Cell 36: Palestinian children locked in solitary confinement in Israel
Cell 36 in Al Jalame prison, northern Israel, is one of a handful of cells where Palestinian children are locked in solitary confinement for days or even weeks. Mohammad Shabrawi from Tulkarm, in the West Bank, was arrested last January, aged 16, and Ezz ad-Deen Ali Qadi from Ramallah, who was 17 when arrested, talk about their experiences.
UNRWA official and Friends of UNRWA visit AMP
(CHICAGO 01/16/2012) – Karen Abu Zayd, commissioner general (ret.) of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, as well as officials from the American Friends of UNRWA visited the
headquarters of American Muslims for Palestine recently.
Ambassador Phillip Wilcox, chairman of American Friends of UNRWA, and Abby Smardon, its executive director, joined Abu Zayd at AMP’s offices on Wednesday, Jan. 11 to discuss
how the American non-profit organization supports important programs through UNRWA that support Palestinian refugees, such as the school food or olive tree planting programs. Abu Zayd also sits on the board of the non-profit. The entourage met with Awad Hamdan, AMP national programs director; Kristin Szremski, AMP director of media and communications; and Fadi Sahouri, AMP-Chicago chairman.
Gaza commemoration campaign kicks off
(CHICAGO 01/16/2012) -- Gaza Teaches Life, the American Muslims for Palestine’s national commemoration campaign, began Sunday night before an enthusiastic crowd at Al Aqsa school
in Bridgeview, IL.
Spoken word artist Remi Kanazi, AMP’s featured speaker throughout the campaign, gave an evocative and at times gut-wrenching performance of poems from his newest book, “Poetic Injustice,” which he said was dedicated to all four of his grandparents, who were dispossessed and forced from Palestine in 1948.
Why is "terror expert" attacking US solidarity groups?
By Kristin Szremski
AMP director of media and communications
(CHICAGO 01/06/2012) -- Discredited journalist Steven Emerson, who traded in a career with national news outlets for the his Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT), is trying to entangle an American non-profit organization in a shroud of secretive conspiracy theories intent on branding it a “supporter of terrorism.”
Emerson has crowned himself the “expert” on terrorism through his production of scurrilous blog posts and videos that he tries to pass off as credible reports. Now he’s targeting the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP), the organization for which this writer works, and by extension, Students for Justice in Palestine.
Media Director to speak at national BDS conference
Kristin Szremski, director of media and communications at the American Muslims for Palestine, will be presenting a session on exposing Zionism at the national Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions conference in Philadelphia in February. Titled, “Talking to Beginners about BDS, Israel and Zionism,” Szremski will be a co-panelist along with Pamela Olson, author of “Fast Times in Ramallah,” on Sunday, Feb. 5. Szremski will speak about the results of AMP research into Zionist organizations and individuals and how they work to shut down pro-Palestinian activism.
Three years later: Palestinians’ indestructible spirit teaches life to the rest of the world
Last summer, more 13,000 colorful kites filled the sky over the sea of Gaza. They were being flown by 13,000 Palestinian children, who set a Guinness Book of World Records for the most kites being flown at the same time. It was the fourth world record for the Palestinian kids participating in summer camps hosted by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency in the last couple of years.
“I made my kite the Palestinian flag and when I fly it I feel like I’m raising my country and my flag up, up in the sky,” said Rawia Abd el Dain, 11.
That sense of hope and the children’s irrepressible spirits are shining examples that despite Israel’s cruel blockade, and its frequent shellings, bombings and shootings, Gaza teaches life. As the spoken word artist Rafeef Ziadah says, “Palestinians wake up every morning to teach the rest of the world life, sir.”
Judge dismisses anti-Semitism lawsuit against UC Berkeley
(CHICAGO 12/24/2011)-- A lawsuit contending that UC Berkeley and the UC system failed to mitigate a climate averse to Jewish students was dismissed this week, the campus announced Friday.
A lawsuit contending that UC Berkeley and the UC system allowed a "hostile environment" for Jewish students to exist on campus and did not adequately address the situation was dismissed this week, campus officials announced Friday.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed the suit, which was originally filed March 4 by UC Berkeley alumnus Jessica Felber, the Daily Californian reported. Felber had been the co-president of the campus Zionist student group, Tikvah.
The ruling, by U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg, stated that “the administration has engaged in an ongoing dialogue with the opposing parties in an attempt to ensure that the rights of all persons are respected, and to minimize the potential for violence and unsafe conditions,” the Daily Californian reported.
The ruling is important because Zionist organizations have stepped up their efforts to shut down pro-Palestinian activities on college campuses by filing complaints of anti-Semitism under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and they often point to the Feliber case to bolster their claims.
~ American Muslims for Palestine
The Daily Calfornian contributed to this report
Newt Gingrich puts Israel's interests first
By Kristin Szremski
American Muslims for Palestine
First published on Al Jazeera.
Newt Gingrich, the former Speaker of the House who faded into obscurity after resigning in 1998 amid a sex scandal, is back and seemingly ready to say anything to become the next president of the United States - even if it means making sycophantic statements that pander to the pro-Israel lobby but that oppose US policy and the best interests of the American people.
My Father Will Not be Forgotten
DECEMBER 12, 2011
The Holy Land Five Appeal
My Father Will Not be Forgotten
by NOOR ELASHI
Exactly three days following the tenth anniversary of the Bush administration shutting down the largest Muslim charity in the United States, the Fifth Circuit Court dismissed the appeal for the Holy Land Foundation case, affirming the conviction of my father, the co-founder of the HLF who`s serving a 65-year sentence for his humanitarian work.
On Wednesday, Dec. 7, the three-judge panel, based in New Orleans, filed their opinion, concluding that ``the district court did not clearly err.``
Upon hearing this news, it initially all rushed back to me at once, nostalgia on overdrive. I saw the relentless accusations by pro-Israeli lobby groups, the pressure by pro-Israeli politicians and the defamatory news reports in the 1990`s. I saw the raid on the HLF in 2001, the pre-sunrise arrests and ``material support`` charges in 2004, the first trial and hung jury in 2007, the second trial and guilty verdicts in 2008, the sentencing in 2009. I saw the plethora of prison phone calls and visitations. And finally, I saw my father being transferred in 2010 to the Southern Illinois city of Marion`s Communications Management Unit - what The Nation has called ``Gitmo in the Heartland`` - and where my father`s significantly diminished phone calls and visitations are scheduled in advance and live-monitored from Washington D.C.
Urgent Action Alert: Stop Detentions of US Citizens for Life Without a Trial
The US Senate voted to detain US citizens indefinitely without any trial. A citizen now can be detained for life just based on suspicion without even ever being charged, without the benefit of a lawyer or a trial. Here is what ACLU said last night:
“The bill is an historic threat to American citizens and others because it expands and makes permanent the authority of the president to order the military to imprison without charge or trial American citizens.”
The Secretary of Defense, the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the FBI, the Director of the CIA and the head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division have all said that the indefinite detention provisions are harmful and counterproductive to their work.
Nationwide rally for Syria at Russian and Chinese consulates Friday
(CHICAGO 12/12/2011) – The American Muslims for Palestine is joining The Syrian American
Council to sponsor rallies across the country on Friday to protest Syrian war crimes being
committed against peaceful, pro-democracy demonstrators in that country.
United Against Supporters of Syrian War Crimes will take place in front of Russian and Chinese
embassies and consulates to protest their support of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad and his
brutal response to protestors that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of Syrian citizens.
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@remroum performed in 5 of this years #gazateacheslife events. Thank you Remi! Keep up the good work!
@AMPalestine Media and communications director speaking at Palestine Chronicles: http://t.co/xjaEnqeb