Jess Sundin, of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression, condemned the verdict, stating, “Everyone who cares about justice should be angry about what is happening here in Detroit. We need to continue our support for Rasmea. We will continue to stand with her.”

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Rasmea’s supporters packed the courtroom in anticipation of her taking the stand, but the day began first with the continued testimony and cross examination of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Agent Douglas Scott Pierce. Under cross by defense attorney Jim Fennerty, Pierce revealed that in a previous case, he had testified that the questions on the naturalization forms can be “confusing,” especially for those who do not have fluency in the English language, and also acknowledged that older forms previously asked specifically about crimes, arrests, imprisonment, etc., “inside or outside the United States.”

This helped set the stage for Rasmea’s argument that she had always believed that the questions she is accused of answering falsely were asking about her time in the U.S., not Palestine. After additional testimony from Jennifer Williams, the immigration officer who actually interviewed Rasmea back in 2004, and from a fingerprint expert, the prosecution rested its case.

Lead defense attorney Michael Deutsch then called University of Illinois-Chicago (UIC) professor Nadine Naber as his first witness. Naber, who is a leading scholar on Arab women and women of color in general, first met Rasmea back in 2006, and testified to their work together, describing how Rasmea’s organizing has changed the lives of hundreds of Arab immigrant women by creating a space for them to face the collective challenges they experience. Her testimony spoke to the character of Rasmea as a truthful person and mentor for her community.

Before Rasmea was called as the next witness, Judge Drain excused the jury to advise her and Deutsch on his previous rulings, reinforcing his restrictions on her testimony. He told them that she would not be able to speak about Israeli torture, stating that he did not want to “retry the case” of 1969. Rasmea responded firmly, “It’s my life, I have a right to talk about the things that happened to me!” Judge Drain refused to accede, restating that testimony referring to torture or her forced confession was inadmissible, and that if she violated his orders there would be consequences.

Nonetheless, Rasmea delivered heartfelt testimony that left the entire courtroom, as well as the overflow courtroom where dozens more were seated, in tears. She recounted her life story, one filled with tragedy and resilience, beginning with the Nakba, the “Catastrophe,” what Palestinians call the founding of the state of Israel in 1948, when 750,000 Palestinians were

driven out of their homes. Rasmea and her family also lost their land and home in 1948, and were forced to live as refugees in a tent before making their way to Ramallah, where they lived at the time of the 1967 Israeli war and occupation of the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza.

Then Rasmea told the jury about the Israeli raid on her home in 1969, when she was arrested along with her father and sisters. More than 500 Palestinians were swept up in mass arrests by Israel at the same time, and she broke down in tears when she recalled how the events of that night traumatized her sister to the point of an early death.

Although Rasmea was barred from testifying about the torture, she did tell the court that she spent 45 days in an interrogation center. Prosecutor Jonathan Tukel objected, and Judge Drain sustained the objection, reprimanding her. Deutsch then asked her if she was convicted, and Rasmea answered, “They convicted me falsely.” Again, the government objected and again the judge sustained the objection.

Later, Deutsch asked, “Did you try to escape?” in reference to one of Israel’s charges that the government has highlighted in this case. Rasmea answered boldly, “Of course, any political prisoner [would] try to escape!” While supporters in the overflow courtroom applauded this answer, the main courtroom heard another objection from Tukel. The judge sided with the government once more, and struck the political prisoner reference from the record.

The testimony continued with Rasmea describing her immigration to the United States, where she moved to care for her ailing father. When asked about the 1994 application for permanent residency filed in Jordan, she explained that all the answers on that form came from her brother. From the U.S., he had sent her a sample form, and she was to copy what he had written on the sample. “I couldn’t read [English], and I trust my brother. I didn’t read anything, I just copied [what] my brother said.”

When Deutsch asked about her responses on the 2004 application for naturalization, and why she had responded “NO” to questions about whether she had been arrested, convicted or imprisoned, she explained that these questions followed directly three previous ones that asked explicitly about the U.S. “When I continued, my understanding was [that these questions

were also] about the U.S., so I continued to say no.”

Deutsch later asked what she would have done if she had understood that the questions were intended to address imprisonment outside the U.S. as well. She answered, “If I knew it was about Israel, I would have said... It’s not a secret that I’ve been in jail. Even the embassy knows.” The U.S. embassy in Israel had become involved in the initial arrests because her father was a U.S. citizen at the time.

Rasmea will continue her testimony tomorrow, and after cross-examination by the government, both sides will make their closing arguments. The jury is not expected to begin deliberation until Monday, which is the earliest a verdict is expected.

Some 70 supporters were in the courtrooms today. Inspired by Rasmea’s incredible testimony, many are rearranging their plans to stay for Friday, and into Monday. Organizers in Detroit are scrambling to ensure housing and transportation for those who are extending their stay, and to prepare for the additional people arriving each day to join the fight for justice for Rasmea.

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Detroit, MI – Rasmea Odeh’s supporters were in high anticipation as they waited on line for Judge Drain’s court room to open this morning, Nov. 6. Everyone expected the high point of the trial to be when Rasmea Odeh took the stand to testify in her own defense.

Michael Deutsch, her lead attorney, began by asking her about herself. She told the story of the loss of her family home in Lifta, Palestine, when the Israeli army carried out the massacres known as al Nakba (The Catastrophe). These massacres of tens of thousands caused 700,000 Palestinians to flee their homes. Odeh has spent her life since 1948 as a refugee.

In 1967, her family had survived and she had grown into a young woman, starting college. Then Israel invaded the West Bank, and her family’s life in Ramallah was again turned upside down. Tanks rumbled through the streets of her town. Her sister was paralyzed and eventually died of the shock of the invasion.

In 1969, the Israeli occupation army arrested 500 people in one night after a bomb explosion in Jerusalem. Odeh was one of the victims of that indiscriminate round-up, but the military singled her out for horrible treatment: brutal torture and rape in order to force her to sign a false confession. Judge Drain censored her remarks any time she came close to talking about the treatment she suffered. When she said, “They convicted me falsely,” prosecutor Jonathan Tukel objected and wanted the sentence struck. The judge displayed a phony impartiality when he told Tukel he would let the sentence remain in the record, except for the word “falsely.”

In the overflow room, her supporters were brought to cheers when Deutsch asked her if she tried to escape. Odeh responded, “Yes, any political prisoner tries to escape.” The federal security in the room threatened to have all her supporters removed from the building if that happened again.

Prosecution case suffers blow

Deutsch brought the story up to date, questioning Odeh about her emigration to the U.S. The prosecution has focused on answers she gave in her immigration documents to questions about having been charged, tried and imprisoned. On Wednesday and again today, Nov. 6, the government had presented witnesses from the State Department and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. They claimed she lied on her initial application for a visa.

Odeh delivered a blow to that allegation when she revealed that her brother in the U.S. had written the answers out for her to copy for that form, and had filled out some of the form himself. She said, “My English was terrible. I couldn’t read any of it. I copied from the form filled out by my brother.” Soon afterwards, Judge Drain called a recess, and said the questioning would continue in the morning.

When her supporters gathered across the street from the courthouse, their spirits were high. They departed, preparing for Friday, Nov. 7 when Odeh will complete her testimony and then face the cross examination by the prosecution. The tension will be even higher Nov. 7, when this political trial, masquerading as a criminal trial, continues.

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Detroit, MI – Judge Gershwin Drain oversaw jury selection today in the case of Rasmea Odeh. Odeh is on trial in Detroit for failing to disclose in her application for citizenship that she was tortured by the Israeli military in 1969 until she confessed to a crime she didn’t commit. Over 90 people filled the overflow room set up for her supporters to watch on close circuit television.

In a series of decisions in recent weeks, Judge Drain created a situation where Odeh is unable to get a fair trial. He refused to allow evidence of her torture to be presented to the jury, but at the same time, agreed that the jury would be told that she is ‘guilty’ of that crime.

During the questioning of potential jurors, Drain repeatedly declared to them, “The evidence will show she was convicted of a bombing 45 years ago.” And further, “Would it affect you if you knew that two people died and there were multiple people injured?” After each time he repeated this, prospective jurors would declare that their minds were made up by this information. Drain had convinced them that Rasmea was a criminal. For almost an hour, more had to be brought from the pool, only to be released again when they fell for his description.

Finally, a kitchen worker in the jury pool confronted the judge after hearing multiple times about the supposed crime committed 45 years ago. He said, “I’m confused about why you keep mentioning the conviction from back then?” The judge reiterated his point, and the man replied, “What exactly is she being charged with? Why do you keep bringing this up?”

Drain also clumsily asked those in the jury box, “Do you have any biases against Palestinians or Muslims?” “Everyone has the capacity to lie? Do you find Palestinians or Muslims to be more likely to lie?”

George Khoury, a veteran activist from the Detroit area, commented, “Not once did he ask if they had a bias against Israelis. It was their military court that convicted her. It was them who tortured her.”

When a Muslim woman in the jury seats raised her hand and asked, “What if I have a bias in favor of Muslims?,” the crowd in the overflow room burst into laughter and then applause in response.

Jess Sundin of the Committee to Stop FBI Repression said, “Rasmea is being railroaded in this trial. You have to call if a railroad when a judge agrees with prosecutors to uphold the decision of an Israeli military court, which violates international law; a judge who accepts a conviction based on a confession extracted through torture; and also refuses to allow any evidence of the torture she endured.”

The Rasmea Defense Committee led a march of supporters through downtown Detroit after court recessed. In a cold rain, there were determined faces all around. Frank Chapman of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression urged people on. “We can’t trust in politicians or judges. Organized mass struggle is the only way justice is won.”

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