Been to Israel/Palestine lately? The FBI may come knocking on your door.
by Cecilie Surasky
MuzzleWatch - Jewish Voice for Peace
December 15, 2010
By the time she was in high school, Sarah Smith had already
been named one of the 100 most influential women in
by
happens to be Jewish, has been subpoenaed by the FBI to
appear before a grand jury on January 25 to explain her trip
to Israel-Palestine with two Palestinian women friends. (As
terrifying as this whole episode is for everyone involved,
it says something about Palestinian safety that only Smith
has come forward publicly.) All three young Chicago
residents have been subpoenaed, joining ranks with 14 other
peace activists from the
targeted in recent months.
Here is Sarah Smith's full statement from a December 6 press
conference
Friday morning, December 3, I received a phone call from
an FBI agent. He asked if I had about 30 minutes to sit
down and speak with him so he could ask me some
questions. I asked about what and he said he "was not at
liberty to discuss it." I then asked if I needed a
lawyer present and he said it was up to me but that I
was not in any trouble and that they just had a few
questions.
I felt something suspicious about him telling me he
wanted to ask me some questions, but he would not tell
me what these questions were. So I said that I had to
consult a lawyer and check my schedule and that I would
get back to him. I reiterated that it would be easier
for me to meet him if I knew why an FBI agent wanted to
sit down with me. He then said that it had to deal with
the trip I took this summer. He then emphasized, "I
think you know which one I'm talking about."
The trip I took last summer was to
I am Jewish and wanted to see first hand what life is
like for Israelis and Palestinians. If I went on the
standard tour to
Palestinians live. So I went on a tour that showed me
both worlds,
Palestinian West Bank. I went with 2 Palestinian-
American friends. You would think Jews and Palestinians
going together to visit
something the
Instead, we are now being ordered by the FBI to go
before a Grand Jury for going on that trip. The
government says it supports peace between
Palestinian states.
So why does the FBI investigate us because we went to
see the Palestinian land? Top
with Palestinian leaders, so why does the FBI
investigate us because we talked to average Palestinians
on the street?
I went there so I could make up my own mind and talk
about what I saw. It seems to me our government wants to
hide what
to thank the Committee Against Political Repression for
standing up for me and my friends. You can learn about
case at stopFBI.net, and please make a donation there.
Or you can make a donation for our legal expenses
NLG Foundation, memo line
Sarah Smith, 2961 S. Bonaparte,
Smith's father, Stan Smith, added "I think Patrick
Fitzgerald, the
FBI need to see my daughter and her friends and apologize to
them. And I think President Obama, who was elected in 2008
because he said he would stop this sort of thing, should
make a point on his next trip to
apologize to my daughter and her friends for how his
government is intimidating them."
Meanwhile, there are actions across the country to protest
this crackdown on peace activists (sign the petition here).
Firedoglake's Kevin Gosztola has this report
The hunting down of activists began on September 24th
when the FBI raided homes and offices of activists from
and other personal items were seized and the FBI
officially subpoenaed 14 activists to appear before a
Grand Jury. The FBI began to contact members of the
"peace community" and ask them what they knew about the
subpoenaed activists' "material support for terrorism."
The attorneys representing the activists have noted "the
current definition of "material support' can cover just
about anything, like providing humanitarian aid that
ends up in the hands of a group tagged as `terrorist' by
the
website. The implications of this law, as it is being
used, are troubling to anyone who does community
organizing, or anyone who does journalistic reporting or
academic research on wars, conflicts or controversial
movements."
Months later, the activists in
have not been charged with a crime, but they continue to
face possible jail time if they refuse to go before a
Grand Jury and participate in this "witch hunt." They
have yet to have their belongings, which were seized by
the FBI, returned.
Democracy anyone?
Cecilie Surasky, Deputy Director of Jewish Voice for Peace,
joined JVP in 2003 as part of a Ford Foundation human rights
fellowship, and brings extensive experience in social
justice communications and advocacy. She is the granddaughter
of Zionist Socialist activists, and her analyses of
around the world. Cecilie graduated from
with a BA in Religious Studies with special honors for her
work in Modern Culture and Media. She is the founder of
Muzzlewatch, JVP's acclaimed blog documenting efforts to
silence open debate about Israel-Palestine policy.
==========
FBI Continues to Target Activists
At the time of this posting, 19 activists have been targeted
by the FBI.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWnsNqfpYUk
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