Chicago, IL – On Monday, June 13, Rasmea Odeh will appear with her attorneys before Judge Gershwin Drain for a status conference at the federal courthouse in Detroit, Michigan. Supporters will travel to Detroit as well, as they have done for all the previous court dates, to urge for a new trial for this Palestinian American icon who was convicted of a politically-motivated immigration charge in 2014, and sentenced to 18 months in prison and deportation last year.
Houston, TX – Over 25 people gathered at the University of Houston, March 30, to attend a talk on the Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh. Odeh is a 68 year old Palestinian American leader who was brutally tortured by the Israeli government in 1969, and is being targeted by the U.S. government for her political activism. She is a respected and influential activist in the Palestinian liberation movement and the government is using a bogus charge of immigration fraud in an attempt to silence her. Since she was arrested in 2013, activists all over the country have organized for justice for Rasmea Odeh.
Denver, CO – On March 24, Cindy Paola Pérez, a member of the central committee of the Young Communists of Colombia (popularly know as la Juco) was summarily deported from the Mexico City airport. Perez was invited to Mexico to attend the IV Congress of the Young Communists of Mexico as a delegate. The Mexican immigration authorities deported Perez, giving the Colombian activist no explanation other than the fact that she knew Colombian political prisoner Miguel Angel Beltran.
Houston, TX – Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) are organizing events in solidarity with Rasmea Odeh this week at University of Houston. Rasmea Odeh is a 68-year-old Palestinian American woman, tortured and imprisoned by the Israeli military occupation in 1969. For the past 20 years, she lived in Chicago, serving the Arab American and American Muslim community. She is beloved by many and won multiple awards for her work with women and children. The U.S. government is targeting Odeh for political reasons. She is being charged with minor immigration paper work offences, but the trumped-up case involves the judge and prosecutor talking on and on about terrorism.
Chicago, IL – This morning, Feb. 25, a ruling from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals represents a partial victory in the case of Rasmea Odeh, the legendary Palestinian American icon who was convicted of a politically motivated immigration charge in 2014, and sentenced to 18 months in prison and deportation last year.
Minneapolis, MN – Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) is organizing events celebrating International Women’s Day in cities across the U.S. The events will take place on or around March 8.
Tampa, FL – Tampa anti-war activist Jessica Schwartz says a family member handed her an FBI agent’s card. The card was stuck in the front door of the family home and belonged to FBI Special Agent A. Brett Fears.
Chicago, IL – The Chicago Teachers Union invited Rev. Osagyefo Sekou as their guest of honor and keynote speaker for a Martin Luther King, Jr. breakfast on Friday, Jan. 15. Reverend Sekou became well known across the country when he travelled to Ferguson during the rebellion in August 2014, after the murder of Mike Brown. He defended the movement, and especially the youth, in their opposition to the militarized police repression.
Chicago, IL – Palestinian icon Rasmea Odeh; Black youth leaders Veronica Morris-Moore and LaCreshia Birts; Black Liberation Movement veteran Frank Chapman and Eric Koene, a striking worker from the Kohler plant in Wisconsin, appeared together on the stage of the 24th Annual People’s Thanksgiving.
_Demands freedom for Colombian revolutionary Simon Trinidad _
Columbus, GA – Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and anti-war activists from college campuses in Tampa, Gainesville and Tallahassee, Florida traveled to Columbus to protest the School of the Americas (SOA) on Nov. 20.
Los Angeles, CA – During rush hour, Oct. 13, two dozen people gathered in front of the Los Angeles federal building to demand justice for Rasmea Odeh. Odeh appeared before an appeals court in Cincinnati, Ohio on the morning of Oct. 14. People traveled from across the country to support her.
Tampa. FL – Around 20 activists gathered in front of the Sam M. Gibbons Federal courthouse, Oct. 15 carrying a Palestinian flag and holding signs reading, “Justice for Rasmea.”
Fight Back News Service is circulating the following resolution adopted by Students for a Democratic Society (SDS), Oct. 11, at their national convention.
Cincinnati, OH – Supporters of Rasmea Odeh could be heard chanting from blocks away in downtown Cincinnati, Oct. 14. Bus riders on their way to morning shifts crossed the street to take leaflets, while curious business people were drawn to watch the protesters chant, “Justice for Rasmea! Justice for Rasmea!” and “DOJ, let’s be clear, Rasmea is welcome here!”
_Hundreds of her supporters to fill courtroom and stand vigil outside _
Cincinnati, OH – On Wednesday, October 14, 2015, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit, three appellate judges will hear oral arguments in the case of Rasmea Odeh, the prominent Palestinian-American activist from Chicago who was convicted last November in what supporters called a “travesty of justice.” Odeh was found guilty of a single count of Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization, and in March of this year, sentenced to 18 months in prison and deportation from the U.S. Organizers with the Rasmea Defense Committee are mobilizing supporters from Chicago, across the Midwest, and as far away as Florida and Georgia—to pack the appellate courtroom and stand vigil outside. Odeh’s colleagues, friends, family, and supporters made numerous and similar trips to Detroit for pre-trial hearings, the trial, and the sentencing since her arrest in 2013.
Salt Lake City, UT – Members of the Utah Anti-War Committee will gather outside Salt Lake City's downtown courthouse on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at 7:00 p.m. to demand justice for Palestinian American leader Rasmea Odeh.
