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From: katrap@mindspring.com<br>
Reply-To: katrap@mindspring.com<br>
Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2004 00:45:09 +0200 (GMT+02:00)<br><br>
Your support still urgently needed<br><br>
Dear everyone:<br><br>
Update about my case follows, but I promise you will break out in a
painful<br>
rash if you do not read the main message first. And act on
it.<br><br>
My friend Ayad Morar was arrested in his home in Budrus at 2:00 a.m.
last<br>
night. He and his brother Naim were both dragged out of bed by six
jeeps of<br>
soldiers. When an Israeli activist called the DCO this morning, he
was told<br>
they were arrested because they "belong to an anti-Israeli
organization."<br>
Yet Ayad is someone who has had Israelis sleeping in his home, and said
to<br>
them in my presence, "This is not my house. It is your
house." I have to<br>
say that I was waiting for this to happen, because the Israeli army
has<br>
openly stated that they will do everything in their power to crush
the<br>
resistance in the village.<br><br>
This is the second recent arrest for Naim, who was held without charge
for<br>
ten days until midnight January 11. Now he is again in
administrative<br>
detention.<br><br>
Their brother Abdelnasser is already in jail, having been held now for
over<br>
two weeks, along with three others from their village, in Ofer
military<br>
prison.<br><br>
All three brothers are leading activists and organizers of the
nonviolent<br>
resistance to the Apartheid Wall.<br><br>
While I was in jail I wrote in my journal, "Ayad is an organizer
of<br>
spectacular talent." He has brought together all the factions
not only in<br>
his village, but in a nine-village region, to support one another
in<br>
nonviolent resistance. He has made it a priority to curb
stone-throwing and<br>
to teach kids to distinguish between Israeli people and the Israeli<br>
government. Even before my arrest, he made me feel that I am an
adopted<br>
sister of their family. (Unfortunately, now I am a sister in exile,
as<br>
Budrus is one place I cannot go right now, for fear of being rearrested
and<br>
deported.)<br><br>
My friend Dorothy Naor wrote to her list:<br><br>
"The only kinds of Palestinian protestors that the present
government favors<br>
are violent ones--suicide bombers and the like. They serve the
purpose of<br>
the government, which can then shout “Terrorism,” misleading the
world<br>
to believe that all Palestinians are terrorists.<br><br>
"Non-violent protest, by contrast, is a threat to the Israeli
government,<br>
because it reveals that by no means are all Palestinians or even
the<br>
majority of Palestinians violent. Yet, Palestinians have a
responsibility<br>
to non-violently demand that they have rights, that they must not be
trodden<br>
upon like mud, that the world recognize their plight.<br><br>
"THE LIVES OF THE MEN JAILED ARE AT STAKE. Prisoners can be
held on<br>
Administrative Detention--i.e., can be held for 6 months without
being<br>
charged and without trial, and the prison sentence can then be rolled on
for<br>
years and years, as has occurred with many Palestinians held on<br>
Administrative Detention. "<br><br>
I can tell you from personal experience that when you are in prison
having<br>
outside people calling and writing to get you out means everything to
you.<br>
For Palestinians it also can mean the difference between being
severely<br>
beaten and being only slightly abused. Clearly, the Israeli
government<br>
wants to send a harsh message to the villages, and I really believe
that<br>
Ayad's life could be in danger, if we do not act quickly. PLEASE
take a<br>
minute to call or fax to demand their release.<br><br>
The seven men held in Ofer are:<br>
<br>
Ayad Ahmad Hussein Morar<br>
Na'eem Ahmad Hussein Morar Morar<br>
Abdelnasser Ahmad Hussein Morar<br>
Abdelrahim Omar Mustafa Awad<br>
Abdelrahman Omar Mustafa Awad<br>
Hamzi Omar Mustafa Awad<br>
Mustafa Sami Mustafa Awad<br>
<br>
In addition three others were arrested over a month ago, and are held
in<br>
Ketziot (in the Negev).<br><br>
Defend the right of Palestinians to protest in defense of their
land.<br>
YOUR CALLS REALLY DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Call or fax today to demand
their<br>
release:<br>
<br>
Ofer: (972) (0)2-588-4204 or 588-4348; fax 588-4379<br>
Ketziot: (972) (0)8-650-6715<br>
<br>
For more info on the situation in Budrus:<br>
<a href="http://www.womenspeacepalestine.org/budrus.htm" eudora="autourl">http://www.womenspeacepalestine.org/budrus.htm</a><br><br>
My situation is also questionable, although not dangerous like Ayad's
and<br>
Naim's.<br><br>
Yesterday, I went to the Ministry of Interior to apply for a residency
visa,<br>
saying that I intend to make Aliyah (i.e., become an Israeli
citizen).<br>
Though I arrived before 7:30 a.m. (they open at 8:00), they were already
out<br>
of numbers for that day, so I got an appointment for next Tuesday.
Today,<br>
Gaby called the State's Attorney and asked for me to be able to stay
at<br>
least until Tuesday, to make my appointment (under the terms of my
bail<br>
agreement, I am required to leave on Saturday, January 17). He
would not<br>
agree. He said that I should have gone to the Ministry earlier, and
that I<br>
was acting in bad faith. We pointed out that the date for my
departure was<br>
set based on my getting out of jail on Tuesday and I was not released
until<br>
Thursday night because of their delays, not ours. And since I could
not do<br>
anything Friday or Saturday, it is not unreasonable that I couldn't get
to<br>
the Ministry until Wednesday, and I did not know that I wouldn't be able
to<br>
be seen that day. She said that we would go to court, and he said
that if<br>
we did, he would ask the court for "damages," essentially, to
fine me for<br>
asking to break the agreement. Although I have trouble believing
that I<br>
could be fined for _asking_ to break the agreement, she fears that the
court<br>
might do that. However, I told her to go ahead and ask the
court. She<br>
should get an answer from the court tomorrow morning.<br><br>
If the court says I must in fact leave on Saturday, then I will go to
Jordan<br>
and try to cross back on Sunday. So right now I am trying to do
everything<br>
I need to do if I am not going to be able to come back, since I think it
is<br>
likely that if I leave, I will not get back in before February 8 when I
fly<br>
to London.<br><br>
If I have to leave and am refused at the border, I will be wanting people
to<br>
do what they can to protest this. So if you have a chance to check
your<br>
email over the weekend, please do.<br><br>
I REALLY cannot bear to leave while Ayad and the others are in prison,
so<br>
please do everything you can to help us get them out quickly (it's not
all<br>
on you, we are also trying to get them a lawyer).<br><br>
Thanks for all your emails of support. Sorry if I haven't answered,
but I<br>
really do love hearing from you.<br><br>
STOP THE WALL! FREE AYAD! FREE PALESTINE!<br><br>
Love,<br><br>
Kate<br><br>
<br><br>
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