[PAA-Discuss] FW: Following International Public Pressure Campaign, Award-winning Palestinian Journalist to be Allowed Entry to the U.S.

[Lee Loe]

see more info on Omer below the listing of his presentations. Lee

  _____  

From: Professor Schwartz' symposium on the Iraq war
[mailto:IRAQVIEWS-L at LISTS.SUNYSB.EDU] On Behalf Of Michael Schwartz
Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 5:57 PM
To: IRAQVIEWS-L at LISTS.SUNYSB.EDU
Subject: Fw: Following International Public Pressure Campaign, Award-winning
Palestinian Journalist to be Allowed Entry to the U.S.


Mohammed Omer is an authentic hero as well as an award winning journalist
who grew up (in a now destroyed house) in Gaza and has become a key source
on what is going on there.   After a struggle against US authorities who
have attempted to refuse his admission, he will be speaking in Chicago,
Houston and Santa Fe.  If you live in these cities make the effort to see
him ad support him.
 
best
Michael 
----- Original Message ----- 
From: Mohammed  <mailto:mohamed7777 at hotmail.com> Omer 
Sent: Monday, March 29, 2010 6:26 PM
Subject: Following International Public Pressure Campaign, Award-winning
Palestinian Journalist to be Allowed Entry to the U.S.

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Sarah Macaraeg, 312-315-8476
 <mailto:sarah at haymarketbooks.org> sarah at haymarketbooks.org

 


 Following International Public Pressure Campaign, Award-winning Palestinian
Journalist to be Allowed Entry to the U.S. 


"Reflections on Life and War in Gaza," 

Featuring Mohammed Omer


Speaking Tour on Conditions in Palestine to Take Place as Debate Between
U.S. and Israel over Expanded Settlements Continues

Chicago: 7:00 pm, Monday, April 5th at the Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton
with ALI ABUNIMAH, author, One Country, and founder, Electronic Intifada
Hosted by Haymarket Books, Contact: 773-583-7884, Free and Open to the
Public

Houston: 7:00 pm, Tuesday, April 6th at the Rothko Chapel, 3900 Yupon
Contact: 713-524-9839, Free and Open to the Public

Albuquerque: 11:00 am, Thursday, April 8th at UNM Student Union Building
(SUB) Ballroom
Hosted by the UNM Coalition, Free and Open to the Public
6:30 pm, Thursday, April 8th, at the Albuquerque Mennonite Church, 1300
Girard
Hosted by Middle East Peace and Justice Alliance, Suggested Donation: $20
(no one turned away), Contact:  <mailto:lorir at unm.edu> lorir at unm.edu

Santa Fe: 6:30 pm, Friday, April 9th at the Unitarian Church in Santa Fe,
107 West Barcelona
with DAHR JAMAIL, author, Beyond the Green Zone and The Will to Resist, and
co-recipient of the 2008 Martha GellhornAward
Hosted by Middle East Peace and Justice Alliance and Another Jewish
Voice-Santa Fe, Suggested Donation: $5 (no one turned away), Contact:
<mailto:ngharrison1 at gmail.com> ngharrison1 at gmail.com

CHICAGO, IL- Back from the brink of cancellation, a speaking tour on
conditions in Palestine will take place April 5th-9th with award-winning
journalist and photographer Mohammed Omer. Subjected to an extended, and
unexplained, hold on his visa, Omer and supporters launched a public
pressure campaign, winning his entry from the U.S. consulate.

As Omer related, "The support has been essential, and it proves that public
pressure is effective. I am immensely grateful and can't wait to thank all
of you in person. I have always regarded the United States as the champion
of freedom of the press. This is where I hope to practice this right."


In 2008, Omer became the youngest recipient of the prestigious Martha
Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, for his firsthand reportage of life in the
besieged Gaza strip. As his prize citation explained, "Everyday, he reports
from a war zone, where he is also a prisoner. He is a profoundly humane
witness to one of the great injustices of our time. He is the voice of the
voiceless. Working alone in extremely difficult and often dangerous
circumstances, [Omer has] reported unpalatable truths validated by powerful
facts."

Upon attempting to return to Gaza following his acceptance of the Gellhorn
award in London, Omer was detained, interrogated, and beaten by the Shin Bet
Israeli security force for hours; and eventually hospitalized with cracked
ribs and respiratory problems (For the full story, visit Israel's
<http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/999330.html> Haaretz). He has since
resided in the Netherlands and continues to undergo medical treatment there
for his subsequent health problems.  

Nearly canceling his planned speaking tour, the U.S. consulate held his visa
application without explanation. Organizers decided to protest, as in recent
years, numerous foreign scholars and experts have been subject to visa
delays and denials that have prohibited them from speaking and teaching in
the U.S.-a process the American Civil Liberties Union describes as "
<http://www.aclu.org/national-security/ideological-exclusion> Ideological
Exclusion." 


As his hosts at Haymarket Books commented, "The issue of Palestine, and
particularly the voice of Palestinians is so frequently side-stepped and
marginalized in mainstream political discourse. Yet the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict plays a huge role in American foreign policy, as we can see in the
ongoing debate between the U.S. and Israel over expanded settlements. We
believe that the conditions in Palestine represent one of the great
humanitarian catastrophes of our time; and we were simply not willing to
accept that Mohammed did not have the right to travel to the U.S. to share
his reportage-and that Chicagoans did not have the right to hear what he has
to say."

Omer will visit Houston, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Chicago, as planned, to
discuss his reportage, personal experience, and the struggle for Palestinian
rights.


Background on Mohammed Omer: 
Mohammed Omer was born and raised in the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza
strip. He maintains the website  <http://www.rafahtoday.org/> Rafah Today
and is a correspondent for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. His
home in Rafah was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer while the family was
inside, seriously injuring his mother. Yet, as Omer explained in an article
he wrote upon winning the award, "My ambition was to get the truth out, not
as pro-Palestinian or anti-Israeli, but as an independent voice and
witness." His reportage features interviews with regular Gazans attempting
to survive amidst bombing, home demolitions, and the crippling economic
blockade, which has created devastating shortages of electricity, water,
fuel, and other necessities for survival.

Mohammed Omer is available for select interviews. To request, contact: Sarah
Macaraeg, 312-315-8476, sarah at haymarketbooks.org

Additional background:
Haaretz:  <http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/999330.html>
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/999330.html
ACLU:  <http://www.aclu.org/national-security/ideological-exclusion>
http://www.aclu.org/national-security/ideological-exclusion
Chronicle of Higher Education:
<http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/25/lasso>
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2007/09/25/lasso
Rafah Today:  <http://www.rafahtoday.org/> http://www.rafahtoday.org/
Ali Abunimah, CNN Editorial:
<http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/03/17/abunimah.settlements.israel/index.htm
l?iref=allsearch>
http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/03/17/abunimah.settlements.israel/index.html
?iref=allsearch






  _____  

Hotmail has tools for the New Busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox.
Learn More.
<http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID27925::T:WLMTAGL:ON:
WL:en-US:WM_HMP:032010_1>  
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://paa-tx.org/pipermail/discuss_paa-tx.org/attachments/20100330/8e5a5ded/attachment.htm>