| "Is the US Anti-War Movement Pro-Resistance? At this point, it is a waste of time to discuss the perfidy of the US government. It is established beyond doubt that Bush, like presidents before him, represents the interests of a prosperous war industry. What is worth researching, though, is the methods by which the US managed to achieve its vast criminal empire. Such research needs not focus on the well-known economic and military machinery and its political consequences, but rather on the unconventional and secret strategies employed by the US to encircle and strangle its prospective targets. These strategies include client regimes, large-scale media propaganda, and co-opting opponents of the system. One such opponent is the United States "antiwar movement." "As well, the US continues to maintain Israeli oppression of Palestine, it continues to wage war against Colombia using a phony war on drugs as a pretext, it continues to defy international treaties regarding war crimes, it continues to refuse to submit to an international court of law, it continues to steal oil from the Arab world, and it continues to support the dictatorships of its many client regimes. At home it has created the police-state Department of Homeland Security, the Patriot Act, the Border Security Act, and the world's largest prison population." - Amer Jubran, February 4, 2004 |
We received news yesterday from Amer Jubran, following his sentence by a military tribunal in Jordan to 10 years in prison. Amer was arguably the most powerful Palestinian leader on the East Coast of the United States until he was “forced to agree” to leave the country and return to Jordan in 2004. Amer is a personal friend of mine whom I came to know when he worked with us in the anti-war demonstrations in Boston from 2001 after the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. In addition to his work as a writer, orator and Palestinian activist he is co-founder of One Palestine: The New England Committee to Defend Palestine (NECDP). Personally, I’ve always known Amer to be an amiable, soft-spoken compassionate man with a keen sense of humor and as a supporter of the Palestinian people, a clear-headed articulate speaker on International Relations. Axis of Logic has been publishing articles written by and about Amer since it’s inception in May, 2003. The U.S. government and Israeli Zionists in the US and abroad feared him – and targeted him. Their joint pursuit of him followed him to Jordan after his deportation where he now begins a 10 year prison sentence handed down by a Jordanian military tribunal and all that life for a Palestinian leader in a Jordanian prison means.
Last year, Noah Cohen, a mutual friend of ours wrote about Amer’s first arrest in the United States, the aftermath and his arrest in 2014 in Jordan. (excerpts from Noah’s July 21, 2014 article published in Counterpunch): Arrested in the United States. Noah Cohen (photos added):
Arrested in Jordan. Noah Cohen:
Yesterday, we received the following information from Free Amer (from detention in Jordan). It includes a statement by Amer who called from prison along with viable things we each can all do to intervene on his behalf:
Statement from Palestinian Activist Amer Jubran on Being Sentenced to 10 Years in Prison by Jordan's State Security Court (Audio recording with transcript) See Action Steps and Open Letter below. On Wednesday, July 29, Amer Jubran was sentenced by Jordan's State Security Court along with 8 other defendants. The rest of the defendants were given sentences of 2-3 years; for his refusal to cooperate, he was singled out for excessive punishment, and given a 15 year sentence (reduced by his lawyers to 10 years). The verdict comes after 15 months in detention--the first 3 months without charges. He was able to get a call out of the prison where he is being held in Jordan to make a statement about his trial and sentencing. Listen to the audio recording of Amer's statement after receiving his prison sentence on July 29, 2015 . We include a full transcript below:
In conversation, Amer further clarified that all 10 of the original charges were disproved by his defense team, but a new charge was manufactured at the time of the verdict. He also clarified that his refusal to be a "sell-out and work against the Lebanese resistance" was a refusal to work as an infiltrator and informant. We are releasing this statement along with a call for activists to renew pressure on the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Jordan's Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al Hussein, demanding an independent review of Amer's trial and the flagrant violations of human rights involved in his imprisonment. It is now 13 months since our initial open letter to the High Commissioner--an appeal that is still unanswered. (See the text of our letter). It has been clear from the outset that Amer was targeted for his activism and political speech on behalf of Palestine. The lengthy proceedings before the State Security Court were a sham trial, before a court with no political independence, acting as a rubber-stamp for the GID (General Intelligence Directorate). Amer's statement confirms what many of us have suspected from the beginning: his arrest and detention--and now his sentencing to 10 years of imprisonment--have taken place in coordination with the US and Israel. Please take the time to forward Amer's statement. You can support justice for Amer by sending letters, faxes and e-mails over the next week (8/5/15-8/12/2015) addressed to Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al Hussein at the following address: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Palais des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland Fax: (41 22) 917 0008 (If faxing from US: 011-41-22-917-0008) E-mail: registry@ohchr.org And please cc the following: Prime Minister and Defense Minister Abdullah Ensour Fax number 962-6-464-2520 (If faxing from US: 011-962-6-464-2520) e-mail: info@pm.gov.jo Minister of Interior Salamah Hammad Fax number 962-6-560-6908 (If faxing from US: 011-962-6-560-6908) e-mail: info@moi.gov.jo Minister of Justice Bassam Talhouni Fax number 962-6-464-3197 If faxing from US: 011-962-6-464-3197) e-mail: Feedback@moj.gov.jo Our open letter is below: Open Letter to Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al Hussein Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Palais des Nations CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland email registry@ohchr.org August 3, 2015 Dear UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al Hussein: We wrote to you in July of 2014 to ask you to intervene in the case Amer Jubran of Jordan.* Mr. Jubran at that time had been detained for two months without charges, and you, at that time, were the UN High Commissioner-Elect. Now you occupy that office, and Mr. Jubran has been convicted. On July 29, 2015 he was sentenced by the Jordanian State Security Court, a military tribunal, to ten years in prison on charges of terrorism. These charges were proven false by Mr. Jubran's defense team, but a decision was made against him nevertheless. We saw no sign that you acted to intervene in this case in 2014. Perhaps if you had this sham trial would not have proceeded. But now that it has come to its predictable conclusion we ask you again to intervene to question why such a harsh sentence could be handed down without evidence of any crime. As High Commissioner for Human Rights we believe it is your responsibility to act to review this case. Amer Jubran is an internationally known activist, speaker, and writer on Palestinian human rights, and a critic of US and Israeli policies in the Arab world. These are the reasons he was targeted, not for terrorism. Though Jordan is a signatory to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the human rights violations of its General Intelligence Directorate and State Security Court are well known. This is a problem that, as a Jordanian and as Human Rights Commissioner, you have every reason to be concerned about. The unjust sentence against Amer Jubran should be overturned immediately. We look forward to your response. Sincerely, The Amer Jubran Defense Campaign defense@amerjubrandefense.org *See our previous letter at Free Amer! cc: Prime Minister and Defense Minister Abdullah Ensour, e-mail: info@pm.gov.jo Fax number 011-962-6-464-2520 Minister of Interior: Salamah Hammad, e-mail: info@moi.gov.jo Fax number 011-962-6-560-6908 Minister of Justice Bassam Talhouni, e-mail: Feedback@moj.gov.jo Fax number 011-962-6-464-3197 Amer Jubran Defense Campaign freeamer.wordpress.com | defense@amerjubrandefense.org For more updates, you can subscribe to our low volume list at: http://mail.amerjubrandefense.org/mailman/listinfo/free_amer_amerjubrandefense.org Free_Amer mailing list Free_Amer@amerjubrandefense.org http://mail.amerjubrandefense.org/mailman/listinfo/free_amer_amerjubrandefense.org
Sources Amer Jubran Defense Committee New England Committee to Defend Palestine Counterpunch Neturei Karta International Jews United Against Zionism Articles by Amer Jubran on Axis of Logic Biography,
Essays and Poetry by Les Blough |
