Palestinian American targeted for discriminatory selective prosecution

Detroit, MI – The Committee to Stop FBI Repression and United States Palestinian Community Network will gather in Detroit to support Rasmea Odeh, a 65-year-old women's rights activist who faces 10 years in prison and deportation on trumped-up immigration charges.

Minneapolis, MN – The struggle against the unjust indictment against veteran Palestinian American activist Rasmea Odeh is rapidly growing. Odeh, a respected leader in Chicago’s Arab and Muslim community, will have an arraignment hearing on a trumped-up immigration charge in Detroit on Nov. 13. She faces up to ten years in prison and deportation. A rally in support of Odeh will take place in front of the Detroit U.S. District Court building (231 W Lafayette Boulevard) at noon on Nov. 13. Mobilizations to attend the rally and hearing are underway in Chicago and Michigan.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from Students for a Democratic Society.

Los Angeles, CA – Rasmea Odeh is a Palestinian American activist who is a target of repression. She was arrested on Oct. 22 by U.S. Homeland Security.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following call from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression. We urge all our readers to support this effort. U.S. Attorney sets arraignment date for Rasmea Odeh, Nov. 13 Demand: Drop the charges on Rasmea Odeh now! Local protests across the country at Federal Buildings. Join us in Detroit

Chicago, IL – A massive online petition effort demanding that the government drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh was launched Nov. 2. Odeh, a longtime Palestinian community leader war arrested by Homeland Security on Oct. 22.

U.S. attorney office cites ‘ongoing investigation’

St. Paul, MN – Two prominent anti-war and international solidarity activists, Jess Sundin and Mick Kelly, were in federal court here, Nov. 1, in a bid to pull back the curtain of government secrecy that surrounds the FBI raids on their homes on Sept. 24, 2010. In the hearing presided over by Judge Steven E. Rau, Bruce Nestor, attorney for the plaintiffs, made a passionate argument for a motion to unseal the affidavits used to obtain the search warrants for the FBI raids.

St. Paul, MN – Two Minneapolis anti-war and international solidarity activists will be in federal court, Nov. 1, to demand an end to the government secrecy surrounding their case. Jess Sundin and Mick Kelly are two of the 23 Midwest activists targeted by an investigation that included two years of spying by undercover agents, Sept. 2010 raids of homes and offices in Minneapolis and Chicago by the FBI, and a secret Chicago grand jury.

Jacksonville, FL – Protesters from across Florida gathered in front of the Duval County Courthouse on October 31 for the first status hearing in the retrial of Marissa Alexander, the 33 year old African American mother who fired a warning shot to fend off her abusive husband.

Chicago, IL – About 50 people protested here, Oct. 24, to oppose Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people and also to call for the U.S. government to drop charges against local Palestinian activist, Rasmea Odeh. The demonstration took place outside the Chicago Hilton where a fundraising event for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) was held.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following statement from the International League of Peoples’ Struggles-U.S.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following Oct. 23 statement from the Arab American Action Network. We urge all our readers to participate in the national call in day.

Fight Back News Service is circulating the following important statement from the Committee to Stop FBI Repression (CSFR). We urge all of our readers to share this statement as broadly as possible. Outrageous arrest in Chicago Stop the repression of Palestinian activists

Jacksonville, FL – On Sept. 26, a Florida appeals court ordered a new trial for Marissa Alexander, the African American mother given a 20-year prison sentence for firing a warning shot to fend off her abusive husband. The announcement comes after more than a year of protests across the country that raised the demand, “Free Marissa now!”

Minneapolis, MN – About 100 people joined a protest here, Sept. 24, at the Federal Building, to demand an end to the three year federal investigation of anti-war and international solidarity activists that began with FBI raids and grand jury subpoenas on Sept. 24, 2010.

Minneapolis, MN – The anti-war movement sees Chelsea Manning as a hero for exposing the truth of the brutality of U.S. warfare in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a result of her bravery in releasing classified documents that exposed U.S. war crimes to WikiLeaks, on Aug. 21 Manning was sentenced to military prison for 35 years.

Ft. Lauderdale, FL – 20 supporters of whistleblower Private First Class Bradley Manning gathered on the evening of Aug. 21 at the Federal Building in downtown here for an emergency protest. They demanded a presidential pardon for the 25-year old whistleblower.

Grand Rapids, MI – Tom Burke, a spokesperson for the Committee to Stop FBI Repression,condemned the 35-year sentence that was handed down against whistleblower Bradley Manning.

Minneapolis, MN – About 50 supporters of WikiLeaks whistleblower Bradley Manning joined an emergency rally at the Federal Building here, Aug. 21, in response to Military Judge Denise Lind’s sentencing him to 35 years in prison. The protest was called by Free Bradley Manning-Minneapolis and was one of the many held across the U.S. sponsored or coordinated by the Bradley Manning Support Network.

Barry Jonas prosecuting men for their efforts in 2008 and 2009

Chicago, IL – Federal charges were unsealed against two Chicago men, Aug. 6, for allegedly violating U.S. sanctions against Zimbabwe. The charges claim that Ben Israel and Greg Turner assisted Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe and others in an effort to lift the unjust economic sanctions. The government claims that Israel and Tuner were promised payment for their lobbying and consulting work in 2008 and 2009.