The Case of Amer Jubran. Action Alert: Palestinian Activist Arrested! (English & Español)

Editor's Comment: Amer Jubran was one of the most successful advocates of the Palestinian people in the United States until he was deported to Jordan in 2004. The U.S. Zionists were unable to withstand

the force of Amer's articulate defense of Palestine and his exposure of Israel's war crimes, so they used trumped up charges and the U.S. courts to silence him. He has now been arrested in Jordan and we are asking you as an Axis of Logic reader to learn more about him from Richard Hugus' report (below) and the websites references in this report and then to go on to the second half of this page to help us take action on his behalf.

Amer has been a personal friend of ours and we worked together in Boston for years against war, racism and injustice in Boston before he was forced to leave the country. He has been imprisoned solely because of his work for justice and peace in Palestine and he needs our help now. Please send the sample letter provided below, write your own using the talking points provided and call the telephone numbers listed to demand that Amer be released from prison immediately and without harm. The call to action is also provided in Español at the bottom of the page. Thank you for your help.

- Les Blough, Editor Axis of Logic

Amer Jubran with Jewish Rabbis protesting the celebration of the founding of Israel in Boston.

The Case of Amer Jubran By Richard Hugus May 11, 2014
Zionism is a system that chafes against the world. With its idea of a chosen people and its privileged control of states and institutions, where one whisper behind the scenes can outweigh the voice of millions, it offends us as an injustice. That injustice continues day in and day out for all the world to see in Palestine as occupation soldiers arrest even small children and shoot young demonstrators with impunity, as settlers burn olive trees and go on rampages of theft and harassment, and as settlers and soldiers together increase their attacks on the sacred buildings and grounds of the al-Aqsa mosque.

The idea that nothing is sacred seems to be at the front of zionist ideology. This may be the motive for the terror we associate with it. We are stupefied by the brazenness of the repeated attacks on Lebanon, the bombings of Gaza, the rocket assassinations of Palestinian leaders, bulldozer and tear gas rifle murders of solidarity activists, the massacre of humanitarian volunteers on the Mavi Marmara, home demolitions, the killing of Palestinians in their own streets and on their own farmland. Perhaps this is the point -- brazenness inspires fear, and fear inspires obedience. They seem to think that if you can sufficiently shock your enemy and the rest of the world, you have control. For people in the US, 9/11 would be the paradigm of this. Zionist planners Michael Ledeen and Philip Zelikow have defined covert US foreign policy by promoting the ideas of “creative chaos” and the power of “the searing event,” respectively, to establish the “new world order.”

But fear is not effective in the long run. We may immediately see through the act that tried to impose it, or, when we have had time to think, instead of being mystified, we are disgusted. As they say, the truth comes out; lies are hard to maintain. In the end perhaps this is because some things have remained sacred -- human dignity, the right to live, the right to have a place to live, the innocence of children, the beauty of nature -- and we remember that. Our feeling for these things is of a spiritual nature, and can’t ultimately be taken away by the aggressive and predatory weapons used by those who have power in the world.

Zionism chafes because each of the several million people it has expelled remember that they had a home in Palestine, and they know that to have that home back is their right. It is a constant irritant to the Arab people who have not yet been forced out, each of whom have a story to tell of wrongs committed against them during the nightmare of occupation. After 67 years of attack and dispossession, zionism has built up a long list of souls who have been wrongly treated and who have not forgotten.

This is the context in which one might understand the case of a Palestinian activist named Amer Jubran. The facts of Amer’s life are comprised of a number of wrongs attributable to zionism. His family was forced to leave the area of al-Khalil in Palestine before he was born. They went into exile in Jordan. Amer’s grandfather was shot by an Israeli soldier in Palestine and left to bleed to death in the middle of a road. His relatives who remained in Palestine live under occupation and undergo each day the harassment and mistreatment which we all know now are the Israelis’ method of making all the rest of the indigenous people leave. At college age Amer chose a second country of exile – the United States. He may not have known then but he soon learned that he had moved to a country which zionism had made its principal host (in the biological sense). He brought the cause of Palestine with him. In 2000 he was arrested for protesting an “Israel Day” celebration in a wealthy suburb of Boston. A long court struggle followed, and he was found not guilty. He was arrested again 2002 during the Ashcroft-inspired attack on all Arabs and Muslims in the US, which Ashcroft waged through immigration authorities. This arrest followed two days after a march for Palestinian rights in the streets of downtown Boston which Amer helped to organize, and which had wide support. But one person whispered, and the deed was done. Another long court struggle followed. In 2004, unable to stand up against the stacked deck which is the US judicial system, he was forced to leave the US and return to Jordan.

In Jordan Amer began working at his family’s business and started a family, but continued to raise the cause of Palestine. In 2006 he was beaten and arrested at a protest at the zionist embassy in Amman. In 2010 he gave a lecture at the American University in Beirut and was under noticeable surveillance both leaving and returning to Amman. Just a few days ago, May 5, 2014 he was arrested at his home in Amman by the Jordanian secret police, the Mukhabarat, and has since been held in an unknown location with no charges and no representation by a lawyer. No one is able to reach him. His most recent arrest is due to his being a supporter of the resistance to the zionist project in the entire region. Where Zionism is concerned, it is no different in Jordan than in the United States. Zionism is indeed a world movement. Politically motivated police and judicial harassment of critics of zionism can be found on every continent.

It is amazing that so many power structures in so many parts of the world have been so thoroughly invaded so that a relatively few people could steal the relatively small piece of land which is historic Palestine. But there it is. And there is the constant irritation which this theft has brought about in the world. The irritation will not go away until the injustice is addressed. It will chafe and spring up in odd places forever until the truth is able to come out. (Richard Hugus is a Palestine solidarity activist who worked with Amer Jubran from 2002-2003 in The New England Committee to Defend Palestine http://www.onepalestine.org/)

(Richard Hugus is a Palestine solidarity activist who worked with Amer Jubran from 20022003 in The New England Committee to Defend Palestine

Friend of Amer and fellow activist, Noah Cohen writes: Friends,

Thank you for making calls and sending faxes on Amer's behalf. We still have no further news on Amer's situation. Amer was arrested by the Mukhabarat at his home in Amman on May 5, 2014. He has not been charged. We don't know where he was taken. Because of Amer's reputation as a Palestinian activist, we believe the arrest was politically motivated.

If you'd like to be added to a mailing list for announcements about Amer Jubran's detention in Jordan, please add yourself to the list here:

Amer Jubran Defense

This list was started by friends and activists who want him to be freed immediately. This will be a low volume list (and hopefully only a temporary one).

Amer Jubran speaking in the U.S. on behalf of the Palestinian people before his deportation to Jordan.

Action Alert: Palestinian Activist Amer Jubran Arrested

Please forward widely

May 11, 2014 Amer Jubran Taken by Secret Police in the Middle of the Night We have just received notice that Amer Jubran was arrested by the secret intelligence agency of the Jordanian government, the Mukhabarat, in the middle of the night on Monday May 5th. He has not been allowed any contact with a lawyer and no one knows where he is being held. This arrest is the result of intelligence cooperation between Jordan, the United States, and Israel in their attempt to silence dissent and eliminate political support for resistance to the AmericanZionist project in the region.

Amer is a Palestinian political activist who opposed the warmaking policies of the United States and Israel during his 18 year residence in the United States. Shortly after September 2001, he was harassed by US authorities, detained, and finally pushed out of the country (see Amer Jubran Defense and One Palestine.) He returned to Jordan, his first country of exile, in 2004. This latest arrest is a continuation of the political repression Amer experienced in the United States. As longtime friends who knew Amer when he was in the US, we urge you to make phone calls and send faxes on Monday, May 12 to the Jordanian authorities (see details below). Amer has been held for interrogation for six days (as of today) and needs our support. Please write and call to demand his release. To help us keep up effective pressure, please also send us an email to let us know if you reached anyone and how they replied.

Jordanian Ministry of Interior

Fax number (from the United States): 01196265606908For a printable fax in English and Arabic, click here:http://bit.ly/1iE3Uo3

Jordanian Embassy in Washington DC

Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of JordanTelephone number: (202) 966 2664Fax number: (202) 966 3110

Talking points

Mr. Jubran is a wellknown Palestinian activist and voice of dissent.

Mr. Jubran was arrested and detained on May 5 and has not been charged with any crime.

He was not allowed to contact a lawyer and no one knows where he is being held.

Demand that his rights be respected and that he be released immediately.

Sample letter To whom it may concern: I am writing to express my outrage at the recent arrest of Amer Jubran. Mr. Jubran was detained by Jordanian authorities on May 5. He has not been charged with any crime or given access to a lawyer. Why is he still being held? Since Mr. Jubran is a well known Palestinian activist and voice of dissent, it's impossible to see his arrest as anything other than an attempt to silence him. Freedom of speech is an internationally recognized human right. Respect Mr. Jubran's basic rights and release him immediately. Sincerely,

URGENTE! DETIENEN A ACTIVISTA

PALESTINO AMER JUBRAN!

Favor de difundir la información lo más ampliamente posible 11 de mayo del 2014 La Policía Secreta se lleva a Amer Jubrán en la media noche Acabamos de enterarnos de que Amer Jubrán fué detenido por el Mukhabarat, la agencia secreta de inteligencia del gobierno jordano en la media noche del lunes 5 de mayo. No se le ha permitido consultar un abogado, y nadie ha sido informado de donde lo tienen detenido. Su arresto es el resultado de los esfuerzos colaborativos entre Jordania, Los Estados Unidos e "Israel," para silenciar toda discidencia y eliminar el apoyo político a la resistencia que se gesta en contra del proyecto américo/sionista en el Mediano Oriente.

Amer es un activista político palestino. Durante sus 18 años de residencia en los Estados Unidos, expresó su oposición a las políticas guerreristas de los Estados Unidos e "Israel." Poco después de septiembre del 2001, comenzó a enfrentar los hostigamientos de las autoridades estadounidenses, quienes lo detuvieron y luego procedieron a expulsarlo del país.

Más información sobre esto se haya en los siguientes enlaces:

Comité de defensa del Amer Jubran y Una Palestina

En el 2004, Amer regresó a Jordania, donde había sido exilado por primera vez. Su reciente detención es una continuación de la represión política que empezó a enfrentar en los Estados Unidos. Nosotros, quienes conocimos a Amer por muchos años en los Estados Unidos, les exhortamos a llamar y a enviar faxes a las autoridades jordanas el lunes 12 de mayo. (Más abajo hayarán más detalles de donde se debe llamar y lo que se deberá plantear.) Hasta el día de hoy, Amer lleva seis días de detención e interroggaciones. y necesita nuestro apoyo. Les pedimos que llamen y envíen mensages exijiendo su excarcelación. También les pedimos que nos envíen a la siguiente dirección un correo electrónico, indicando si lograron comunicarse con algún oficial del gobierno jordano, y la respuesta que les defensecampaign@openmailbox.org Pues esto nos ayudará a ver cuanta presión se está ejerciendo.

Ministerio Jordano del Interior:

Número de fax para llamar desde Estados Unidos: 011-9626560 6908Si desea un ejemplar de un fax en inglés y árabe, vaya a Este Enlace.

Embajada jordana en Washington D.C

Embajada del Reino Jashemita de Jordania

Número telefónico: (202) 9662664,

Número del Fax: (202) 9663110

Puntos de discusión

El Sr. Jubrán es un activista palestino múy conocido y es una de las voces de la discidencia deese pueblo

El Sr. Jubrán fué detenido el 5 de mayo y aún no se le ha acusado de crimen alguno.

Aún no se le ha permitido consultar a un abogado y nadie ha sido informado de donde lo han ubicado.

Exija que se respeten sus derechos y se le excarcele inmediatamente.

Tipo de carta a escribirse A quien pueda concernir: Le escribo para expresar mi indignación ante la reciente detención de Amer Jubrán. El Sr. Jubrán fué detenido por las autoridades jordanas el pasado 5 de mayo. Este no ha sido acusado de ningún crimen y no se le ha permitido consultar a un abogado. ¿Por qué sigue detenido? Dado que el Sr. Jubrán es un conocido activista palestino y una de las voces de la discidencia de su pueblo, resulta imposible ver su detención como otra cosa que no sea un esfuerzo por silenciarlo. La libertad de expresión es un derecho humano reconocido a nivel internacional. Exijo se reconozcan los derechos básicos del Sr. Jubrán, y que se le excarcele inmediatamente.

Atentamente