Posts (newest to oldest)
February 15.
Soldiers Claim photo exonerates them - (No it doesn't)
1) We're over 500 signers, now
2)
Read these articles. Neither is behind a paywall.
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/new-photo-shows-final-moments-of-elderly-palestinian-detained-by-israeli-soldiers-1.10601457
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/s1tzsewyc
"According to the soldiers, the picture was taken hours before As'ad release, and shows that he was fully conscious and breathing when he was under their custody."
So they held him for NO reason for hours?
3) Have you contact your local member of Congress or Senator about the killing of this USA citizen? contact a member of Congress via this link https://thestrugglevideo.org/yemen#:~:text=Contatct%20Congress-,Call%20the%20Capitol,-Hill%20Switchboard%20at
Have you contacted the media?
Send us reports mail@thestruggle.org
January 31. Bring this issue to the streets. We're going to have a rally in front of a local Connecticut Congresswoman's office on Thursday. Hold up some signs and hopefully talk to the media.
Has your local media talked about the killing? Let them know about our page. https://justice4omarasad.webador.com/
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
from Haaretz yesterday
"It seems that the preoccupation of senior officers with the incident stems not only from the severity of the case, but also the fact that As’ad was a United States citizen."
"In contrast [to U.S. government concern], senior Israeli military officers have so far refrained from referring publicly to the incident other than a statement by the spokesman’s office"
"In part, this problem also has to do the character of the soldiers serving in the battalion and their political and ideological background. Many of them are young ultra-Orthodox yeshiva dropouts who enlisted in the army and asked for a combat posting. But there are also many young men in the battalion who live in unauthorized outposts in the West Bank. Some of them are associated with the “hilltop youth” radical settlers and extreme right-wing groups."
from Stanley Heller of MECC, "It sounds like the army brass wants to blame this on some bad apples rather than on their brutal day-in-day-out policies
mail@thestruggle.org
January 28, 2022
Two new article in the Israeli paper Haaretz
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-witnesses-elderly-palestinian-lay-motionless-as-soldiers-looked-on-1.10569170
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/twilight-zone/.premium.HIGHLIGHT.MAGAZINE-we-will-all-die-but-why-like-that-1.10572177 by Gideon Levy
"The previous night, too, IDF jeeps had invaded Jiljilya, which is typically one of the quietest locales in the West Bank. Maybe that’s why the fighters from the army’s ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda (“Judah’s Eternity”) Battalion 97 raided it: It’s easy to train, to mete out abuse for no reason, to demonstrate control and power, or just enjoy a break from the routine and the boredom there. This ludicrously named battalion has a rich record of acts of abuse against Palestinians. This time it was the turn of the inhabitants of Jiljilya."
Mohammad El Kurd spoke about the case briefly on Democracy Now today 1/28
https://youtu.be/9t6QIersU6s?t=316
We need street protests over what the Israelis did to Omar As'ad
mail@thestruggle.org
Janaury 26
We're over 200 signers
We've learned that the soldiers involved were part of the "Netzah Yehuda Battalion" which translates to "Judah's Eternity Battalion". It's an all "ultra-orthodox" Jewish all- men's military unit. These are not the ultra-orthodox who see Zionism as a sin. These men believe that any abuse done to Palestinians is part of the will of God.
The Jerusalem Post reports:
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-694382
"Punitive measures are expected to be taken against the soldiers..." but it also says, "Charges are not expected to be brought against them, but IDF Central Command is expected to make a public statement in the coming days about the incident"
meaning there will be "command measures", some hands will be slapped, maybe a demotion in rank, loss of some military privilege, etc.
Haaretz reports that Omar As'ad was gagged for over an hour
https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-80-year-old-palestinian-gagged-for-over-an-hour-before-he-died-israeli-army-finds-1.10559846
Gideon Levy wrote a fine article. It's also behind a paywall so I'll quote a bit of it.
https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/.premium-a-question-for-the-soldiers-who-abused-an-80-year-old-palestinian-man-1.10561229
"One of them may have claimed that As’ad looked to him to be 20 years younger than his age, so he thought it was permitted to throw him to the ground on a cold night, gagged, blindfolded and handcuffed, given treatment he wouldn't give to a stray dog."
"Poor As’ad shouted at them that he was not a terrorist when they stopped him making his way home late at night – because what did they expect? That he prostrate himself on the ground and kiss the soldiers’ feet?"
"I have only request from the soldiers: In spite of everything, please think – if just for a moment – what would have happened if As’ad had been your grandfather, and that he died this way."
Today 1/26 the Washington Post had this piece saying that As'as heart attack was caused by the stress of how he was treated.
January 24
A Washington Post article says its unlikely any Israeli soldier will be prosecuted
This is the article in The Washington Post
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/23/army-probe-palestinian-american-bound-gagged/
The Post article adds a detail we didn't know. In addition to being handcuffed and blindfolded Omar As'ad was gagged!
Israeli soldiers blindfolded and gagged elderly Palestinian American later found dead- Leaked report
from the article, "suggested that no soldiers were likely to be prosecuted despite investigators confirming that the man was dragged from his car, blindfolded and handcuffed and then fell silent while being held at a construction site."
We need to get more signatures to the petition and to get more politicians to speak out especially in Wisconsin the home of this Palestinian-American. Send a link to the Washington Post article to you members of Congress.
You can reach the Middle East Crisis Committee of Connecticut at mail@thestruggle.org
January 20
166 signers of the petition
A number of US lawmakers have spoken out about this killing according to Haaretz
The article is behind a paywall so I’ll say the names of those who have spoken out. They are Senator Tammy Baldwin (of As’ad’s home state of Wisconsin), Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, Rep. Debbie Dingell, Rep. Marie Newman and Rep. Betty McCollum.
Notably absent is Sen. Bernie Sanders. Could one of the signers work with us on alerting him to this outrage? Reach us at mail@thestruggle.org
Of course, there are hundreds of other members of Congress who haven’t spoken out. Contact them via this link:
And contact local media
A link to an article with about 5 photos of mourners of Omar As’ad is below.
Finally, could you tell 2 friends/family members about this petition?
Omar Assad, a long-time Milwaukee resident, found dead in West Bank after detention by Israeli soldiers. His family wants an investigation. (msn.com)
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