LAST SUMMER
ABDALLAH ABU RAHMAH
WAS STANDING SHOULDER TO SHOULDER WITH PEACE NOBEL LAUREATES AND HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVISTS.
Placing
a stone on the grave of a Bil'in resident shot dead by the Israeli
military during a protest. From right to left: Abdallah Abu Rahmah,
labor and women's rights leader Ela Bhatt, anti-Apartheid and Nobel
Laureate Desmond Tutu, Nobel Laureate and former US President Jimmy
Carter, and former Norwegian Primer Minister Gro Brundtland.
NOW HE SITS ALONE IN AN ISRAELI JAIL.TELL U.S. PRESIDENT OBAMA
TO SPEAK UP:
ISRAEL MUST FREE
ABDALLAH ABU RAHMAH |
(January 13, 2010 update) Mohammad Othman and Jamal Jumah, two Palestinian prisoners of conscience arrested for their human rights activism have been released within the last 24 hours -- and you had a hand in making this possible. Let's keep the pressure up and demand Abdallah Abu Rahmah's release!
(December 24, 2009 update) Archbishop Desmond Tutu has issued a statement calling for the release of Abdallah Abu Rahmah: "[Israel] must realize that they cannot break the spirit of those who fight for freedom and justice."
(December 11, 2009). Today the people of Bil'in are protesting in solidarity with Abdallah Abu Rahmah. Here's how you can stand in solidarity with them: Please contact President Obama and ask for Abdallah Abu Rahmah's release.
On Thursday at 2 AM, the Israeli military surrounded the Ramallah
home of Abdallah Abu Rahmah, a high school teacher and the Coordinator
of Bil'in's Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, and
arrested him. Abu Rahmah is among the leaders of the West Bank village
of Bil'in's nearly five-year nonviolent struggle of protests, lawsuits
and boycotts (1) aiming to save the village's land from Israel's wall
and expanding settlements. Abdallah Abu Rahmah joins Mohammed Othman
(2) from the village of Jayyous, Adeeb Abu Rahmah (3) from Bil'in and
many other Palestinians who are currently jailed by Israel for working
for justice.
At the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo, which came hours after Abu Rahmah's arrest, President Obama said, "there
are the men and women around the world who have been jailed and beaten
in the pursuit of justice... the unrecognized millions whose quiet acts
of courage and compassion inspire even the most hardened of cynics. I
cannot argue with those who find these men and women - some known, some
obscure to all but those they help - to be far more deserving of this
honor than I." (4) Abdallah Abu Rahmah is one of those people.
Tell President Obama about Abdallah Abu Rahmah and ask for his release.
In President Obama's June speech in Cairo, he called on Palestinians
to resist nonviolently, though Bil'in's long and creative struggle has
inspired tens of thousands of Palestinians, Israelis and people
worldwide.
President
Obama spoke in Cairo and in Oslo in front of the whole world. Whether
you are American are not, contact U.S. President Obama and ask him to
keep his promise.
Another Nobel Peace Prize winner, South African Archbishop Desmond
Tutu, explained during an August visit by the Elders to Bil'in (see
picture), "Just
as a simple man named Gandhi led the successful non-violent struggle in
India and simple people such as Rosa Parks and Nelson Mandela led the
struggle for civil rights in the United States, simple people here in
Bil'in are leading a non-violent struggle that will bring them their
freedom. The South Africa experience proves that injustice can be
dismantled." (5)
Ask U.S. President Obama to stand by Archbishop Desmond Tutu and by Abdallah Abu Rahmah.
Abdullah Abu Rahmah's arrest is part of an intensifying Israeli
campaign to crush the growing Palestinian nonviolent movement of
grassroots protests and boycotts against the Israeli occupation.
Mohammad Othman (6) from the West Bank village of Jayyous has been held
without charges since September 22nd. Othman is one organizer of
Jayyous' long campaign to save its land from Israel's wall and
settlements, and an advocate of the global boycott campaign against
Israel, modeled on South Africa's successful anti-apartheid struggle.
Since June 23, 2009, 31 Bil'in residents have been detained by the
military. A leading Bil'in activist, Adeeb Abu Rahmah has been detained
for over five months for organizing grassroots demonstrations. Another
Bil'in protest leader, Mohammed Khatib (7), was released on bail after
an Israeli judge found that some of the evidence against him was
falsified. The prisoners from Bil'in and Jayyous are just some of the
nearly 11,000 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
In September, 2007, Israel's Supreme Court ruled that the government
had to move the wall in Bil'in to allow access to more of the village's
land (8). More than two years later, the Israeli government has yet to
move the wall. Lev Leviev, the owner of one of the companies that has
built settlements on Bil'in's land, has been the subject of an
international boycott campaign due to settlement construction (9).
Another Leviev company is building the Zufim settlement on Jayyous'
land.
Israel's efforts to crush all forms of Palestinian resistance and
Israel's continued settlement construction stand as a direct challenge
to the US and to the entire international community.
Write
to President Obama to tell them to demand that Israel free Abdallah Abu
Rahmah, Mohammad Othman, Adeeb Abu Rahmah and all Palestinian political
prisoners.
Thanks,
Sydney Levy
Jewish Voice for Peace
(1) http://www.bilin-village.org/english/
(2) http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_1237.shtml and
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/12/04/israel-end-arbitrary-detention-rights-activist
(3) http://www.bilin-village.org/english/articles/testimonies/Bilin-Demonstrates-in-solidarity-with-jailed-activist
(4) http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/11/world/europe/11prexy.text.html?_r=2
(5) http://www.bilin-ffj.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=178&Itemid=1
(6) http://freemohammadothman.wordpress.com/
(7) http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090928/khatib
(8) http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/world/middleeast/05mideast.html?
(9) http://adalahny.org/index.php/recent-successes
