[Pnews] Breakthrough in Rasmea case. Turn up the heat! Call-in day Monday, Aug. 18

Prisoner News ppnews at freedomarchives.org
Fri Aug 15 13:23:23 EDT 2014


We got Judge Borman to step down 
<http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage2.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=b25bb8dd9b&e=daddc6d2c9>. 
Now we have to *keep up the pressure!* *Call-in Day, Monday, Aug. 18*. 
It's time to DROP the CHARGES against Rasmea Odeh.

Committee to Stop FBI Repression (stopfbi.net) 
<http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=951a9ae62e&e=daddc6d2c9>

  * 1. Monday, Aug. 18: Call the prosecutors and tell them, “Drop the
    charges now!” <#147d6d1edcebb9cd_mctoc1>
  * 2. Important Update! Judge Borman forced to step down in Rasmea Odeh
    trial! <#147d6d1edcebb9cd_mctoc2>
  * 3. Come to Detroit on Sept. 2, Rasmea Odeh Status Hearing
    <#147d6d1edcebb9cd_mctoc3>
  * 4. Organize a protest in your city or on your campus Sept. 2
    <#147d6d1edcebb9cd_mctoc4>


    1. Monday, Aug. 18: Call the prosecutors and tell them, “Drop the
    charges now!”


        Call Jonathan Tukel in Detroit at 313-226-9749 <tel:313-226-9749>

Chief of National Security Unit, U.S. Attorney’s office, Eastern 
District of Michigan


        Call Barbara McQuade at 313-226-9100 <tel:313-226-9100> or
        313-226-9501 <tel:313-226-9501> (voicemail)

U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan

When you call say, “Hello, my name is ________, and I am calling from 
_________ to demand that U.S. Attorney McQuade drop the charges against 
Rasmea Odeh." (first name pronounced Russ-MEE-yuh)


        Make the calls!
        Monday, August 18, from 9 am to 5 pm Eastern Time


    2. Important Update! Judge Borman forced to step down in Rasmea Odeh
    trial!


Detroit, MI - Judge Paul D. Borman was forced to step down from the 
bench 
<http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=254ef3f4ad&e=daddc6d2c9> 
on in the case of Palestinian community leader Rasmea Odeh on August 11. 
On July 31, when 120 activists attended Rasmea Odeh’s pretrial hearing 
Detroit, they witnessed Judge Borman denying a defense motion calling 
for recusal, for him to step down from the case.

In an unexpected turn of events this past week, Borman admitted his 
financial ties to Israel, “could be perceived as establishing a 
reasonably objective inference of a lack of impartiality in the context 
of the issues presented in this case.” Defense claims of pro-Israel bias 
are vindicated, and Borman has removed himself. The case is now randomly 
re-assigned to U.S. District Judge Gershwin A. Drain.

The U.S. government is putting Rasmea Odeh, a torture victim, on trial 
in Detroit. Odeh, who organizes Arab American women to empower 
themselves and speak out, was arrested, tortured, raped, and convicted 
by the Israeli military in 1969. She has lived in the U.S. for 20 years 
and won her citizenship ten years ago. Now, however, the U.S. government 
is putting her on trial for fraud, for not writing about the Israeli 
military conviction on her paper work.

When Borman refused the motion to step down on July 31, he dismissed 
defense arguments about his decades of trips to and fundraising for 
Israel, claiming his “religious convictions” did not bring his 
impartiality into question.

According to supporters, Borman was falsely covering Zionist ideology 
with Judaism. “We opposed Judge Borman not because of his Jewish faith, 
but because of his decades of support for the state of Israel,” said 
Hatem Abudayyeh, a spokesperson for Odeh’s defense committee. “Rasmea 
overcame vicious torture by Israeli authorities while imprisoned in 
Palestine in the 1970s. She has committed no crime and the government 
has no case. We need a judge willing to listen to a defense that puts 
Israel on trial for its crimes against Rasmea, and against all 
Palestinians.”

Supporters of Odeh hail this as a victory for the defense, but are 
redoubling efforts to win justice for Rasmea. People are being asked to 
sign the Rasmea Odeh petition at www.StopFBI.net 
<http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=222c299b1d&e=daddc6d2c9>.

Abudayyeh continued, “This case is a political attack on the Palestine 
liberation movement and that means we need a political defense as much 
as a legal defense. Thousands of people from across the country are 
fighting for Rasmea, demanding that the government drop the charges 
against her. If they do not drop the charges, we are still going all out 
for Detroit, to fill the courtroom every day of the trial.”

A status hearing in front of Judge Drain is still planned for Tuesday, 
Sept. 2, in Detroit, and the Rasmea Defense Committee is calling for 
supporters to pack the courthouse and to call the prosecutors to demand 
that they drop the charges on that day. The date of the actual trial is 
being rescheduled.

The national *Rasmea Defense Committee* includes United States 
Palestinian Community Network 
<http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=e55b7e2c16&e=daddc6d2c9>, 
Committee to Stop FBI Repression 
<http://stopfbi.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8b7315d854bc40ca9fa6dd227&id=0f2e5b4e1c&e=daddc6d2c9> 
(CSFR), Coalition to Protect People’s Rights (CPPR), 8th Day Center for 
Justice, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)-Chicago, 
American Muslims for Palestine, Anti-War Committee (AWC)-Chicago, 
AWC-Minneapolis, Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace and Justice in the 
Middle East, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, Chicago Alliance 
Against Racist and Political Repression, Committee Against Political 
Repression, Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR)-Chicago, 
CAIR-Michigan, Friends of Sabeel-North America, International Jewish 
Anti-Zionist Network, International League of Peoples’ Struggle-U.S., 
Jewish Voice for Peace, Lifta Society, National Boricua Human Rights 
Network, National Lawyers Guild (NLG), National Students for Justice in 
Palestine, Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago, Palestine Solidarity 
Legal Support, Palestinian Youth Movement-USA Branch, St. Louis 
Palestine Solidarity Committee, United African Organization, United 
National Antiwar Coalition, US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, 
Voces de la Frontera, and Women Against Military Madness.



    3. Come to Detroit on Sept. 2, Rasmea Odeh Status Hearing


Join us, the National Rasmea Defense Committee as we travel with Rasmea 
Odeh to court in Detroit on September 2 for a status hearing with the 
new judge. We are asking you to join Rasmea Odeh’s supporters to rally 
and protest outside the court on Tuesday, September 2, the day after 
Labor Day. Palestine solidarity and civil liberty activists from 
Detroit, Chicago, Minneapolis, Milwaukee, Grand Rapids and other 
Michigan cities will join Rasmea Odeh and pack the courtroom. You can 
make a difference in stopping this ugly U.S. government targeting of a 
great woman and Palestinian leader. Join us in saying, “No more torture! 
Drop the charges now!”


    4. Organize a protest in your city or on your campus Sept. 2


In addition, for those who cannot go to Detroit, we are calling for 
support rallies to be organized across the country on the day of the 
hearing.




-- 
Freedom Archives 522 Valencia Street San Francisco, CA 94110 415 
863.9977 www.freedomarchives.org


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