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 as she undergoes a difficult legal battle.  Please support Rasmea at her November 13 or 14 appearance in federal court in Detroit, Michigan.  (Please stay tuned for an exact date, which is not yet set.) We are also asking all supporters to call Barbara McQuade, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan in Detroit, at 313.226.9501 or 313.226.9100, from 8 AM to 4 PM CST, to demand that she Drop the Charges Now.  For further action items, please see the Arab American Action Network alert. 

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

CCR, JVP Submit Amicus Brief in Appeal of “Irvine 11” Convictions

The Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) filed a joint Amicus brief in support of the appeal to overturn the convictions of the “Irvine 11” – ten students who were criminally prosecuted for peacefully protesting a speech by Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. Michael Oren in 2010.  Each of the students stood up at different points during the speech, made a short statement condemning Israel’s human rights violations, and walked out, occupying no more than five minutes of the one hour event.  They were arrested, and then prosecuted after a year-long investigation.

These students, like university students across the country, have regularly and vigorously protested speakers and public officials without consequence, much less arrest.  CCR and JVP asked the court: why was this case worthy of criminal prosecution while similar protests, both before and after, were not?

The brief underscores the likelihood that the protest was punished not because it “substantially impaired” the meeting, as required by the California law under which they were charged, but because the message of the protesters "substantially offended the sensibilities of the [event] organizers and the state." California law and the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibit precisely this type of political prosecution.

Said Dima Khalidi, Cooperating Counsel with the Center for Constitutional Rights and Director of Palestine Solidarity Legal Support: "This prosecution did not happen in a vacuum.  There has been widespread repression of speech advocating for Palestinian rights across the country - by government agencies, universities and organizations that promote Israeli policies against Palestinians.  It must therefore be viewed as part and parcel of efforts to intimidate and silence a viewpoint that is consistently drowned out by mainstream orthodox positions in the U.S. that are unconditionally supportive of Israel, whatever its human rights record.”

The Brief also puts this case in a historical context, showing how discriminatory enforcement of vague laws has been used to suppress other movements for social change, including the Civil Rights and anti-war movements.  The California appellate court has a duty, as the U.S. Supreme Court has dictated in response to past repression of critical movements, to ensure that these students’ First Amendment rights are protected against the whims of local law enforcement, prosecutors and courts who have the power to stifle dissenting viewpoints.

Said Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director of JVP, “There is a reason for the dramatic difference in the way these students were treated for challenging an Israeli public official, and the way JVP members and others are treated for engaging in similar protests.  Widespread Islamphobia and attempts to suppress views supportive of Palestinians surely contributed to a decision to go after these students.”

Read the full Amicus brief here. 

Civil rights orgs stand up to protect Cal. State Professor attacked for criticizing Israel on university server

Is there a First Amendment right to advocate for Palestinian rights on a state university server?  Yes!  In its latest attack on free speech at California campuses, the Amcha Initiative again attempts to silence opposing political views by distorting the law.  Amcha claims that Cal. State Northridge professor David Klein is required to get permission from university trustees before promoting the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israeli institutions on a university server.  But the law Amcha cites merely requires permission from trustees to use the Cal. State University name to imply an official endorsement of a boycott.  As the Cal. State administration itself determined in an investigation into the matter, no reasonable person would interpret Prof. Klein's "Boycott Israel" website as implying that the university officially endorses the views expressed.  Professor Klein's website is political expression on a matter of grave public importance.  He does not need permission. Universities must ensure that debate on Palestine/Israel remains unfettered and academic freedom is protected. For more details on the legal issues, please read the letter from the National Lawyers Guild Los Angeles Chapter to the trustees of California State University.

New Guide Addresses Legal Issues Commonly Faced by Palestine Solidarity Activists

Monday, September 9, 2013 As the academic year starts up at colleges across the country, Palestine Solidarity Legal Support (PSLS) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) are pleased to announce the publication of a Know Your Rights booklet for Palestinian rights activists-  Legal and Tactical Guide: Palestinian Human Rights Advocacy in the U.S. The Guide is intended to help activists, both on and off campus, identify potential legal issues and how they might be approached, and to provide basic information about individual rights in a given situation.  It includes sections on First Amendment rights and common ways that free speech rights are infringed, issues specific to campus activism, potential criminal charges arising from rights activism, and legal issues around boycott, divestment and sanctions campaigns.

Legal and Tactical Guide- Palestinian Human Rights Advocacy in the U.S

FRONT PAGE KYR

PSLS, in partnership with CCR and in collaboration with the National Lawyers Guild and other organizations, has been responding to the increasing legal attacks and intimidation campaigns against Palestine solidarity activists around the US with direct representation and advocacy on behalf of activists, advocacy work on key policy issues, and legal education efforts.  The Guide comes at the end of PSLS’s first year of work identifying and beginning to tackle the ways that Palestine solidarity activists are being repressed.   “We’re excited that this resource will be available for Palestinian rights activists who will find many of these issues familiar, but may not know what they can do about them,” said Dima Khalidi, CCR Cooperating Counsel and PSLS Director.  “Our hope is that it will encourage people to identify in advance how and when legal problems may arise in their advocacy work, and to seek our help in fighting back against attempts to stifle their speech on this critical issue.”

"This is a fantastic resource, one that every Palestinian and Palestine solidarity activist in the U.S. should read and store in her book bag, briefcase, and glove compartment,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, National Coordinating Committee member of the United States Palestinian Community Network (USPCN, www.uspcn.org) and one of the activists raided by the FBI and subpoenaed to a federal grand jury in September of 2010 for his Palestine support work (www.stopfbi.net).  “We have history and morality on our side; and now, with this document, we will also be equipped to fight back legally against the repression we face."

"As student organizers, we face so much legal bullying that relies on a lack of knowledge about our rights. This guide is exactly what we need - with it and the support of PSLS, we will be better prepared against baseless threats and intimidation, and we can focus our efforts instead on our organizing for Palestinian human rights," said Taliah Mirmalek, a student at UC Berkeley and a member of Students for Justice in Palestine.

While the Guide is meant to be used independently by activists, PSLS encourages individuals and groups to reach out to report incidents of repression, to get legal and advocacy help when facing backlash, and to request workshops or other more tailored discussions about how to protect and advance their rights.

Contact PSLS if you:

• Face attempts to shut down, smear or hamper your activism

• Think your First Amendment rights to organize and protest have been violated

• Need legal advice about BDS or other campaigns

• Experience verbal or physical intimidation or assault

• Experience different treatment than other individuals or groups by university or government officials

• Have questions about your rights to engage in activism

• Need resources or trainings for your group

 Website: palestinelegalsupport.org

Email: info@palestinelegalsupport.org

Phone: (312) 212-0448

Access the Guide here:  Legal and Tactical Guide- Palestinian Human Rights Advocacy in the U.S

Palesinian Human Rights Advocacy - last page

In Landmark Victory for Student Free Speech, Department of Education Dismisses Complaints

Decisions on three California campuses defeat attempts to silence campus activism around Palestine. August 28, 2013, Berkeley, CA – Civil rights organizations this week welcomed news that the Department of Education's (DOE) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has closed three investigations against three University of California schools, at Berkeley, Santa Cruz, and Irvine, which falsely alleged that Palestinian rights activism created an anti-Semitic climate. The complaints underlying the investigation claimed that student protests and academic programing in support of Palestinian rights and critical of Israel "created a hostile environment for Jewish students."

Read more here.

CCR, NLG, ADC Criticize FAU for Treatment of Students Disciplined for Protesting IDF Soldier Event

CCR, NLG South Florida, and ADC sent a letter to Florida Atlantic University (FAU) expressing concern with the disciplinary actions the administration took against five students who protested a lecture by an IDF soldier on their campus.  To avoid a stain on their academic records and to be able to continue their education and activism without the distraction of a protracted legal battle, the students signed agreements putting them on probation, prohibiting some of them from holding leadership positions in official student organizations, and mandating that they attend a “Campus of Difference” training program developed by none other than the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The ADL has falsely accused some of the same students of anti-Semitism and has been at the forefront of efforts to silence advocates for Palestinian rights because it disagrees with them.  FAU’s actions appear to be in response to a concerted campaign by outside organizations to malign students engaged in Palestinian rights advocacy on campus, and to pressure the University to act against them.  CCR and other organizations will continue to monitor FAU’s treatment of these students. To read the full letter, click HERE.

To read the students’ statement, click HERE.

SF City Counselor warns against branding criticism of Israel as "hate speech"

San Francisco City Counselor John Avalos wrote a letter to the SF Municipal Transportation Authority, warning against the "dangerous precedent of branding political speech that may be unpopular to some as 'hate speech' in an effort to silence it."  Last week the San Francisco Supervisor disagreed with his colleagues who characterized an ad placed on SF buses as "hate speech."  The ad featured a quote from Nobel Peace Prize laureate Desmond Tutu that draws similarities between apartheid in South Africa and Israel's system of rule in the occupied Palestinian territory. The ad was placed by the organization American Muslims for Palestine (AMP).   Supervisor Avalos clearly distinguished AMP’s core political speech from hate speech, and encouraged SF Municipal Transportation Authority to leave open public buses as a forum for all speech.  Read the full letter.