INS, FBI seize and detain Palestinian activist
By Frank Neisser
Boston
INS and FBI agents raided the Cumberland, R.I., home of
Palestinian activist Amer Jubran on Nov. 4 and detained him at
the INS holding center in Providence. He was then transferred
to a state prison in Cranston, R.I.
When Jubran's lawyer, Barry Wilson, made inquiries about
him, he was told only that Jubran was being held pending
investigation of violations of unspecified INS statutes.
Activists see the hand of "homeland security" in this
illegal raid and detention, which follows the pattern of
detentions of Palestinian activists around the country. Two
days earlier, on Nov. 2, Jubran had led a march through the
streets of Boston past the Israeli Consulate to demand an end
to all U.S. support for Israel and full rights for the
Palestinian nation.
Jubran has been a prominent activist in the Boston area in
defense of Palestine. On June 10, 2001, he led a demonstration
in Brookline, Mass., protesting a Zionist celebration of
Israeli independence. He was arrested at the protest on
fabricated charges, but they were dropped after a five-month
people's campaign by the Committee to Defend Amer Jubran and
Palestinian Free Speech Rights exposed flagrant police and city
misconduct. The cops had tried to shut down a legal protest
while they were actually being paid by the organizers of the
Zionist festival.
Jubran has worked with the ANSWER coalition on numerous
protests against the brutal and genocidal Israeli occupation of
Palestine, including marches and frequent pickets in front of
the Israeli Consulate and a march this June 9 to again protest
the Israeli Independence Day festival, this time held on Boston
Common. He has participated and spoken at national ANSWER
demonstrations against the Bush administration's wars,
including the April 20 march of over 100,000 in Washington in
defense of Palestinian rights and the Intifada.
A legal team is being assembled to defend Amer Jubran.
Supporters can write to him at Amer Jubran, ID # 122331, Intake
Service Center, P.O. Box 8249, Cranston, RI 02920.
Reprinted from the Nov. 14, 2002, issue of
Workers World newspaper
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