Rasmea Odeh, the 69-year old Palestinian American community leader who was tortured and sexually assaulted by the Israeli military in 1969, is bring to a close her battle to win justice from the U.S. legal system.

After living in this country for over 20 years, Rasmea was charged in 2013 with an immigration violation that was always just a pretext for a broader attempt to criminalize the Palestine liberation movement. She has spent the last three and a half years leading a powerful battle to resist this attack, joined by hundreds of supporters for every court appearance, and thousands of supporters across the country and the world. However, the prospects for a fair trial are slimmer than ever. The prosecution team is now under the regime of racist Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and a new superseding indictment re-frames this as a case about “terrorism” rather than immigration. There is the great likelihood that a jury would be prejudiced by hearing the zionist Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Tukel call Rasmea a “terrorist” and her supporters “mobs and hordes,” as he has done many times before. As a Palestinian who has dedicated her life to the cause of liberation, it is impossible for Rasmea to expect a fair trial in U.S. courts.

In 1969, as a college student, Rasmea was arrested by the Israeli police, along with as many as 500 others, and accused of involvement in two bombings. She was horrifically tortured for 25 days (including electric shocks and sexual assault), as was her father in her presence; and then tried before a kangaroo Israeli military court. This tribunal has military officers, and not civilians, as prosecutors and judges, and convicts over 99% of its Palestinian prisoners. She was found guilty based on a confession coerced through torture, and then given a life sentence. In 1979, she was freed with other Palestinians in a prisoner exchange.

In her 2014 trial in U.S. federal court, where she was convicted and sentenced to 18 months in prison for allegedly giving false answers to questions on her applications for permanent residency and citizenship, Judge Gershwin Drain prohibited the defense from challenging the legality of the military tribunal or offering proof of her innocence of the bombings. She was also not allowed to put forward that she suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of the torture, but she won an appeal and a new trial expressly based on the excluded torture evidence. Its back against the wall, the government then filed a vindictive new superseding indictment that falsely accused Rasmea of being a “terrorist” and a member of a “designated terrorist organization.”

Under this current, racist political climate, and facing 18 months or more of imprisonment, as well as the possibility of indefinite detention by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Rasmea has made the difficult decision to accept a plea agreement. She will plead guilty to Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization, lose her U.S. citizenship, and be forced to leave the country, but will exit the U.S. without having to serve any more time in prison or ICE detention, a victory, considering that the government had earlier fought for a sentence of 5-7 years. Acting U.S. Attorney Daniel L. Lemisch and Tukel clearly want to dodge a public and legal defense that puts U.S.-backed Israel on trial for its crimes against Rasmea and its continuing crimes against the Palestinian people as a whole.

Through a massive, organized defense campaign, Rasmea Odeh—a long-time icon of the Palestine liberation movement—is now a name known in every corner of the movement for social justice in the U.S. From the Movement for Black Lives in Ferguson, Chicago, and beyond, to the call for a global #WomenStrike on International Women’s Day, Rasmea has become synonymous with resilience and resistance. This fight not only brought her story to the U.S. and the world, but also pushed forward the cause of the liberation of Palestine. She exposed Israel for what it is – a racist occupier and colonizer – and put its policy of torture and sexual assault on the permanent record in a U.S. court of law.

We had practical victories too. When the first judge assigned to Rasmea’s case was exposed as a lifelong supporter of Israel, and it was then found that he had direct financial ties that affirmed this bias, he was forced to remove himself from the case. After the first trial led to a conviction that did not hold up under appeal, Rasmea was taken immediately into custody. Supporters mobilized to demand her release. Within weeks, the movement had helped to post her bond, and Rasmea was back in Chicago, planning her successful appeal and continuing her important community organizing. And Rasmea never once walked into a courthouse alone. Whether by the dozens or the hundreds, at every hearing, every day of trial, from Detroit to Cincinnati, we were with her.

Rasmea’s choice today was not easy, but nothing in this journey has been, and our support continues to be critical. Soon, a hearing date will be set for Judge Drain to consider the plea agreement. We will again call for All Out to Detroit and stand beside her on that difficult day. After that, Rasmea will continue her incredible organizing work wherever she is, and so will we.

As she said to supporters outside the courthouse after the initial verdict, “There is justice in this world, we will find it. We will face injustice and we have to change this world, not just in this country, in all the world in all the places there is no justice, we have to bring the justice together. In spite of everything, we are the stronger people, not the government who is unjust.”

The case of Rasmea Odeh presents us all with an example of how to resist. The current political climate is formidable. The Muslim Ban, attacks on Latino immigrants and Black people, the cuts to programs serving women … these and other attacks will call on each of us to be unwavering, like Rasmea; to be consistent like her supporters; and to never run scared or fall silent in the face of injustice.

Rasmea Defense Committee, led by U.S. Palestinian Community Network and Committee to Stop FBI Repression

March 23rd, 2017

#Justice4Rasmea

#UnitedStates #RasmeaOdeh #PoliticalRepression

Please continue to support the defense fund by making a generous donation NOW!

After an unjust conviction in Detroit, Rasmea started 2016 facing a sentence of 18 months and the loss of her U.S. citizenship. With your support, and an incredible legal team, Rasmea led the continued fight for justice. You worked hard to share Rasmea’s story at events and actions in cities across the country, and more than once, you got #Justice4Rasmea trending on Twitter. When word came of victory in Rasmea’s appeal, you mobilized to Detroit for the June hearing to ensure she would get a new trial; and you were prepared to go there again for the retrial, where Rasmea would finally tell her story of brutal torture at the hands of Israeli soldiers.

Feeling the heat just weeks before that trial date, U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade announced a new attack on Rasmea – a new grand jury indictment that aims to ensure Rasmea stand before a jury as an accused terrorist. This move lays bare what we have said all along – the immigration charge against Rasmea is a pretext for a broader attempt to criminalize the Palestine liberation movement. Undoubtedly, prosecutors also hoped this desperate move would drive Rasmea’s supporters away. We are counting on you to prove them wrong!

As Frank Chapman, Field Organizer for the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, and one of the main supporters of the Rasmea Defense Committee, has said on many occasions, “Rasmea's is the most important political trial in the U.S. today!” A new trial date has been set for May 16, 2017. Rasmea’s wonderful defense team – Michael Deutsch, Jim Fennerty, Dennis Cunningham, Bill Goodman, Huwaida Arraf, and other legal workers, clerks, and volunteers – have a mountain of work to prepare the courtroom defense. At the same time, we will have more pre-trial hearings, plus the trial itself, to mobilize supporters to Detroit. So we are going to need at least another $50,000 in the days ahead, for the legal and community organizing expenses.

So we’re asking for your support. Please donate generously to Rasmea’s defense, as we prepare for the next round of this fight.

Thank you again, and Happy Holidays from Rasmea Odeh and the Rasmea Defense Committee!

#Justice4Rasmea #DropTheChargesNow

Visit www.justice4rasmea.org for more information.

#UnitedStates #PeoplesStruggles #PoliticalRepression #RasmeaOdeh #FreeRasmeaNowJustice4Rasmea

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Dec. 21 statement from the Rasmea Defense Committee.

This morning, Rasmea Odeh and her defense attorney Michael Deutsch called into Judge Gershwin Drain's courtroom in Detroit, where the judge and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Tukel were in attendance.  The parties all agreed on May 16, 2017, as the new starting date for Rasmea's retrial.

The defense committee will continue to send regular updates regarding any pre-trial hearings or other appearances that Rasmea must make between now and the retrial, as well as requests to participate in regular defense organizing and activities.

In addition, we urge supporters to continue to call U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade at 313-226-9100, or tweet @USAO_MIE, and demand that she stop wasting taxpayer money, that she stop persecuting a woman who has given so much to U.S. society, and that she #DropTheChargesNow against Rasmea.

Lastly, and in the spirit of the season, please help us win #Justice4Rasmea by making your end-of-year donation to the defense fund!  We thank you all for your continued support!

#DetroitMI #ImmigrantRights #Palestine #PeoplesStruggles #politicalRepression #RasmeaOdeh

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Dec. 21 statement from the Rasmea Defense Committee.

This morning, Rasmea Odeh and her defense attorney Michael Deutsch called into Judge Gershwin Drain's courtroom in Detroit, where the judge and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Tukel were in attendance.  The parties all agreed on May 16, 2017, as the new starting date for Rasmea's retrial.

The defense committee will continue to send regular updates regarding any pre-trial hearings or other appearances that Rasmea must make between now and the retrial, as well as requests to participate in regular defense organizing and activities.

In addition, we urge supporters to continue to call U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade at 313-226-9100, or tweet @USAO_MIE, and demand that she stop wasting taxpayer money, that she stop persecuting a woman who has given so much to U.S. society, and that she #DropTheChargesNow against Rasmea.

Lastly, and in the spirit of the season, please help us win #Justice4Rasmea by making your end-of-year donation to the defense fund!  We thank you all for your continued support!

#DetroitMI #ImmigrantRights #Palestine #PeoplesStruggles #politicalRepression #RasmeaOdeh

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Dec. 21 statement from the Rasmea Defense Committee.

This morning, Rasmea Odeh and her defense attorney Michael Deutsch called into Judge Gershwin Drain's courtroom in Detroit, where the judge and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Tukel were in attendance.  The parties all agreed on May 16, 2017, as the new starting date for Rasmea's retrial.

The defense committee will continue to send regular updates regarding any pre-trial hearings or other appearances that Rasmea must make between now and the retrial, as well as requests to participate in regular defense organizing and activities.

In addition, we urge supporters to continue to call U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade at 313-226-9100, or tweet @USAO_MIE, and demand that she stop wasting taxpayer money, that she stop persecuting a woman who has given so much to U.S. society, and that she #DropTheChargesNow against Rasmea.

Lastly, and in the spirit of the season, please help us win #Justice4Rasmea by making your end-of-year donation to the defense fund!  We thank you all for your continued support!

#DetroitMI #ImmigrantRights #Palestine #PeoplesStruggles #politicalRepression #RasmeaOdeh

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Dec. 14 statement from the Rasmea Defense Committee.

Yesterday, U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade announced that a grand jury she had empaneled returned a new, superseding indictment against Rasmea Odeh for unlawful procurement of naturalization. This new indictment, just four weeks before her retrial, is a vicious attack by prosecutors desperate after a series of setbacks in their case against the Chicago-based Palestinian American community leader. From the outset, the government has attempted to exclude and discredit evidence of Rasmea’s torture at the hands of Israeli authorities, but the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the prosecution, which led to the retrial; and the government’s own expert affirmed that Rasmea lives with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

As the January 10 retrial approaches, and knowing that it faces the real prospect of losing before a jury, the U.S. Attorney’s office has reframed its case against Rasmea, putting allegations of terrorism front and center. In the first trial in 2014, prosecutors were barred from using the word “terrorism,” because Judge Gershwin Drain agreed the word would bias the jury. The new indictment adds two allegations that preclude this protection: first, that the crimes she was forced by torture to confess to are “terrorist activity”; and second, that she failed to report an alleged association with a “Designated Terrorist Organization.” Despite the government’s claim that this is a simple case of immigration fraud, this new indictment is written to ensure that Rasmea stands before a jury as an accused terrorist.

“They are switching course because they know that a jury will believe Rasmea,” says Nesreen Hasan of the Rasmea Defense Committee and its lead organization, the U.S. Palestinian Community Network. “We have always said, from day one, that this is a political case, and that the government is prosecuting Rasmea as part of a broader attack, the criminalization of the Palestine liberation movement. This new indictment is literally the same charge, with the same evidence – immigration forms. Only now, they want to paint Rasmea, and all Palestinians, as terrorists. The real criminals in this case are the Israelis who brutally tortured Rasmea 45 years ago, as well as those in the U.S. government who are trying to put her on trial for surviving the brutality committed against her.”

Prosecutors will be disappointed to find that these new allegations fail to erode Rasmea’s support. People have mobilized by the hundreds for countless hearings, every day of her 2014 trial, and her appeal earlier this year. “We have people ready to come from across the Midwest to stand with Rasmea in Detroit on January 10, but we are also prepared to adjust those plans to be there whenever we are needed,” says Jess Sundin of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, who lives in Minneapolis and has mobilized dozens of Minnesotans and others in support of the defense. “We will redouble our organizing and fundraising work, and make certain Rasmea has the best defense possible.”

Given the desperate move by prosecutors, it is clear that things may change quickly. Rasmea’s legal team has filed a motion to postpone the January 10 trial date, so they can prepare a defense against the new allegations. According to lead defense attorney Michael Deutch, “We also intend to challenge this indictment as vindictive and politically-motivated.”

The Rasmea Defense Committee is urging supporters to continue to call U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade at 313-226-9100, or tweet @USAO_MIE, and demand that she stop wasting taxpayer money, that she stop persecuting a woman who has given so much to U.S. society, and that she #DropTheChargesNow against Rasmea. In addition, the committee is calling on supporters to help win #Justice4Rasmea by donating to the defense and organizing educational events about the case.

Visit www.justice4rasmea.org for more information.

#ChicagoIl #ChicagoIL #Palestine #PeoplesStruggles #Israel #politicalRepression #RasmeaOdeh

After cancelling a November 29 Daubert hearing last week, Eastern District of Michigan Federal Judge Gershwin Drain reviewed written arguments, and ruled today that Palestinian American community organizer Rasmea Odeh will be granted a new trial.

“This is incredible news,” said Nesreen Hasan, a leader of the Rasmea Defense Committee and its lead organization, the U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN). “The government has gone to great lengths to cover up the details of Israel’s torture and crimes against this mentor of mine and of so many others, this Palestinian icon. Now, the truth will finally be told, in open court. Rasmea will be vindicated.”

Last year, Rasmea was sentenced to 18 months in prison and deportation after being convicted in 2014 of Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization, a politically-motivated immigration charge, for failing to disclose on applications for U.S. citizenship that she had been arrested decades earlier in Palestine by Israeli authorities. In February 2016, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals sent the case back to Judge Drain, saying he had wrongfully barred the testimony of a torture expert that was critical to the defense. At the original trial, Rasmea was not allowed to tell the entire story of Israel forcing her to falsely confess to alleged bombings in 1969, when she endured over three weeks of vicious sexual, physical, and psychological torture at the hands of the Israeli military.

Rasmea suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) because of this torture, which, according to her clinical psychologist, Dr. Mary Fabri (who has worked with torture survivors for 25 years, and at the world-renowned Kovler Center for the Treatment of Survivors of Torture for 12), caused her to suppress the horrible recollection of the arrest when she answered questions on her immigration application. Judge Drain excluded Fabri’s testimony from the first trial, and disallowed any evidence about the rape and torture. Today’s decision clears the way for a new trial, where this testimony can finally be heard by a jury. The judge had previously mentioned January 10, 2017, as a potential new trial date, but today’s ruling does not include a specific start.

In filings before the ruling, the government argued that Judge Drain should again exclude Fabri’s testimony, asserting that Rasmea did not have PTSD, that she was feigning her symptoms, and therefore, that her memory could not have been impacted during the immigration process. Despite recently subjecting her to 17 hours of clinical mental examination to prove these theories, the government’s own expert affirmed the diagnosis of PTSD, and reported that Rasmea was not faking any symptoms.

At the new trial next year, defense attorneys are hopeful a jury that finally gets the opportunity to hear testimony about torture and PTSD, will find Rasmea not guilty. In the meantime, the defense committee is calling on U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade to stop wasting taxpayer money and end this travesty of justice right now—by dropping the charges now and letting Rasmea go free!

“This has been a politically-motivated case from day one,” said Frank Chapman, Field Organizer for the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression. “The whole case against Rasmea is nothing but a pretext to intimidate those who organize and struggle to realize a liberated Palestine. She has remained determined in the face of this repression, and we will continue to stand beside her. Hundreds have come out from across the country to stand with Rasmea at every hearing, and every day of her trial and appeal. These same hundreds, and thousands more, are now demanding of McQuade, ‘Drop the Charges Now!’”

Today, we celebrate another great victory in the campaign, but we won’t stop here.

Tomorrow, Wednesday, December 7, 2016—FOR A FULL DAY, from 9 AM to 5 PM EST—please call U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade at 313-226-9100, and demand that she stop wasting taxpayer money, that she stop persecuting a woman who has given so much to U.S. society, and that she Drop the Charges Against Rasmea Now!

In the meantime, the Rasmea Defense Committee, led by USPCN and the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, urges supporters to continue to struggle for #Justice4Rasmea by donating to the defense and organizing educational events about Rasmea and the campaign in your communities. Visit www.justice4rasmea.org or email justice4rasmea@uspcn.org to get more involved.

#DetroitMI #Palestine #PeoplesStruggles #Israel #politicalRepression #RasmeaOdeh

Tampa, FL – The Tampa Anti-War Committee (TAWC) held a sign-waving for Rasmea Odeh on the day of her scheduled hearing, Nov. 29. The Daubert hearing, which would have been to discuss the use of expert testimony regarding the torture of Odeh during her time in an Israeli prison, was canceled the day before , but TAWC followed through with the action to demand #Justice4Rasmea on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Community and student activists held signs and chanted in solidarity with Odeh. Chants included “Hey, hey, let’s be clear: Rasmea is welcome here!” “FBI, off our backs! We have had enough attacks!” and “When Rasmea is under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back!”

Sam Alex of TAWC spoke about Odeh’s case and why anti-war activists should support and defend her. “Rasmea is on trial for ridiculous, trumped-up charges due to her work as a Palestinian civil rights leader and activist,” said Alex. “We must always fight for Rasmea Odeh and the Palestinian people, especially on today. TAWC supports all of this because we always support the oppressed, not the oppressor.”

TAWC will also be holding a General Body Meeting Wednesday, Nov. 30 to discuss Odeh’s case, as well as other cases of political repression. For more information regarding upcoming events, you can find TAWC on Facebook, or e-mail tampaantiwar@gmail.com.

#TampaFl #Palestine #Florida #PoliticalRepression #RasmeaOdeh #TampaAntiWarCommittee

All out for November 29th federal court hearing – most important of the case – in Detroit! If you're not in the Midwest and can't make it to Detroit, organize a solidarity event in your city!

WHEN: Tuesday, November 29th, 2016, at 2 PM EST

(rally at 2 PM, hearing starts at 3 PM)

WHERE: U.S. District Court, 231 W. Lafayette Blvd., downtown Detroit, Michigan

Facebook event

The Rasmea Defense Committee is calling on everyone to mobilize for Detroit on November 29th, and tell us here that you're attending or if you need a ride or if you can provide transportation!

Supporters from Chicago and other parts of Illinois, Milwaukee, Detroit / Dearborn, Grand Rapids, Minneapolis / St. Paul, Cincinnati, Indiana, and other Midwest areas are already committed to attend.

In addition, NY is organizing a solidarity action on November 28th, Harvard Law School is discussing the case on November 11th, and others in Florida, Texas, and California are planning actions as well.

If you are NOT in the Midwest, we are calling on you to also organize support events for Rasmea on or around November 29th. Again, it is the most important hearing in the case, and it also falls on the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, so there may already be Palestine support forces near you that are organizing events we can join with Rasmea's story.

Let us know once it's scheduled, by emailing info@stopfbi.net.

And continue to support #Justice4Rasmea by donating to the defense, and staying in touch through justice4rasmea.org and justice4rasmea@uspcn.org.

Background:

On Tuesday, November 29th, 2016, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Rasmea Odeh will once again be in a Detroit courtroom—this time for the most important hearing in