A R C H I V E S
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Action Alert for Israel to relase prisoners! |
|---|
| Anonymous |
| 05/17/02 at 03:40:09 |
| Because of the prisoners being on hunger strike and very weak, it is important that action be taken asap. Also we have to consider that the Israeli govt. will close tomorrow for holiday, as well as Saturday and the US embassy is closed Sunday, so we lose three days. So please try to send asap. thank you all. The action alert is below and also as an attachment. ACTION ALERT May 16, 2002 ISRAEL SHOULD FREE THE SIX AMERICAN PRISONERS This action alert contains: * Introduction * Action requested * Talking points * Sample letter * Additional information * For more information, please visit… INTRODUCTION Six Americans are being held prisoner by the Israeli government. Trevor Baumgartner (Seattle, WA), Nathan Mauger (Spokane WA), Nathan Musselman (Ronoke, VA), Thomas Koutsoukos (IL) and Kristen Schurr (Seattle, WA) were detained with other members of the International Solidarity Movement for delivering food to starving and besieged Palestinians inside the Church of the Nativity. Dr. Riad Abdelkarim (US) is Chair of Kinder USA, a non-profit charitable organization. Dr. Abdelkarim went to Palestine on a humanitarian mission to deliver food packages to needy Palestinians in refugee camps around the West Bank and Gaza. The prisoners have held hunger strikes for over a week, and their health situation is poor. One of the prisoners is being threatened with "interrogation". ACTION REQUESTED: 1. Politely urge the US Consulate in Israel, Ed McKean, to assist ALL the detainees in using their own ticket (all of them have their own ticket already) to fly home IMMEDIATELY AND TOGETHER. Urge them to assist the detainees whose tickets need to be changed so they can leave immediately. Ask that they help the detainees get from the prison to the airport. * U.S. Consulate in Israel: Ed McKean Phone:(011) 972 3 519 7551 (011) 972 3 519 7575 Fax: (011) +972 (0) 2 624 9462 (Consulate). (11) +972 (0) 3 517 3227 (Embassy) If you don't have access to a fax, please email eli@movementbuilding.org with the text you want faxed. 2. Fax and email the Israeli Minister of the Interior, Eli Yishai, and demand that these U.S. citizens be released IMMEDIATELY, TOGETHER. Ask why they are being detained without charges, and urge that they be allowed to leave Israel by Friday morning. * Interior Minister Eli Yishai Fax: 011 972 2629 4755 Email: sar@moin.gov.il 3. Phone Senators Murray and Cantwell and Congressman McDermott to put pressure on the Israeli government to bring Trevor Baumgartner (Seattle), Kristin Schurr (Seattle), Nathan Mauger (Spokane) AND ALL THE DETAINEES home IMMEDIATELY and TOGETHER. Ask them to inquire with the Israeli government as to why these Americans are being detained without charges. Ask them to make this a priority, so the prisoners can return home **before** the Israeli government and the embassy shut down for the weekend. * Senator Patty Murray 206-553-5545 Senator Maria Cantwell 206-220-6400 Congressman Jim McDermott 206-553-7170 * Please blind copy (BCC) for our records: waot@look.ca * Please blind copy (BCC) to Gabriel Sayegh: odea@lycos.com TALKING POINTS: * The prisoners would like to leave, yet they are still being held in prison. The Israeli government and the US state department are falsely stating that the detainees are allowed to leave but have chosen to stay. * The Israeli government and the US state department assured the families that the detainees would be released May 13. They are all still in prison, and now they have been separated from each other. * The prisoners have been told by Israeli authorities that Nathan Mussleman is to be kept for interrogation by Israel's interior security force, the Shabak. It is well documented by human rights organizations and the U.N. that when Israel arrests or detains people for 'interrogation', what they actually mean is torture. * The state department, the US embassy in Israel, the Israeli government, and congressional representatives are all giving conflicting and contradictory (mis)information, which is causing a great deal of confusion for friends, family, and others who are concerned with Trevor and the other detainees. * The situation is urgent. The Israeli government will shut down tomorrow afternoon in observance of Friday's Jewish holiday of Shavuot; Saturday is the Jewish Sabbath; and Sunday, the US embassy is closed. * Kristin Schurr of Seattle, WA and New York, NY has been willing to leave since her 'arrest' five days ago. She reports being beaten during her 'arrest' and "poked, prodded, screamed at, and strip searched several times" (her words) in detention. SAMPLE LETTER 1: FAX TO: 011 972 2 624 9462 May 16th, 2002 US Consulate Israel Dear Mr. McKean, I would like to make an urgent request to you to assist the six Americans who are being held prisoner by the Israeli government to fly home immediately and together. Please help them as much as you can to do whatever is required so that they can leave immediately. You would be doing a great service to them and to their families to help then change tickets, provide safe transport from the prison to the airport, whatever is required that they leave quickly and safely. I am sure you are aware of their names, but just in case, I am referring to Trevor Baumgartner, Nathan Mauger, Nathan Musselman, Thomas Koutsoukos, Kristen Schurr and Dr. Riad Abdelkarim. Thank you for reading my letter and listening to my concerns. I look forward to hearing from you soon. Yours sincerely, [your name] SAMPLE LETTER 2: FAX TO: 011 972 2629 4755 E-mail: sar@moin.gov.il Minister of the Interior State of Israel Mr. Eli Yishai Dear Sir: The Israeli government is currently holding six American citizens in prison. Their names are Trevor Baumgartner, Nathan Mauger, Nathan Musselman, Thomas Koutsoukos, Kristen Schurr and Dr. Riad Abdelkarim. Why are they are being detained? There are no charges against them. The Israeli government has assured the families that the detainees would be released three days ago and yet they are still in prison, separated from each other. Yours sincerely, [your name] ADDITIONAL NOTES: Statement from American Hostages: By now everyone reading this knows how the four of us came to be incarcerated in Ramle prison. We feel, however, that we should clarify why we consider our detention and pending departure to be illegitimate. The State of Israel claims, in addition to entering a closed military zone", is that we "collaborated with the enemy" by bringing food to the starving people in the Church of the Nativity. From a legal standpoint these accusations are baseless as Bethlehem is not Israel, and as it is in Area A under the Oslo Accords even Israel has acknowledged it has no authority there. From a moral standpoint Israel's claim of collaboration can only lead us to conclude that Israel counts humanity as its enemy. We remain in prison because the Ministry of Interior, after making an agreement then breaking it, has been seeking to manipulate our parents and ourselves into purchasing new flight tickets, rather than letting us use our own as our fellow internationals have, or purchasing them themselves, as is their legal obligation. Toward this end, Nathan Mauger and Nathan Musselman have been separated from us and each other, despite repeated assurances that this would not happen. This morning we were informed that when we leave Nathan Musselman is to remain behind for interrogation by Shabak (Israeli internal security). We find this wholly unacceptable. We cannot express how grateful we are for all of you who have written, called and protested for us. You are our strength. In solidarity, Trevor Baumgartner and Thomas Koutsoukos FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT: |
| Re: Action Alert for Israel to relase prisoners! |
|---|
| mwishka |
| 05/17/02 at 18:45:06 |
----- Original Message ----- From: American Muslims for Jerusalem To: AMJ list Sent: Friday, May 17, 2002 1:51 PM Subject: ACT QUICKLY TO HELP FREE DR. RIAD ABDELKARIM In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful AMERICAN MUSLIMS FOR JERUSALEM ACT QUICKLY TO HELP FREE DR. RIAD ABDELKARIM! It has been nearly two weeks since Dr. Riad Abdelkarim, an American physician on a humanitarian mission to the West Bank, was arrested by Israeli authorities. Since then he has been held without charge in an Israeli jail. Dr. Abdelkarim is a prominent humanitarian activist who has written and spoken extensively about the devastating effects of Israeli occupation on Palestinian life. He traveled to Palestine most recently as part of a medical relief mission with the Los Angeles-based International Medical Corps. Another humanitarian worker, Ms. Dallel Mohmed, was arrested on the same day as Abdelkarim. She heads a new American charity, KinderUSA, which seeks to provide critical aid to Palestinian children and families. Ms. Mohmed was released this week. She has since reported that her eight-day detention was an "excruciating experience." She was held in a rat-infested cell and shackled during long interrogations." In a press conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday, she accused the U.S. government of supporting Israel in a crackdown on humanitarian aid workers. (Associated Press) Since the arrests on May 5, our government has been largely silent and has claimed that it cannot exert the pressure necessary to force Israel to release Dr. Abdelkarim. This is a clear double standard. When two American missionaries were arrested in Afghanistan, the government was not silent and did not claim that its hands were tied. When a Chinese professor living as a permanent resident in America was arrested in China, our government did not remain silent. Please act now to demand that the U.S. government act with the same urgency to free Dr. Riad Abdelkarim from Israeli jail. 1) Call Under-Secretary of State for Middle East Affairs William Burns at (202) 647-5150 or email askpublicaffairs@state.gov 2) Call your Representative and Senators and urge them to call or write Secretary of State Powell to demand that the U.S. government act to free an American citizen held without charge in Israel. To find your Representative call the House Switchboard at (202) 225-2131 or visit www.congress.org and enter your zip code. To find your Senators call the Senate Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or visit www.congress.org and enter your zip code. 3) Please also call and write Dr. Abdelkarim's Representative and Senators and urge them to do more for their constituent. Senator Dianne Fienstein Washington Office: Phone: (202) 224-3841 Fax: (202) 228-3954 331 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 Los Angeles Office: Chief of Staff James Peterson at (310) 914-7300. Congressman Christopher Cox (R-CA) Washington Office: Phone: (202) 225-5611 Fax: (202) 225-9177 E-mail: christopher.cox@mail.house.gov 2402 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515-0547 Main District Office: Phone: (949) 756-2244 Fax: (949) 251-9309 One Newport Place, # 420 Newport Beach, CA 92660 Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) Washington D.C. 112 Hart Senate Office Building Washington, D.C. 20510 (202) 224-3553 Sacramento 501 I Street, Suite 7-600 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 448-2787 (916) 448-2563 fax email Senator Boxer: http://www.senate.gov/~boxer/contact/webform.html |
Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board |