Rasmea Defense Committee: All out for Detroit June 13!

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Rasmea Defense Committee: All out for Detroit June 13th!

Join us to win #Justice4Rasmea by attending Rasmea’s next court hearing in downtown Detroit, Michigan, on Monday, June 13th, 2016, at 10 AM Eastern time!

A little over two months ago, all of you supporters helped Rasmea and her defense committee win a huge victory, as the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals sent her case back to trial judge Gershwin Drain, saying he had wrongfully barred the testimony of a torture expert that was critical to the defense.  At the trial, Rasmea was not allowed to tell the entire story of her arrest and forced confession by the Israelis in Palestine in 1969, when she endured over three weeks of vicious sexual, physical, and psychological torture at the hands of the Israeli military.

Rasmea suffers from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) because of this torture, which, according to world renowned psychologist, Dr. Mary Fabri, caused her to suppress the horrible recollection of the arrest when she answered questions on her immigration application in the U.S.  These allegedly false answers led to her unjust conviction in the politically-motivated trial in 2014, which in turn led to her being sentenced last year to 18 months in prison and deportation.  She is currently living and working in Chicago, free while fighting the conviction.

Judge Drain excluded Dr. Fabri’s testimony from the trial, and disallowed any evidence about the rape and torture.  Now, after the appeals court decision, the judge must determine new legal avenues to exclude the expert testimony.  If he cannot, Rasmea may be granted a new trial!

Make your travel plans now to be with the Rasmea Defense Committee, U.S. Palestinian Community Network (USPCN), Committee to Stop FBI Repression, and the Coalition to Protect People’s Rights—in support of our hero!

WHEN: Monday, June 13th, 2016

Rally outside the courthouse at 10 AM Eastern Time

Hearing begins at 11 AM Eastern Time

WHERE: U.S. Courthouse for the Eastern District of Michigan
231 W. Lafayette Blvd.

Detroit, Michigan 48226

More information for those attending the hearing:

Confirm with us that you are attending, and provide us with transportation information, by filling out this form.

Please be at the courthouse at 10 AM Eastern for a rally and picket.  We will then start lining up between 10:20 and 10:30 AM, to ensure that we are in the courtroom well before 11 AM.  Late comers will not be allowed in the courtroom.

Please do not volunteer to speak to any media or press in attendance.  The defense committee has a media team made up of the only people authorized to speak to the press.

There will also be a rally / press conference outside the courthouse after the hearing.  Lead defense attorney Michael Deutsch will address the media and Rasmea’s supporters, and then we will hear from a number of solidarity speakers, including Frank Chapman, Field Organizer for the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression, Jess Sundin of CSFR, representatives of the #BlackLivesMatter movement, members of the Detroit / Dearborn community, and others.

This is basic information for our presence INSIDE the courtroom:

What do you need to bring to get into the courtroom? Must bring ID: it can be a driver’s license, state ID, or passport.

What to wear to court?  No “I Support Rasmea” clothes, buttons, or signs.

How to act in court?

  • No talking in the courtroom
  • No coming and going; if you leave the courtroom for anything other than an emergency, you will not be let back in.

What not to bring to court?

  • No cell phones.
  • No cameras or recording devices.
  • No food or drink.

For everyone:

Visit justice4rasmea.org, follow @Justice4Rasmea and #Justice4Rasmea on twitter, and like our Facebook page; or email justice4rasmea@uspcn.org for more information!

Donate online!

Also follow www.uspcn.org  & www.stopfbi.net!

See these recent media hits:

A New Day for Rasmea Odeh: Throwing the Spotlight on Israeli Torture, Reader Supported News, Dennis J. Bernstein

Demands Grow for US to Drop Case Against Palestinian Activist, teleSUR

#Justice4Rasmea: Palestinian activist’s supporters light up social media, RT

Rasmea Odeh Heads Back to Court in Ongoing Campaign Against Palestine Activism, Bill Chambers, Chicago Monitor

Chicago Teachers Union honors Rev. Sekou of Ferguson, Sekou honors Rasmea Odeh, Fight Back! News

Help Rasmea Win! All Out for Detroit!

Sincerely,

Rasmea Defense Committee

Milwaukee, May 29: African Liberation Day Celebration

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Theme: Why Socialism?

JOIN US FOR THE 53rd AFRICAN LIBERATION DAY CELEBRATION ON MAY 29, 2016 FROM 1-5 pm AT THE WISCONSIN AFRICAN AMERICAN  WOMEN’S CENTER, 3020 W Vliet Street, Milwaukee, WI!

VIDEO NEWS UPDATES!  GREETINGS FROM OUR YOUTHS! GREETINGS FROM OTHER AREAS OF SOLIDARITY! COMMUNITY DIALOGUE! CHILDREN’S CORNER! VENDORS! DANCING AND DRUMMING! DELICIOUS VEGAN FOOD FROM CHEF RAIN AND MORE!!

More information: 414-324-8144

Sponsored by Africans On The Move

ALD FLY3

imperialists-out-of-africa

Report from UNAC Delegation to Odessa: Anti-Fascist Resistance in Ukraine

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https://www.unacpeace.org/

At the end of World War Two, the city of Odessa in present-day Ukraine was declared a Hero City by the Soviet Union for its determined resistance to Nazi occupation. It’s a designation still valued by the people of this metropolis of a million people on the western shore of the Black Sea.

On May 2, 2016, Odessans once again showed their great capacity for courage. Defying threats by local and national fascist organizations, some 3-4,000 city residents, accompanied by international monitors from across Europe and the United States, gathered to pay their respects to the victims of a fascist massacre and press their demand for an international investigation.  [read more]

MI, Gov. Snyder: Veto the House Detroit Education Bills

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SIGN [Move On] PETITION: http://bit.ly/23FzHNs

The package of DPS-related bills passed by the Michigan House of Representatives is punitive, petty and dangerous for the people of Detroit.

The fact that these bills target only Detroit with unpopular and untested education experiments and anti-union measures shows this is not about what’s best for the children of Detroit—it’s about how the Michigan House can exert power over the people of Detroit.

I urge Gov. Rick Snyder to veto the House bills, and I ask the House to take up the bipartisan Senate bills that, while not perfect, give Detroit’s schools a fair chance and offer hope to our students, families, educators and staff.

Petition Background

At 4:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 5, the Michigan House of Representatives passed a package of right-wing bills to punish teachers and students in Detroit. Gov. Rick Snyder must veto it.

Make no mistake: These bills discriminate against Detroit’s children—who are overwhelmingly economically disadvantaged children and children of color—and are designed explicitly to punish teachers who speak up on behalf of their students and themselves. Many of the so-called teacher-related provisions have failed and been rejected when used in other jurisdictions.

Under state-controlled emergency management, indifferent politicians abandoned Detroit’s students to learn in under-resourced schools with deplorable conditions. The state created half a billion dollars in debt for the school district, and the House bills, which only affect Detroit and not the rest of Michigan, don’t solve the state-created debt crisis.

Instead, this legislation creates a new district with a litany of bad education policies, strips teachers of their rights and voice, and leaves Detroit’s students in an even more vulnerable situation.

Under the House proposal, school employees—including teachers, clerical staff and support staff—are stripped of their existing contracts and benefits, and the district will no longer recognize their unions. The bill will punish teachers for going on strike or participating in walkouts over school conditions—even if the school is unsafe for students and staff to be in.

The bills would also allow the district to hire non-certified teachers and tie teacher pay to student test scores, even though research clearly shows those types of merit pay systems do not work.

This package of bills only applies to Detroit. Why are Michigan House Republicans punishing Detroit for the debt their emergency manager created? Why are they stripping rights and imposing bad education policies in Detroit, but not expecting their home districts to do the same? The answer is simple: They don’t think they’ll have to answer for what they’re doing.

Gov. Snyder must veto any version of the House bills that comes to his desk. The children and people of Detroit are counting on him to stop these reckless legislators from hurting them.

[Photo: Joe Brusky]
cropped-our-schools-our-solutions_auer_may_27_2014.jpg

What’s Behind the Problems of Public Education in Detroit?

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http://www.globalresearch.ca/whats-behind-the-problems-of-public-education-in-detroit/5524349

By Abayomi Azikiwe

“…As with the City of Detroit, the banks and corporate entities view municipal governments and school districts as a source of exploitation. While the capitalist class grows wealthier in the U.S., cities such as Detroit have become a center for concentrated poverty and underdevelopment.

These problems involving education in Detroit are mirrored through other systems such as Chicago where teachers have also taken to the streets over the last four years. Teachers in Chicago staged a one-day strike on April 1 demanding that the Illinois state legislator appropriated adequate funding to meet the needs of students and educators.

However, most politicians within state and federal offices work on behalf of corporate interests that are anti-union and categorically opposed to any form of self-rule and self-determination within the cities. A program of equal funding and local control advanced by the unions, community organizations, students and parents would place the focus on demanding that state and federal governments provide adequate resources for the maintenance and improvement of public education.”

Panther Power: Afeni Shakur and the ‘New York 21’ by Lamont Lilly

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http://www.newblackmaninexile.net/2016/05/panther-power-afeni-shakur-and-new-york.html

By Lamont Lilly

“…Afeni was the kind of comrade who garnered respect from both the women and the men. As former Black Panther, Jamal Joseph stated, “Afeni taught me more about being a man, more than any other man or woman.” As the only high school member of the New York 21, Joseph very often, looked to Afeni for guidance and leadership.

The name Afeni was given to her by a community elder from South Carolina, a descendant of the Yoruba tradition who chose the name Afeni meaning, “lover of the people.” And love the people is exactly what Afeni did.  A dedicated community organizer, fearless warrior, activist, scholar, teacher, and real-life revolutionary, Afeni Shakur gave her life to the people, to the full embodiment of Black Power, people power, (and as the sisters say today) Black Girl Magic!
As we commemorate the mother of Hip Hop’s “Black Jesus,” let us not forget the Black woman general who indubitably blazed her own legacy, who literally offered her life as a gift to the people, who taught her son, Tupac Amaru to do the same.  Farewell to the Black woman general who just joined Malcolm, Harriet, Ida. All power to the people! Black Power!”
—
NC-based activist, Lamont Lilly is the 2016 Workers World Party, U.S. Vice-Presidential Candidate. He has recently served as field staff in Baltimore, Ferguson, Oakland, Boston and Philadelphia.  In 2015, he was a U.S. delegate at the International Forum for Justice in Palestine in Beirut, Lebanon. He is currently working on his forthcoming debut, Honor in the Ghetto (Fall 2016). Follow him on Twitter @LamontLilly.
afeni shakur