A great man, Abdullah Abu Rahmah, has just been convicted of the most ridiculous and bogus charges by an Israeli court (incitement) for being one of the most effective non-violent organizers in the West Bank. His village of Bil’in, and their struggle to save their land from being cut in half by the Israeli Wall, has won international support and even Israeli court rulings against the Wall route, largely due to his organizing.He has paid a heavy price for his commitment to non-violence – his nephew Bassem was killed last year when Israeli troops fired a high-velocity tear gas canister directly at his chest. His children, brothers, nephews have been beaten, jailed, harassed and one even paralyzed for life by a rubber-coated steel bullet fired by Israeli troops at the non-violent weekly demonstration in Bil’in. And now, Abu Rahmah himself is facing a two-year sentence for organizing the most consistent and engaged non-violent campaign that Palestine has seen since the ID-throwing and tax resistance in Beit Sahour in the late 80s.
Please, find a way to support Abdullah – spread the word, take action, make a call, send a letter – go to this site to take action:
http://www.popularstruggle.org/freeabdallah#do
It only takes a few minutes to make a call or fax a letter, and we know from past experience that Israeli authorities can occasionally be affected by outside pressure, if enough of us participate.
When Abdullah was arrested in December, folksinger David Rovics wrote an article in which he said, ‘If Abdullah Abu Rahma were in a different context, say in some equally small town in Massachusetts, he’s undoubtedly the sort of guy who would be an active member, and perhaps occasionally president, of the local Rotary Club. He’s the sort of guy anybody from anywhere would recognize in their community – a reliable, gentle man without any grandiose ambitions in life, a family man, content with village life.’
Read the article, called ‘Arresting Gandhi’, here:
http://www.atlanticfreepress.com/news/1/12724-arresting….html
More info about today’s conviction:
http://www.imemc.org/article/59324
February letter from Abdullah in prison:
http://pulsemedia.org/2010/02/22/in-captivity-a-letter-…ahma/
More info about the weekly non-violent demonstrations that have gone on for more than six years in Bil’in:
http://www.bilin-ffj.org
