On March 12, Rasmea Odeh, the Palestinian community organizer who was convicted of unlawful procurement of naturalization, was sentenced to 18 months, had her U.S. citizenship revoked, and now faces deportation. Judge Drain of the U.S. District Court in Detroit, Mich., had to take into consideration the outpouring of supporters who filled the courtroom to capacity and a large number of letters of support from individuals and organizations from across the United States.
Most importantly, Rasmea will not be imprisoned while she appeals the conviction. Rasmea is now 67 years old and suffers from PTSD from her physical and sexual abuse at the hands of the settler-state Israeli occupying army while she was imprisoned.
The prosecution was calling for 5-7 years in federal prison with terrorism enhancements. But despite the ongoing efforts of the U.S. to persecute Rasmea, the judge had to take into account the abundance of those who called for leniency in sentencing.
Organizations and activists from across the country have committed to stand with Rasmea throughout the appeal process to ensure she does not spend one day in prison.
The real act of terrorism is the prosecution of Rasmea. She has worked tirelessly on behalf of refugees and women in the Chicago area since she came to the U.S. after being released in a 1980 prisoner exchange from a 1970 conviction by an Israeli military court when she and her family were arrested along with hundreds of others in a refugee camp in Ramallah.
To counter the growing support that is being garnered worldwide of the plight of the Palestinian people who have lived under Israeli occupation since 1948, the judge during her November 2014 trial barred any mention of her torture at the hands of the Israeli occupying forces, tainting the jurors by concealing a central issue related to Rasmea’s immigration application.
Overturn Rasmea’s conviction! Support her appeal!
