HRW on harassment of Addameer: Israel: Military Harassing Rights Group Staff

27 October 2013

The following statement, on Israel’s harassment of Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association, was issued by Human Rights Watch on October 27, 2013:

(Jerusalem) – Israel’s military should stop harassing members of Addameer, a rights group that provides legal services and advocates for the rights of Palestinians in detention. The Israeli military has imposed severe restrictions and penalties on Addameer’s staff, either without even alleging any violent activity, or without due process.

Most recently, on October 21, 2013, the military prosecutor ordered a four-month administrative detention for an accountant working with the group. Israeli authorities had arrested the accountant, Samer al-Arbin, in September and held him in investigative detention for more than three weeks without charge before ordering his administrative detention. Administrative detention allows the authorities to hold him without charging him or revealing any evidence against him.

“The Israeli military’s apparent persecution of a prisoners’ rights group, especially without allowing the individuals to defend themselves, is a prime example of the injustices the group seeks to counter,” saidJoe Stork, deputy Middle East director. “The military should stop harassing Addameer’s employees on the basis of vague or secret evidence.”

In September, the military arrested and charged a defense lawyer working with the group, Anas Barghouthi, with membership in a banned political organization, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), mainly on the basis of evidence about his role organizing nonviolent demonstrations more than one year ago. Based on the charge sheet, he was not accused of any violent activity. He denies the charges. The military also renewed a travel ban against Addameer’s chairman, Abdulatif Ghaith, preventing him from traveling from his home in East Jerusalem to his office in the West Bank, on the basis that he presents a “security risk,” but has not presented any evidence to support that claim.

Addameer provides legal aid to detainees held by Israeli authorities as well as by the Palestinian Authority, conducts research and advocacy on prisoners’ rights issues, and trains prisoners and lawyers on applicable international law.

Israeli forces raided Addameer’s offices in December 2012 and seized equipment and documents, including the files of lawyers representing prisoners. Since the military has failed to provide any justification for the raid or the seizure of the equipment and documents, it should immediately return the material and compensate Addameer and the other organizations affected, Human Rights Watch said.

The Israeli military arrested a fieldworker with the group, Ayman Nasser, in October 2012, accusing him of participating in demonstrations by the PFLP but not of any violent activity. He was convicted of membership in the group and is serving a 13-month prison term. He was denied access to a lawyer and alleged that he was questioned for up to 20 hours at a time, with his hands shackled painfully behind his back, during a prolonged, 39-day interrogation.

Israeli forces arrested Barghouthi, 30, the defense lawyer, on September 15, while he was driving toward the “Container” checkpoint between the West Bank cities of Bethlehem and Ramallah. His mother, who was also in the car, told Human Rights Watch that soldiers approached the vehicle as it neared the checkpoint, handcuffed Barghouthi, removed him from the car, and took the car keys and the identification documents of the other passengers.

“The soldiers were running toward the car saying, ‘That’s him!’ in Hebrew,” she said. “There was a six-year-old girl traveling with us. They took Anas out, but kept the rest of us in the car for two-and-a-half hours until they let us go.”

The Israeli military prosecutor charged Barghouthi on September 17 with “membership” and “holding a post or position” in an “unlawful association” under articles 85(a)(1) and (2) of the 1945 Defense (Emergency) Regulations, as incorporated into Israeli military law. According to the charge sheet, in May and August 2012, Barghouthi asked another man to “bring kaffiyehs [men’s headdresses] and t-shirts from the Workers’ Union,” which the military considers to be part of the PFLP, to a demonstration in Ramallah; wrote and prepared slogans and posters for the demonstration; contributed money for these activities; and met and discussed such PFLP activities. The alleged activities involved a nonviolent demonstration inside a Palestinian population center, which did not approach Israeli settlers or security forces.

At a hearing at the Israeli Ofer military court on October 22, a military judge agreed to release Barghouthi on 12,000 shekels (US $3,400) bail during trial proceedings against him because the evidence against him consisted of statements from other detainees about alleged activities that occurred more than a year ago, and did not prove his identity or that he is a security threat. The prosecution did not appeal the release order.

Barghouthi has no prior convictions. Officials from Israel’s security service, the Shin Bet, questioned Barghouthi twice in 2009, but each time released him the same day, his mother said. In one instance, he was questioned after officials at the Israeli-controlled Allenby border crossing between the West Bank and Jordan barred him from traveling into Jordan. He had planned to travel on to Qatar, where he was to visit his then-fiancée.

“The Israelis wouldn’t let her travel to the West Bank because she didn’t have a residency permit, and he couldn’t travel to her,” Barghouthi’s mother said. Barghouthi and his fiancée broke off the engagement.

Israeli forces arrested Addameer’s accountant, al-Arbin, 36, a resident of Ramallah, on September 23 and held him in “interrogative detention” at the Moscobiyeh or Russian Compound detention facility in Jerusalem. Israeli military law allows for interrogators to question a suspect for up to 90 days without charge.

On October 21, an Israeli military court issued an “administrative detention” order against al-Arbin. Under military laws, administrative detainees are not charged or informed of the reason for their detention, and they are rarely allowed to see or challenge any evidence against them. Israel’s position is that such secrecy is necessary to protect the security of Palestinian informants who provide the information that is the basis of the detention.

The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has rejected that justification, and held in 1994, for instance, that “Individual liberty cannot be sacrificed for the [Israeli] Government’s inability either to collect evidence or to present it in an appropriate form.”In 2010, UN Committee on Human Rights, which monitors state compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, concluded that Israel’s practice of administrative detention “infringes detainees’ rights to a fair trial” and called on Israel to inform detainees “immediately” of the charges against them, “provide them with information to prepare their defense,” among other significant reforms.

Israeli forces first arrested al-Arbin in January 2003, and a military court sentenced him to 40 months in prison for membership in the PFLP. A military appeals court reduced the sentence to 30 months, an Addameer spokesperson told Human Rights Watch. Two months before the end of his sentence, a military court ordered al-Arbin to be held in “administrative detention” for an additional four months.

Military courts renewed al-Arbin’s administrative detention twice, for a total of 10 months, before his release in 2006. Israeli forces arrested al-Arbin again in March 2007 and held him in administrative detention until August 2008.

The military renewed the travel ban against Addameer chairman Ghaith on September 11, keeping him from traveling from his home in East Jerusalem, which Israel considers to be part of its territory, to the rest of the West Bank, where Addameer’s office is located. The ban expires in March 2014. The military first imposed the ban on72-year-old Ghaith in 2011, saying it was necessary to maintain security and public order in the West Bank.

Israel’s Interior Ministry also banned Ghaith from traveling abroad for six months in 2012 and 2013 on the basis that he constituted a threat to “state security.” That ban was not renewed. Neither the military nor the Interior Ministry has published any evidence to support their claims against Ghaith.

Israel is obliged to respect the right to freedom of association, including in the occupied Palestinian territory. Under international law, governments should generally not criminalize merely supporting or participating in nonviolent political activities.

The PFLP, a left-wing political faction that forms part of the Palestine Liberation Organization, has advocated “armed struggle” for the “liberation of Palestine.” Its armed wing claimed responsibility for attacks that killed Israeli civilians, most recently in 2004. In 2001 the PFLP claimed responsibility for killing the Israeli tourism minister, in reprisal for Israeli forces’ killing of the PFLP leader.

“The Israeli authorities should let Addameer’s employees get on with their human rights work, not turn them into victims of arbitrary abuses themselves,” Stork said.

Thaer Halahleh appeals for treatment for his hepatitis

27 October 2013

Palestinian prisoner and former long-term hunger striker Thaer Halahleh, held in Eshel prison, appealed on October 27 to be provided appropriate treatment. Halahleh is believed to have become infected with hepatitis in a dental operation at Askelan prison during his earlier imprisonment, conducted with unsterilized equipment.

Halahleh said: “I am not asking for my release. My only demand is to be given the appropriate medicine for my illness,” and he stressed that if his demand is not met he will boycott the prison clinic.

He told a lawyer from the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society that the painkillers he has been given instead of appropriate treatment have only aggravated his illness. He noted that judges have on multiple occasions recommended Halahleh be provided appropriate treatment but it is refused by the prison authorities. “Every time they take me to the hospital, and then I return to the prison without receiving any kind of treatment or undergoing any examination,” the lawyer reported Halahleh saying.

He said that for two days he had refused medicine to force the prison authorities to provide him with the appropriate treatment, but the administration still procrastinates until this moment.

Halahleh, who was released in June 2012 after a 77-day hunger strike conducted with fellow administrative detainee Bilal Diab, was re-arrested in April 2013. Once again he has not been charged; Halahleh has been arrested eight times and served six and one half years in Israeli Occupation prisons. He has never been charged with a crime or tried; at all times he has been held without charges or under administrative detention.

Meanwhile, prisoners at Megiddo Prison told the Palestinian Prisoners Society’s lawyer that the health conditions of a number of sick captives have deteriorated and warned of the increasing numbers of patients in the Israeli jail.

PPS’s lawyer visited a number of sick prisoners, including Salem Kassab from Jenin detained since 2003 and sentenced to 11 years. Kassab suffers from problem in his eyes that has worsened during the years of his detention and caused him to lose sight in his left eye.

The lawyer also visited the prisoner Ahmed Khallouf, from Jenin sentenced to 12 years imprisonment, who is suffering from bone infection.

Khallouf told the lawyer that his suffering exacerbated due to the medical negligence and the harsh conditions in the Gilboa prison.

The captive told Prisoners Society’s lawyer that the painkillers aggravated his illness, noting that the judges have recommended seven times that Halahleh be provided with treatment but the prison administration still refuses that. “Every time they take me to the hospital, and then I return to the prison without receiving any kind of treatment or undergoing any examination.”

He said that for two days he had refused the medicines to force the prison authorities to provide him with the appropriate treatment, but the administration still procrastinates until this moment.

Captive Halahla participated in the prisoners’ open-ended hunger strike last year to protest his administrative detention. He was re-arrested last April.

Meanwhile, prisoners at Megiddo Prison told the Palestinian Prisoners Society’s lawyer that the health conditions of a number of sick captives have deteriorated and warned of the increasing numbers of patients in the Israeli jail.

PPS’s lawyer visited a number of sick prisoners, including Salem Kassab from Jenin detained since 2003 and sentenced to 11 years. Kassab suffers from problem in his eyes that has worsened during the years of his detention and caused him to lose sight in his left eye.

The lawyer also visited the prisoner Ahmed Khallouf, from Jenin sentenced to 12 years imprisonment, who is suffering from bone infection.

Khallouf told the lawyer that his suffering exacerbated due to the medical negligence and the harsh conditions in the Gilboa prison.

List of Palestinian pre-Oslo prisoners expected to be released October 29

27 October 2013

The following list of pre-Oslo “Old Prisoners” includes the names of the 26 Palestinian prisoners held since prior to the implementation of the Oslo Accords who are expected to be released on Tuesday, October 29. These names were released in Hebrew by the Israeli Prison Services on Sunday, October 27. Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network salutes these prisoners of freedom, whose names are listed below, followed by the year of their imprisonment and their home in Palestine. We reiterate the welcome to these prisoners – and warnings about the use of Palestinian prisoners as a “bargaining chip” in negotiations – expressed on the first such release (reprinted below).

1. Mohammed Ibrahim Mohammad Nasser – 1985 – Ramallah
2. Rafeh Farhud Mohammad Karajeh – 1985 – Ramallah
3. Mohammad Ahmad Mahmud al-Sabbagh – 1991 – Jenin
4. Hazem Qassem Taher Shubeir – 1994 – Gaza
5. Hilmi Hamad Obeid al-Amawi – 1994 – Gaza
6. Ahmad Saed Mohammad al-Damouni – 1990 – Gaza
7. Yousef Awwad Mohammad Masalhiya – 1993 – Gaza
8. Sharif Hassan Atiq Abu Dheila – 1992 – Nablus
9. Mustafa Amer Mohammad Ghneimat – 1985 – Hebron
10. Ziad Mahmoud Mohammad Ghneimat – 1985 – Hebron
11. Rizq Ali Khader Salah – 1993 – Bethlehem
12. Al-Afu Musbal Nofal Shuqeir – 1986 – Salfit
13. Muayad Salim Mahmoud Hijjeh – 1992 – Nablus
14. Najeh Mohammad Badwi Muqbel – 1990 – al-Khalil
15. Hazza Mohammad Hazza Saedi – 1985 – Jenin
16. Abdel-Rahman Yousef Mahmud al-Hajj – 1992 – Qalqiliya
17. Ahmed Saed Qassam Abdelaziz – 1993 – Jenin
18. Osama Zakariya Wadie Abu Hanani – 1992 – Jenin
19. Mohammed Yousef Suleiman Turkman – 1992 – Jenin
20. Issa Nimer Jibril Abed Rabbo – 1984 – Bethlehem
21. Mohammed Musbah Khalil Ashour – 1986 – Jerusalem
22. Omar Issa Rajab Massoud – 1993 – Gaza
23. Khaled Dawud Ahmed al-Azrak – 1991 – Bethlehem
24. Othman Abdullah Mahmoud Bani Hassan – 1985 – Jenin
25. Asrar Mustafa Samreen – 1992 – Al-Bireh
26. Musa Izzat Musa Qar’an – 1992 – Al-Bireh

Palestinian prisoners are not bargaining chips: Welcome to the released prisoners, struggle until all are free

Samidoun congratulates the Palestinian people and the prisoners’ families on the release of every prisoner who walks out of the doors of the occupation prisons, and today, the release of 26 veteran prisoners. We did not previously address the announcement that prisoners would be released because Israel has shown, time and again, that it regularly reneges on agreements with Palestinians and particularly with prisoners, and manipulates the issue of the prisoners – the over 5000 hostages behind bars – in an attempt to barter the lives and freedom of the prisoners for Palestinian concessions on land and rights.

The 104 prisoners whose release has been announced, allegedly in stages of 26 prisoners at a time, conditioned upon what Israel has labeled “progress” in the negotiations, are pre-Oslo prisoners, arrested prior to the implementation of the Oslo Declaration of Principles and the establishment of the PA on May 4, 1994. These prisoners have been categorized as “abandoned” by the newly established Palestinian Authority from the time of Oslo’s signing in 1993. These prisoners’ release have been promised on multiple occasions, including in the Sharm el-Sheikh negotiations memorandum of 1999, which noted that “The Government of Israel shall release Palestinian and other prisoners who committed their offences prior to September 13, 1993, and were arrested prior to May 4, 1994.”

The years since Oslo in 1993 have been years of unfulfilled promises, for the prisoners as for Palestinians as a whole. Repeatedly, the release of Palestinian hostages has been held out as a “confidence-building” or “goodwill” measure. However, these same time periods have been characterized by mass arrests, nighttime raids, the wide use of administrative detention without charge or trial, and ongoing mass imprisonment. As Addameer notes, “Indeed, over 23,000 Palestinians have been released since 1993 as “goodwill measures” during various negotiations and peace talks. However, in that same period, at least 86,000 Palestinians have been arrested, including children, women, disabled persons and university students.”

Many of those arrested are former prisoners who were released; the re-arrest of freed prisoners has become a given in any discussion of such releases. The Israeli cabinet (as noted by Addameer) included in its agreement to this release that “The State of Israel reserves the right to take any means necessary against any of the released prisoners if they commit any terrorist and hostile activities as well as returning them to serve the remainder of their sentence, as will be decided by the relevant authorities.” Over 12 prisoners from the prisoner exchange in October 2011 currently are threatened with the re-imposition of their sentences. This phrase means that the prisoners are not released but instead paroled, and can be rearrested at any time at the whim of the occupation. It must be noted that Israeli definitions of hostile activities include participation in demonstrations and marches, “incitement” in speeches and writings, and membership or affiliation with Palestinian political parties.

Israel’s conditioning of the release of the 104 prisoners on the grounds of progress in the negotiations is particularly dangerous. It is clear that the Israeli state considers “progress” to be the building of settlements, expropriation of Palestinian land, and concessions of Palestinian inalienable rights, including the right of return. Palestinian prisoners cannot and will not be used as a bargaining chip on the table of negotiations. They have fought with dignity inside the occupation’s prisons for decades, during which time the so-called “peace process” has accrued no benefits to Palestinian prisoners and indeed, has seen the conditions of confinement deteriorating and under continual pressure to undermine the achievements of the prisoners’ movements over the years.

The heroic Palestinian prisoners will not be used as hostages to silence the Palestinian opposition to negotiations or to broker the concession of inalienable Palestinian rights. Those who marched against the negotiations in Ramallah – and were assaulted and attacked by PA police for challenging those negotiations – include former prisoners and the family members of prisoners and the organizers of countless marches and rallies in support of the hunger strikers and the prisoners’ movement.

Since Oslo, the so-called “peace process” has brought neither peace nor justice to Palestinian prisoners or the Palestinian people as a whole. On the contrary, the struggle of Palestinian prisoners, through hunger strikes, political leadership, and continued dignity, strength and political commitment – has always indicated an alternative path of steadfastness in the face of a relentless occupying power.

Welcome to the released prisoners, heroes of the battle for freedom. We will not rest until every one of your sisters and brothers is free, including the brave hunger strikers, the suffering ill prisoners, and the Palestinian children behind bars.

South African solidarity event to launch international Free Marwan Barghouthi campaign

26 October 2013

This Sunday, 27 October, the international “Free Marwan Barghouthi and all Palestinian prisoners” campaign will be launched from the historic South African landmark of Robben Island, where anti-apartheid struggle icons Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada and others were imprisoned during Apartheid in South Africa.

The Palestinian based Popular Campaign for the Release of Marwan Barghouti and all Palestinian Political Prisoners and the South African based Ahmed Kathrada Foundation are the primary organisers of the Robben Island launch event. Ahmed Kathrada launched the “Free Nelson Mandela and all South African Political Prisoners” campaign in 1962, just prior to his own arrest and subsequent imprisonment with Nelson Mandela and others on Robben Island (click here for a short video by actor Morgan Freeman on the life and legacy of Ahmed Kathrada:www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7c_Kg2hp5c). Now half a century later, the 84-year-old anti-apartheid struggle veteran, is launching yet another campaign for an iconic freedom fighter, Marwan Barghouti, commonly dubbed “Palestine’s Mandela” (www.bdssouthafrica.com/2011/10/freeing-palestines-mandela-marwan.html). Barghouti is one of the most prominent –of over 5000– Palestinian political prisoners currently detained in Israeli prisons and jails.

On Sunday, from Robben Island, BDS South Africa will also be announcing and detailing an upcoming South African boycott campaign against G4S Security, the international security company contracted in 2007 to equip and service Israeli prisons, torture centres and detention facilities where Marwan Barghouti and other Palestinian political detainees are held (www.whoprofits.org/company/g4s-israel-hashmira).

Following Sunday’s Robben Island launch, public events will be held in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.

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LAUNCH OF “FREE MARWAN BARGHOUTI AND ALL PALESTINIAN POLITICAL PRISONERS” CAMPAIGN AND BDS-SA ANNOUNCEMENT OF “G4S BOYCOTT”
WHERE: Robben Island, Cape Town, South Africa
WHEN: Sunday, 27 October 2013
TIME: Starting from 09h00
RSVP: Event full.

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CAPE TOWN PALESTINE PRISONER SOLIDARITY RALLY
DAY: Sunday, 27 October
TIME: 18h00
WHERE: Drommedaris Hall, Good Hope Centre
ADDRESS: Christiaan Barnard Street, Cape Town
CONTACT: 0823731143
COST: FREE

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DURBAN PALESTINE PRISONER SOLIDARITY RALLY
DAY: Tuesday, 29 October
TIME: 19h00
WHERE: Durban Art Gallery, Durban City Hall
ADDRESS: 2nd Floor, Durban Art Gallery, Durban City Hall, Anton Lembede Street (Smith St.), Durban
CONTACT: 0823731143
COST: FREE

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DURBAN PALESTINE PRISONER FUNDRAISING DINNER
DAY: Wednesday, 30 October
TIME: 18h30
WHERE: NMJ Hall
ADDRESS: Mountain View Avenue (off Hendry Road), Morningside, Durban
CONTACT AND RSVP: 0823731143 / 0827757860
COST: R300 pp

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JOHANNESBURG PALESTINE PRISONER SOLIDARITY RALLY
DAY: Thursday, 31 October
TIME: 18h30
WHERE: Baitun Noor Centre
ADDRESS: Topaas Street, Extension 5, Lenasia
CONTACT: 0823731143
COST: FREE

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JOHANNESBURG PALESTINE PRISONER & HUMAN RIGHTS SYMPOSIUM
DAY: Saturday, 02 November
TIME: 09h00
WHERE: Constitutional Hill, Braamfontein
CONTACT: 0823731143
HOSTS: The Foundation for Human Rights, Constitutional Hill and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation
COST: FREE

The Robben Island launch and follow up events in Durban, Cape Town and Johannesburg will be addressed by Ms. Fadwa Bargouti (wife of Marwan Barghouti and head of the Palestinian based Popular Campaign for the Release of Marwan Barghouti & All Palestinian Political Prisoners), Azzam Ahmad (Former Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister and Head of the Palestinian delegation to the international Inter-Parliamentary Union), Qaddura Fares (Former Palestinian Minister of Detainees), Majed Bamya (Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Shawqi Issa (Director of Ensan, the Palestinian Centre for Democracy and Human Rights), Sahar Francis (Director of Addameer, the Palestinian Prisoner Support & Human Rights Association), Helmi Al Araj (Director of Hurriyat), Nasser Alrayyes (Al Haq, the Palestinian Human Rights Organization), Yasser Amouri (Birzeit University) and Luisa Morgantini (the former Vice President of the European Parliament). The Palestinian delegates will be accompanied by Ahmed Kathrada and a host of other former South African political prisoners.

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Marwan Barghouthi (54) is known as the ‘Palestinian Mandela’. At the age of 15, Barghouthi joined the Palestinian political party, Fatah, where he co-founded the Fatah Youth Movement. At the age of 18, in 1976, Barghouthi was first arrested by Israel for involvement in Palestinian political and resistance groups. Barghouthi completed his secondary education and received a high school diploma while he was in jail.

Once released, Barghouthi became a member of the Palestinian parliament, where he served until he was abducted and arrested in 2002 by the Israeli army and thereafter tried, convicted and sentenced to five life sentences. The international Inter-Parliamentary Union has subsequently found that Barghouthi’s abduction, arrest and transfer to Israeli territory was in violation of international law and has, together with other international human rights organisations, called for his immediate release. At his trial in 2002, Barghouthi did not participate in its proceedings. Instead, he refused to recognise the legitimacy of the Israeli courts and maintained that his abduction and the Israeli trial were illegal and illegitimate. From within prison, he pursued his efforts for Palestinian unity and freedom, including through his central role in the elaboration of the prisoners’ document for national reconciliation.

Over 750 000 Palestinians (roughly 40% of Palestinian men) have been imprisoned by Israel at one point in time. About 100 000 Palestinians have been held by Israel in “administrative detention” (the equivalent of Apartheid South Africa’s “Detention without trial”). In the last 11 years alone, more than 7500 Palestinian children have been detained in Israeli prisons and detention facilities (including being held in solitary confinement) with Muhammad Daoud Dirbas, at the age of six, being the youngest Palestinian child to have been detained by Israeli soldiers – such practices are considered illegal under international law. Similar to the experience of Black families under Apartheid, almost every Palestinian family has been affected by the Israeli imprisonment of a relative. Currently, as of October 2013, there are over 5000 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel; 137 of them are being held under Israel’s “administrative detention” (Apartheid South Africa’s “Detention Without Trial”) and 180 of them are children. Click here to read the 2012 United Nations report on Israel’s detention of Palestinian children: http://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=12375&LangID=E

In 2007 the international security company, G4S, was contracted to provide and maintain Israeli prisons, torture centres and detention facilities. Although claiming that it intends to terminate its Israeli contracts, G4S still operates in Israel and with the Israeli regime. G4S also provides equipment and services to Israeli checkpoints and Israel’s illegal Jewish-only settlements in the occupied Palestinian West Bank (click here to download the United Nations Special Rapporteur report with details of G4S and its illegal activities in Israel [Pages 15 & 16]: http://t.ymlp289.net/jemsacauubhmakaumhakamseb/click.php). More information on the South African G4S boycott together with campaign material and ways in which members of the public can get involved will be distributed shortly after the Robben Island launch and official announcement of the South African “G4S Boycott” campaign…

The launch of this International Campaign follows a visit by Ahmed Kathrada to Palestine earlier this year. On his return, Kathrada, who himself spent 26 years imprisoned on Robben Island during Apartheid, said: “I believe the International Community has a moral, legal and political responsibility to secure the freedom of Marwan Barghouthi and all Palestinian political prisoners…hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have experienced imprisonment at a certain point in their lives, in one of the most striking examples of mass detention in recent history. Some of these prisoners have spent over 30 years in Israeli jails … the freedom of the Palestinian people is intricately linked to the freedom of Palestinian political prisoners.”

Africans Support Rasmea! Statement from the United African Organization

26 October 2013

Leaders and members of the United African Organization (UAO) stand in solidarity with Sister Rasmea Yousef Odeh, Associate Director of the Arab American Action Network. Together, we express our unflinching support for this remarkable advocate and distinguished leader whose passion for public service and dedication to community empowerment embody the highest ideals of American democratic values. As a champion of human rights and dignity for all people, Sister Rasmea gives voice to the aspirations of the vulnerable and marginalized with a principled focus on building bridges among diverse constituencies and promoting the vision of an inclusive, just and tolerant society. She is a respected and selfless leader who enjoys a deep sea of admiration in the African, Arab, Asian, Latino and faith communities in Illinois.

Our support for Sister Rasmea stems from our intimate knowledge of her inspiring and demonstrable record over the years in promoting citizenship and civic engagement, as well as providing programmatic management of vital social services in the Arab and Muslim community.

We hope and pray that Sister Rasmea will continue to serve her beloved community in peace and dignity! She is not athreat to anyone, and her work here encapsulate her commitment to Dr. Martin Luther King’s call to serve and support each other in the interwoven fabric of our common destiny as Americans.

Alie Kabba, Executive Director
United African Organization

Chicago protest demands “Drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh”

26 October 2013

We are re-circulating the following article from Fight Back News Service on protest in Chicago on Thursday, October 24, demanding the charges against Rasmea Odeh be dropped:

Chicago protest demands “Drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh”

rasmea-protest — (Photo by Bill Chambers)

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.

NSJP stands in solidarity with Rasmea Yousef Odeh and all victims of political repression

26 October 2013

Rasmea0e385a The following statement was issued by Students for Justice in Palestine (National) in the United States, demanding an end to the persecution of Rasmea Odeh by federal officials and linking it to ongoing political repression.

On October 22, 2013, Rasmea Yousef, a 66-year-old Palestinian activist, was arrested at her Chicago home by agents of the Department of Homeland Security. As students, we stand in solidarity with Ms. Yousef. We consider both her arrest and the charges against her to be illegitimate, and see them for what they are: acts of political repression.

Rasmea Yousef is a well-known and beloved member of Chicago’s Palestinian community. She is the associate director of the Arab American Action Network, and the founder of its Arab Women’s Committee. In 2013, she was named an Outstanding Community Leader by the Chicago Cultural Alliance, and she is a regular at Palestine solidarity events throughout the city. Her community organizing and contributions to Palestine solidarity work have made an enormous impact in Chicago. Today, Ms. Yousef, an integral part of our community and an inspirational woman, faces the possibility of deportation and up to ten years in prison.

The arrest of Ms. Yousef is part of an ongoing campaign of repression by the US government against those organizing in opposition to Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people. Her arrest appears to be connected to a secret investigation that began in 2010, in which twenty-three Palestine and Anti-War activists, including university students, were subpoenaed to a grand jury. Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas, who is leading the investigation against the twenty-three, was at the courtroom in Chicago Tuesday morning. Just as as we condemned the 2010 investigation as part of US government witch-hunt, we condemn this recent incident.

Upon her arrest, Ms. Yousef was charged with immigration fraud for allegedly omitting the fact that she was arrested by Israeli forces in 1969 from her citizenship application. These charges rely on the verdict of an illegitimate Israeli military court and prison system, which has been investigated and condemned countless times by Human Rights Watch, theUnited Nations, Amnesty International, Defence for Children International, and other human rights and prisoners rights organizations, which have demanded an end to its unjust practices. Such practices include the arrest without charge or trial, and subsequent torture, of Palestinian men, women, and children.

Though the arrest of Rasmea Yousef is part of a campaign of political intimidation, we refuse to be deterred from our work. National Students for Justice in Palestine condemns the arrest of and charges against Ms. Yousef. We stand in solidarity with Ms. Yousef, just as we stand with all those affected by the destructive nature of political repression, racism, imperialism, and violence that occurs as a result of US domestic and foreign policies. We will continue to act in solidarity with those who struggle against these systems of oppression, as we feel their effects in our own communities, both in the US and abroad.

National Lawyers Guild demands charges against Rasmea Odeh be dropped

26 October 2013

The following Resolution was adopted by the National Lawyers Guild on October 26, 2013 at its 76th Convention in San Juan, Puerto Rico, demanding that charges against Palestinian American activist Rasmea Odeh be dropped immediately, strongly condemning her arrest.

The National Lawyers Guild, founded in 1937, is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state.

EMERGENCY RESOLUTION IN OPPOSITION TO RASMEA YOUSEF ODEH’S ARREST BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

WHEREAS the Department of Homeland Security arrested Rasmea Yousef Odeh, a longtime and well-respected Palestinian activist in the United States, at her home on October 22, 2013, alleging an immigration violation on a 20-year-old application;

WHEREAS Ms. Odeh, a 65-year-old Palestinian woman, is a leading member of Chicago’s Arab and Muslim communities and has changed the lives of thousands of people through a decade of service in the city of Chicago;

WHEREAS Ms. Odeh has been with Chicago’s Arab American Action Network since 2004 and, as associate director, manages its Arab Women’s Committee, which plays a leading role in defending people’s civil liberties and immigrant rights;

WHEREAS Ms. Odeh 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;”

WHEREAS the politically motivated charges against Ms. Odeh stem from her arrest and detention by the Israeli Occupation Forces in 1969, resulting from a military trial of a civilian under the auspices of an Israeli apartheid system that systematically denies Palestinians even a modicum of due process and civil rights;

WHEREAS Ms. Odeh was held in solitary confinement and tortured while in Israeli prison for ten years;

WHEREAS Ms. Odeh’s arrest is yet another manifestation of the federal government’s campaign against activists promoting justice in the Arab and Muslim world and advocating a change in U.S. foreign policy toward Palestine;

WHEREAS the United States government should not use its own laws and criminal justice system to enforce Israel’s apartheid system on Ms. Odeh and all other Palestinians and Arabs living in the United States;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT THE NATIONAL LAWYERS GUILD,

MEETING AT ITS OCTOBER 2013 CONVENTION IN PUERTO RICO, condemns in the strongest terms Ms. Odeh’s arrest on the grounds that it is an egregious abuse of prosecutorial discretion and a part of systematic attempts to intimidate Arabs and Muslims in the United States from organizing within their communities for civil rights, social justice and Palestinian self-determination, and unequivocally urges that all charges against Ms. Odeh be dropped immediately in the interest of justice.

IMPLEMENTATION: This resolution, upon adoption by this body, will be presented to Barbara McQuade, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan, urging her to immediately drop all charges against Ms. Odeh now, and publicized by the Palestine Subcommittee.

SUBMITTED BY: Andrew Dalack, ajdalack@gmail.com, Charlotte Kates charlotte.kates@gmail.com, National Lawyers Guild Palestine Subcommittee

Adopted by the National Lawyers Guild

October 26, 2013

76^th Convention, San Juan, Puerto Rico

November 14/15: Criminalizing Peoples’ Liberation Movements: Scrap the so-called terrorist list – Vancouver

26 October 2013

From Ts’Peten to Tamil Eelam: Liberation Struggles are not Terrorism!

RED SPARKS UNION presents…

Criminalizing Peoples’ Liberation Movements:
Scrap the so-called terrorist list

Public Forum and Discussion

Thursday, November 14, 7:00 p.m.
Kwantlen Polytechnic University, 12666 72nd Ave, Surrey, BC

Friday, November 15, 7:00 p.m.
SFU Harbour Centre, 555 W. Hastings St, Vancouver, BC

How is anti-terror legislation being used to criminalize peoples’ liberation movements from Palestine to South Asia to Indigenous people in BC?
How are immigrant and refugee communities and Indigenous peoples affected by these policies?
Why is the Canadian state so determined to label people’s liberation struggles as terrorism?
What can we do to break through the chill and support peoples’ genuine struggles for liberation and social & economic justice?

Speakers

Khaled Barakat: The impact of ‘terror’ designations and lists on Arab people’s struggles and Arab communities in Canada.
Kerry Coast: Terrorist labeling of Indigenous peoples’ struggles: Ts’Peten (Gustafsen Lake) to today
Charlotte Kates: Terrorist designations and lists in historical context.
Pragash Pio: The ‘war on terror’, repression of the Tamil national liberation struggle & criminalization of the Tamil community in Canada.
Jeff Shantz: Canadian ‘anti-terror’ legislation: targeting people’s liberation struggles.

Speaker Bios

Khaled Barakat is a Palestinian activist, journalist and writer based in Vancouver. His writing on current events and Palestinian issues are widely published in Arabic media.

Kerry Coast is a journalist, dramatist and activist from unceded indigenous territories on the North West Pacific Coast, now called British Columbia, Canada. Coast is just returning from New York where she served for the third time as representative for International Human Rights Association of American Minorities at the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and from Geneva at the Human Rights Council’s 6th Session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Her recently published book, The Colonial Present: The rule of ignorance and the role of law in British Columbia, is about the ongoing process of colonization, criminalization and forced assimilation of Indigenous peoples in BC.

Charlotte Kates is an organizer with the Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign (BIAC) and SAMIDOUN Political Prisoners Network. She has practiced as a lawyer in the United States and is a member of the National Lawyers Guild International Committee.

Pragash Pio is on the executive committee of BASICS Community News Service and a community organizers with Radio BASICS, the May 1st Movement (M1M) and the International League of Peoples Struggles in Toronto.

Jeff Shantz is a Professor in the criminology department at Kwantlen Polytechnic University, a member of the Critical Criminology Working Group and editor of the journal, Radical Criminology.

for more info: info@redsparks.org

Take Action: Outrageous arrest in Chicago. Stop the repression of Palestinian activists.

24 October 2013

Take action to support Rasmea Odeh, Palestinian American activist and community leader – and former political prisoner – politically targeted by the US government.

The following actions were issued by the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net)

SIGN ON: Online Petition to Support Rasmea: http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/drop-the-charges-against?source=c.url&r_by=9356477

Facebook Pages to Support Rasmea:

English: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Drop-The-Charges-Against-Rasmea-Now/678264732186412

Arabic: https://www.facebook.com/pages/%D9%85%D8%AA%D8%B6%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%86%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%B9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B6%D9%84%D8%A9-%D8%B1%D8%B3%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%B3%D9%81-%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF%D8%A9/534098690010938

Outrageous arrest in Chicago. Stop the repression of Palestinian activists.

A Palestinian woman, Rasmieh Odeh, was arrested at her home this morning, Oct. 22, by agents of the Department of Homeland Security.

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 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.

The arrest today appears to be related to the case of the 23 anti-war activistssubpoenaed to a grand jury in 2010. Well-known labor, community and international solidarity activists around the Midwest had their homes raided by the FBI when the U.S. attorney alleged that they had provided material support to foreign terrorist organizations in Palestine and Colombia.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Jonas is leading the investigation against the 23. He was at the courtroom in Chicago this morning, consulting with the assistant U.S. attorney who was presenting the indictment to the judge. Jonas was also the prosecutor in the case of the Holy Land Five, the heads of the largest Muslim charity in the U.S. before 9/11. He was successful in getting prison sentences for as long as 65 years for the five men, who provided charity to children in Gaza.

The Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR) denounces this attack as another example of the continuing repression of Palestinians and people who stand in solidarity with them. Homeland Security, the FBI, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the U.S. Attorney’s office now are carrying out enforcement of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

Odeh will appear in court in Detroit on Nov. 1, where she will be represented by Jim Fennerty of the National Lawyers Guild. CSFR urges people to attend the proceedings at the Federal Court in Detroit in her defense.

Send photos of support for Rasmea!

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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 cppr@aaan.org.
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.

Outrageous arrest in Chicago. Stop the repression of Palestinian activists.

A Palestinian woman, Rasmieh Odeh, was arrested at her home this morning, Oct. 22, by agents of the Department of Homeland Security.

Send photos of support for Rasmea!

Support Rasmea! Send us your pictures

‘I am ________ and I support Rasmea!’

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Support Rasmea!
Send us your pictures