit action at Rasmea's sentencing
Thursday, March 12
at 10 AM EST
(hearing starts at 11 AM EST)
231 W. Lafayette Blvd., downtown Detroit

Please join us on Thursday, March 12th, in Detroit for Rasmea's sentencing hearing. Rasmea was unjustly convicted (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=38feee987c&e=b3b6009f90) in November of last year, and the prosecution is now asking for an enhanced sentence of 5-7 years in prison. (The vast majority of those convicted of Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization are sentenced to no more than 21 months.)

Rasmea's defense attorneys are arguing that she shouldn't be imprisoned for even one more day (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=a7062171ec&e=b3b6009f90), and over 70 important leaders of unions and community-based, faith-based, civil rights, and student organizations, as well as prominent academics and activists, who all wrote letters of leniency to Judge Gershwin Drain, agree.

In addition, it must be made clear that Rasmea will be appealing the conviction regardless of the outcome of the sentencing, so visit the national Rasmea Defense Committee's new website at www.justice4rasmea.org to help us fundraise for the appeal and learn of other action steps you can take.

Rasmea spoke with her supporters across the country by livestream a number of times in the past few weeks, and fundraisers and educational events, including yesterday’s International Women’s Day celebration, were organized in New York City, Minneapolis, Chicago, San Francisco, Tucson, Tampa, St. Lake City, Gainesville, Miami, Phoenix, Grand Rapids, Milwaukee, Albuquerque, Seattle, Albany, NY, Fishers IN, DC, and other cities. More fundraisers are scheduled for Fishers, IN, and Chicago this coming week. (See a full list of events here (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=302989da53&e=b3b6009f90).)

There is still much more organizing to be done!

Register here (http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=5d45fb1200&e=b3b6009f90) to join us in Detroit on March 12,
visit www.justice4rasmea.org for more information,
or email [email protected] with any questions.

We need your help to pay for Rasmea Odeh’s legal appeal and if she needs prison commissary funds. Please donate to the Rasmea Odeh defense fund: http://www.stopfbi.net/donate

The national Rasmea Defense Committee is led by United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR), and Coalition to Protect People’s Rights (CPPR); and includes 8th Day Center for Justice, Al-Awda NY: the Palestine Right to Return Coalition, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)-Chicago, ADC National, American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), ANSWER Coalition, Anti-War Committee (AWC)-Chicago, AWC-Minneapolis, Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace and Justice in the Middle East, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Chicago Light Brigade, Committee Against Political Repression, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-Chicago, CAIR-Michigan, Friends of Sabeel-North America, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, International League of Peoples’ Struggle-U.S., Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), Korean American Resource and Cultural Center (KRCC), Latino Organization of the Southwest (LOS), Lifta Society, Michigan Emergency Committee Against War and Injustice (MECAWI), Middle East Crisis Committee (CT), Milwaukee Palestine Solidarity Coalition, National Boricua Human Rights Network, National Lawyers Guild (NLG), National Students for Justice in Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago, Palestine Solidarity Legal Support, Palestinian Youth Movement-USA Branch, Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network, St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee, United African Organization, United National Antiwar Coalition, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, Voces de la Frontera, Women Against Military Madness (WAMM), and Z Collective.


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[ckaihatsu]

International Women’s Day 2015 celebrated in Minneapolis

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/IWDmpls15.jpg

By Mick Kelly and Brad Sigal

Minneapolis, MN – About 40 people came together here, March 8, to celebrate International Women’s Day. The program included speakers from the trade union, welfare rights, student and anti-war movements.

Stephanie Taylor of Freedom Road Socialist Organization told the crowd, “We are all here today to celebrate International Women’s Day – a day when, across the globe, people stand up to recognize the struggles of women everywhere. Women have been and always will be leaders and fighters in the struggle for justice. We are here not just to celebrate the victories of women so far, but to anticipate all our struggles to come as we fight for our own liberation and for a better world.”

Taylor also spoke of the case of Rasmea Odeh, stating, “I wanted to take a moment to focus attention on Rasmea Odeh, a Palestinian American who is facing the danger of up to 10 years in prison and deportation at her March 12 sentencing hearing in Detroit. Rasmea Odeh should be seen as an example to everyone fighting for equality and liberation.”

Delfina Rojas, who works with the Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee (MIRAc) and other community organizations, spoke about the struggle of immigrant women for equality, against domestic violence and for an end to deportations.

To finish out the program, Angie Citlali performed a powerful song dedicated to the 43 Mexican student activists from the Ayotzinapa rural teachers college who were disappeared and almost surely massacred by the Mexican state last September. The song makes connections between students here in the U.S. and in México.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

Rasmea's International Women's Day speech


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Rasmea Odeh's speech at International Women’s Day fundraising event in Chicago (http://uspcn.us8.list-manage.com/track/click?u=0ce8bf015c0d49d11d99fdefb&id=5c2fc7f1aa&e=266d74dd41)

March 8th, 2015

I’m so glad to join you today, to express my pleasure to be back amongst all of my family, friends, supporters, and the community who I love and respect so much.

I’m so grateful for the support, care, and endless love you have shown me, and for so much of the time and effort you have dedicated to the case since my arrest in October 2013. Your support gives me important strength, and continues to allow me the resilience to achieve justice.

I’m so lucky to have all of you in my life. I want to tell you that your activism and creative support changed the negative reaction against me, especially when I was in the detention center. Your intensive phone calls and demonstrations, and the support letters that I received from you, played a great role in breaking the isolation and providing a warm feeling in my heart and mind in the freezing cell. With your support, I was able to face all of the challenges and difficulties that threatened my life and my morale!

Friends and supporters,

You are all coming together today to celebrate International Women's Day, to support me and my legal team, and to stand up for justice. As you know, justice is not a gift or handout that we wait for someone to give to us! Justice is a human right that must be fought for and won. The way women all over the world are fighting for their rights and the rights of their people. We celebrate them today, and I especially want to recognize the dozens of Palestinian women who are political prisoners in Israeli jails. I lived that for 10 years, and I know how difficult it is. They need your support and your solidarity. Together we will achieve justice and freedom and make positive change and a better future for our communities all over the country and the world.

Challenges are not frightening, as long as we believe in our rights and the principles that we stand for, have confidence in ourselves, and rise up together. We become stronger and more effective. Then we can achieve miracles.

When I was incarcerated, I learned from my attorneys that people and families in Illinois and other states pledged their businesses and properties to get me released on bail. When the government refused this and asked for cash, a special one of you donated his life savings to get me released. All this incredible support from my closest friends is extremely appreciated! You are helping me to stand up strongly, whether during the incarceration as I defeated the sealed and frozen cell, or as I continue to fight for my freedom with my brilliant legal team.

You will also help me greatly when you join us at my sentencing on March 12 (http://uspcn.us8.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=0ce8bf015c0d49d11d99fdefb&id=420d76e8e4&e=266d74dd41). Whether I am released on bond or even sentenced to more prison, I will be appealing and will need your continued support. With all of you standing beside me, I will continue to feel like I’m not alone.

Before I finish, I would like to remark that we all need to continue to work hard to eliminate the disease of racism and national oppression against Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, Black people, Latinos, and other people of color in this country.

On a daily basis, we watch the hate crimes that kill innocent people, just like those 3 beautiful Arab American Muslim young people in North Carolina. Or the institutional police violence that killed Michael Brown in Ferguson, Eric Garner in New York, and so many other mostly Black men in the U.S. These tragedies and others reflect the extreme hate that some in this country have for Arabs, Muslims, African Americans, and others. The hate is not just from individuals, though. It is encouraged and supported in many political and media circles that we know are sometimes responsible for the way our communities are treated! They make us out into criminals to support their political agendas, so we should recognize this, and unite to resist it.

Lastly, I would like to extend my special warm greetings to every one of you, those who I have already met before and those who I have not yet met. I am sure that all of us have the same hopes and dreams that we have dedicated our lives to. We all stand for social justice and liberation in this country the same way my people have dedicated their lives to the liberation of Palestine. I wish you all the best.

I’m sure many of you will be in Detroit on March 12 at the sentencing hearing, and I want you to know that I can face anything at any time with you by my side. Thank you very much to all of you and the organizers of this event.

- End -
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[ckaihatsu]

Victory as Rasmea Odeh goes home after sentencing

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/Rasmeahdrawing.jpg

By Tom Burke

Detroit, MI — Palestinian American women’s leader Rasmea Odeh was welcomed with cheers as she walked out of court on March 12 into the arms of 200 supporters. The crowd chanted “Rasmea! Rasmea! Rasmea!”

Just an hour earlier, U.S. Prosecutor Tukel asked for five to seven years in prison for Rasmea Odeh. Tukel said, “I will talk about her terrorist background. Every single day in the U.S. was illegal, was based on fraud.” Tukel claimed, “She is an icon in the terrorist world!”

Before sentencing, Odeh spoke eloquently explaining the cycle of her life, “Every time I try to do something good in my life, then something from outside destroys what we have and I am left with nothing.”

She explained, “In 1967 Israel destroys everything, the worst part of my life, because it is war. I was young and had confidence in myself. I rebuilt my life, but Israel said I could not return to Lebanon to college. There were bodies in the street, houses destroyed, and one part of our house destroyed. It was war.”

Odeh explained her part in the Palestinian struggle, “Yes I, as a woman in occupied territory - all the people struggled against the occupation.”

Finishing her statement, Odeh said, “I will find justice. I hope to find justice with you!”

Before announcing the sentence of Odeh to 18 months in prison, Judge Drain emphasized over and over that this was not a political case.

Odeh will remain at liberty pending an appeal. Before driving home to Chicago, Rasmea Odeh shouted to her supporters outside, “I’m positive we will win the appeal. With you it will be easy, and we will win!”

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

Tampa students disrupt FBI recruitment

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/antiFBI.jpg

By Gage Lacharite

Tampa, FL - On March 10, members of Tampa Students for a Democratic Society disrupted an FBI recruiting event at the University of South Florida (USF). The FBI claimed the event was part of Women's History Month, their goal being to recruit young women as agents of repression. The FBI continues to threaten important women leaders such as Assata Shakur, who is living in exile in Cuba. In the case of the Anti-war 23, many women anti-war leaders were spied upon for two years and then the FBI raided their homes, in a clear case of political repression.

The FBI recruitment presentation came to a quick halt when students rose from their chairs and disrupted the FBI speaker. One student called out, with the other students echoing their words to drown out the FBI. This is known as a mic check, popularized during the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. The students then chanted "FBI out of our mosques, FBI out of our schools!" and walked out.

Sam Beutler, of Students for a Democratic Society said, "The U.S. government is a threat to people around the world, and that includes us within its borders. We need to fight the FBI in the belly of the beast."

“The FBI is attempting to recruit students at USF by glorifying their repressive practices as ‘protecting America’s security.’ The manner in which they swept aside the FBI's historic repression against both women and students shows the lack of respect that they have for our student body. Students need to unite to fight these reactionary forces on every campus,” explained Danya Zituni, also with SDS.

As the FBI seeks to recruit spies at USF, Tampa Students for a Democratic Society is continuing to shine a light on political repression and religious persecution committed by the FBI.

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

Tampa demands justice for Rasmea Odeh

http://www.fightbacknews.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/article-lead-photo/tampaSentance1.jpg

By Alekos Zambrano

Tampa, FL - A small but passionate group of about 12 people gathered on the steps of the Sam Gibbons Federal Courthouse building here, March 12, to stand in solidarity with the Palestinian American leader Rasmea Odeh. The action coincided with the Detroit sentencing of Odeh on trumped-up immigration charges.

The protesters brought signs reading, "Free Rasmea now" and "No jail time for Rasmea." They held the signs at passing cars and chanted "Free free Palestine, viva viva Palestina." The group was comprised of student and community members, some of who have already faced political repression locally.

Gage Lacharite spoke on behalf of Students for a Democratic Society, stating "Rasmea has been catapulted into a symbol of Palestinian resistance in the belly of the beast!"

Groups present included Raices en Tampa, the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, Students for Justice in Palestine, and others. Rahma Elmohd, of Students for Justice in Palestine, spoke with great conviction about Israel’s ethnic cleansing of over 750,000 Palestinians and the need to stand up for justice in the Rasmea Odeh case.

Speaking on the importance of solidarity Elmohd said, "We stood with Rasmea when she asked us and others to support her."

Read more News and Views from the Peoples Struggle at http://www.fightbacknews.org. You can write to us at [email protected]

[ckaihatsu]

Tell Civil Rights Group Rasmea's Prosecutor Deserves No Award


End the Occupation
Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Nothing Just About Persecuting Torture Survivor

http://org.salsalabs.com/o/641/images/rasmea.jpg

Dear Chris,

The Rasmea Odeh Defense Committee just learned that the Michigan-based Arab-American Civil Rights League (ACRL) will be presenting U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade with an award (http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=XU8Kgb71HSM8yAyiF9qMucOHyxKNpl%2FO) at its upcoming “Justice Award Tribute” event Friday, May 1st, in Detroit, MI. This award comes on the heels of McQuade’s supervision of the unjust arrest, trial, and conviction of Palestinian American community leader Rasmea Odeh. (http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=OZqPzm2Ri5Cr3NVheE%2BpVyP8vXzH3spv)

Rasmea, who is 67 and a torture survivor, was found guilty of “unlawful procurement of citizenship” last November for not indicating on her naturalization application that she had been unjustly imprisoned by the state of Israel back in 1969.

Rasmea's supporters are calling on those dedicated to Palestinian rights to take action to demand ACRL not honor McQuade.

Call the ACRL’s Chairman of the Board, Nabih Ayad, at 313-633-0231, to demand they rescind the award. Sample script: "Hello, my name is ____, and I am calling to ask ACRL to not award Barbara McQuade at your upcoming Justice Award Tribute event. There is nothing just about persecuting Palestinian American leaders like Rasmea Odeh. As a group dedicated to civil rights, please do the right thing and rescind the award." (Note that the phone may ring a few times before the voicemail picks up).

Tweet to @ACRLMICH using #NoAward and #ShameonACRL. Click on the tweets below to automatically post them. You can send a message through ACRL's official Facebook page.

@ACRLMICH must rescind its award to @USAO_MIE: http://bit.ly/1HZMOD6

There is nothing just about persecuting Palestinian American leaders like Rasmea Odeh: http://bit.ly/1HZMOD6 @ACRLMICH

Civil rights groups should honor civil rights, not those who trample them: http://bit.ly/1HZMOD6 #ShameonACRL

Hey @ACRLMICH #NoAward for Persecutor Barbara McQuade! http://bit.ly/1HZMOD6

#BDS Activists! Take action to support #Justice4Rasmea: http://bit.ly/1HZMOD6
Rasmea is planning on appealing her conviction so visit justice4rasmea.org for updates about her case and other actions you can take to support her.





Ramah Kudaimi
Membership and Outreach Coordinator


PS- Save the date for our 14th Annual National Conference happening September 25-27 in Atlanta, GA. RSVP on Facebook to get updates as they become available.


Chris, take these actions:

1. Call ACRL and demand they not honor U.S. Attorney persecuting Rasmea Odeh. Scroll down for number and sample script.

2. Share this alert with your friends on Facebook (http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=ukGgIlrOw4Q1PP5spM33BSP8vXzH3spv) and followers on Twitter (http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=%2F0oQAgQnNn3xzPXa70AnayP8vXzH3spv).

3. Save the date for our 14th Annual National Conference happening September 25-27 in Atlanta, GA. RSVP on Facebook (http://org.salsalabs.com/dia/track.jsp?v=2&c=hJgo6v4FTwMIE5cZkq6%2BuyP8vXzH3spv) to get updates as they become available.







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