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Rasmea Odeh rightly convicted of Israeli supermarket bombing and U.S. immigration fraud

Rasmea Odeh rightly convicted of Israeli supermarket bombing and U.S. immigration fraud

“Free Rasmea Odeh” campaign based on imagined facts and real distortions.

https://twitter.com/stopfbi/status/530421217602568192/photo/1

[Note: This post has been updated to reflect additional records obtained after initial publication further demonstrating Rasmea Odeh’s culpability in the bombing of the SuperSol supermarket and casting doubt on her claims of torture]

On November 10, 2014, a federal jury in Detroit returned a guilty verdict against Rasmieh (Rasmea) Yousef Odeh for illegally procuring naturalization by falsely answering questions whether she “ever” had been convicted or imprisoned.

In fact, Rasmea was convicted in 1970 and imprisoned in Israel for 10 years in connection with a 1969 supermarket bombing in Jerusalem in which two university students were killed, and other security offenses including the attempted bombing of the British Consulate.

If this were just another immigration fraud story, it would be unremarkable.  Regardless of whether Rasmea’s Israeli conviction and prison time were deserved or just, they happened and needed to be disclosed in response to clear questions on immigration forms.  Case closed.

But there is another story here, in which Rasmea, her attorneys and supporters seek to exonerate Rasmea in court and in the court of public opinion by trying to relitigate Rasmea’s 1970 conviction, and the history of the Middle East conflict going back to the creation of the State of Israel

As with all anti-Israeli propaganda campaigns, facts are invented, denied or twisted, and repeated with religious fervor to the point that Rasmea now is portrayed as the victim rather than the perpetrator.

Rasmea has become, in the words of one supporter writing in The Hill, “a Palestinian woman who embodies the Palestinian history of dispossession, struggle and resilience.” The Rasmea Defense Committee calls Rasmea an “icon of the Palestine liberation movement.”

Organizers of protests portray the Israeli conviction as the result of a false confession obtained by torture:

Today, Rasmea Odeh was unjustly found guilty for allegedly lying on her immigration form because she didn’t mention her time in prison in Israel. Along with 500 or so others in 1969, Rasmea was arrested, tortured, and raped until she confessed to a crime she did not commit.

The key elements of the campaign supporting Rasmea are as follows:

1. Rasmea was just a political activist prior to Israeli arrest, picked up because of political activities.
2. Rasmea was swept up in a mass arrest of 500 or more people with no evidence of involvement.
3. Rasmea gave a false confession after 25 days of horrific torture, leading to her conviction.
4. Rasmea was denied the ability to defend herself and was denied access to counsel in the Israeli military court.
5. Rasmea did not receive a fair trial in Israel.
6. Regardless of procedures and confessions, Rasmea was not involved in the SuperSol bombing and is innocent.
7. The U.S. prosecution on immigration charges was unfounded and driven by political support for Israel.

That victim narrative, which will be explored in more detail later in this post, is false based on the known facts and evidence.

As detailed below, the demonstrable facts show that:

1. Prior to her arrest in Israel, Rasmea was a military participant in and organizer for the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP).
2. Rasmea quickly confessed in a highly detailed account just one day after arrest, along with other co-conspirators, one of whom also directly implicated Rasmea as the mastermind in a 2004 documentary.
3. After arrest Rasmea was allowed to and did defend herself in the Israeli military court.
4. Rasmea was represented by counsel.
5. There was an observer from the International Red Cross present who stated that the trial was fair;
6. The evidence of Rasmea’s guilt in the bombing was and is overwhelming, completely independent of Rasmea’s confessions (however obtained).
7. Rasmea herself admitted her involvement in the attempted British Consulate bombing in an interview years later after release from Israeli prison, as did her main co-conspirator who implicated Rasmea in the supermarket bombing as well.
8. The evidence of Rasmea’s immigration fraud was based on the indisputable facts and her own false answers.

This actually is just a story of a terrorist bomber rightly convicted in Israel, who then lied on her visa and naturalization applications to the U.S. and was rightly convicted a second time in federal court in Detroit.

Story Begins: The SuperSol Bombing, February 21, 1969

On February 21, 1969, a bomb detonated in the SuperSol supermarket in Jerusalem, killing two Hebrew University students, Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner, who were shopping.

http://www.investigativeproject.org/4634/part-3-spinning-a-terrorist-into-a-victim-rasmieh

(Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner)(Image via Investigative Project)

One of Edward’s brothers, who was abroad, learned of the death by telegram:

A second device at the SuperSol, on a delay trigger to go off when rescue responders arrived, was defused seconds before it was to go off.

Rasmieh Odeh - Joint Proposal Israel Records - Police Record 2nd Bomb SuperSol

(English Translation of Original)

The SuperSol bombing was one of the first post-1967 war bombings in Israel.  The Marxist-Leninist PFLP, founded in 1967 by Dr.George Habash, claimed credit.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d93_1412329044

(Newspaper headline “The War Came to the Supermarket”)(via Live Leak)

The SuperSol bombing was a huge event in Israel, and the funeral attracted crowds in the thousands, as well as Israeli leaders.

http://www.investigativeproject.org/4654/spinning-a-terrorist-into-a-victim-epilogue

(Mother and Sister of Edward Joffe at funeral, Jerusalem, 1969)(Image via Investigative Project)

http://www.investigativeproject.org/4632/spinning-a-terrorist-into-a-victim-part-2-rasmieh

(Funeral of Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner, Jersusalem, 1969)(Image via Investigative Project)

On February 25, 1969, another bomb was found at the British Consulate, and neutralized before it exploded.

Rasmea Was PFLP Military Member and Recruiter

Contrary to the portrayal of Rasmea as a mere political activist who was arrested by Israel after the SuperSol bombing for her outspoken views, in reality Rasmea was a military member of the PFLP.

Rasmea’s role was described in the 1996 pro-Palestinian book Daughters of Palestine: Leading Women of the Palestinian National Movement.

Daughters of Palestine Book Cover - Rasmieh

Here are sections, from pages 24 and 25, respectively, describing Rasmea (Rasmiyeh) as one of the first female guerrillas:

Rasmiyeh Odeh Daughters of Palestine page 24 - excerpt

Rasmiyeh Odeh Daughters of Palestine page 25 - excerpt

This description is corroborated by Ayisha Admad Odeh, a co-conspirator in the SuperSol bombing (more on her below) in the 2004 film Women in Struggle.

Ayisha, who spoke openly in the film about Rasmea’s leading role in the SuperSol bombing, described how she was recruited to military work by Rasmea, who even then exhibited media savvy, quickly changing the direction of the interview:

Women in Struggle Rasmieh Odeh You dragged me towards military work

(Statement made by Ayisha Admad Odeh)

Women in Struggle Rasmieh Odeh You dragged me towards military work 2

Women in Struggle Rasmieh Odeh You dragged me towards military work 3

Women in Struggle Rasmieh Odeh You dragged me towards military work 4

In addition to Ayisha, Rasmea recruited a 17-year old, Samieh Ali Ibrahim Almuyal, to participate in the SuperSol bombing (see below).

So rather than the passive political activist portrayed by her supporters, Rasmea was one of the first PFLP female guerrillas engaged in military action and recruiting.

Bombing Perpetrators Confessed Within Days

The SuperSol bombing took place on February 21, 1969, and the British Consulate attempted bombing on February 25, 1969.

On February 24, 1969,three days after the Supersol bombing, The Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA) reported that while almost 100 Arabs had been rounded up for questioning immediately after the bombing, almost all of whom were quickly released:

Fourteen East Jerusalem and West Bank Arabs were remanded in custody today in connection with last Friday’s bombing of the Supersol supermarket in West Jerusalem which took two lives. Another 91 Arabs rounded up for questioning after the blast have been released, police said. A blackout has been clamped on the progress of the investigation. Two of the Arabs retained in custody by a Jerusalem magistrate are employees of the supermarket, the largest in Jerusalem.

The notion that 500 people were picked up after the bombing, or that people were charged just because initially detained, is not supported by the facts.

Rasmea was arrested on February 28, 1969.

On March 3, 1969, just nine days after the bombing and three days after Rasmea’s arrest, JTA reported that the three key perpetrators of the SuperSol bombing — which would have included Rasmea — had confessed (emphasis added):

Jerusalem police said today that they had confessions from three suspects directly involved in planting bombs that wrecked the Supersol supermarket in West Jerusalem on Feb. 21, killing two Hebrew University students and injuring nine other persons. About 40 members of the gang responsible for the supermarket blast and subsequent bomb plantings at the British Consulate in East Jerusalem have been arrested. Today police said that all members of the gang were in custody. Police said the bombs were planted by two girls who received the explosives from a third saboteur. They were concealed in shopping bags. The crime has been reconstructed with the aid of the suspects, according to police. Round-ups in East Jerusalem, Ramallah and Nablus uncovered stores of explosives and sabotage equipment amidst indications that it was to have been used shortly….

Minister of Police Eliahu Sasson was visited today by the Grand Mufti of East Jerusalem and by the heads of Christian churches who inquired about the arrested terrorists. Mr. Sasson explained the gravity of the charges against them.

Police said yesterday that all of the suspects were members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the same terrorist group responsible for assaults on El Al airliners at Athens and Zurich. Police said that terrorist cells had been uncovered in East Jerusalem, Ramallah and Nablus along with large quantities of explosives and weapons.

Rasmieh gave a highly detailed confession on March 1 and 7, 1969.  This is inconsistent with her claim that the confessions were the result of multiple weeks of sexual torture.  

Here is the translated version together with Arabic version filed in Court by prosecutors on Novemer 19, in connection with Rasmea’s Motion for Reconsideration of her post-trial bond revocation (full government filing here):

Rasmieh Odeh Case – March 1 and 7 1969 Ramieh Confessions – Exh. I to Govt Response to Motion for Reconside…


This is consistent with the Israeli military court records produced to the U.S. prosecution in the recent case pursuant to Treaty, which reference Rasmea’s first statement being on March 1, 1969:

Rasmieh Odeh - Index Israel Records - Odeh Statements

The timeline is not consistent with the claim that Rasmea only confessed after 25 days of alleged torture. In fact, she confessed one day after arrest.

Physical Evidence Implicated Rasmea

The physical evidence gathered by the Israeli police after the SuperSol bombing implicated Rasmea, as extensive bomb-making material was found in her bedroom, as well as elsewhere in the house, that was owned by her father:

Rasmea Odeh Arrest Police Report

(English Translation of Original)

Rasmea Odeh Father's Home Search Report 2-28-1969

(English Translation of Original)

On March 1, 1969, the material was destroyed by police.

Rasmieh Odeh - Index Israel Records - Report of Destruction of Explosive Material Seized from Rasmieh

(English Translation of Original)

Explosives also were found in the home of Ayisha, Rasmea’s co-conspirator, who implicated Rasmea both to Israeli authorities and later in a documentary (see below):

Rasmieh Odeh - Index Israel Records - Report of Destruction of Explosive Material Seized from Aylsha

(English Translation of Original)

Multiple Independent Admissions as to Rasmea’s Guilt

Put aside Rasmea’s own confessions while in Israeli custody and the wealth of evidence accumulated by the Israeli authorities. Others have come forward implicating Rasmea in the supermarket bombing. Including Rasmea herself as to the attempted British Consulate bombing, as described in the U.S. prosecution post-trial filing opposing Rasmea’s release pending sentencing:

In addition, defendant has given interviews throughout the years to various other publications in which she admitted her role. For instance, in an article published in the Journal of Palestine Studies, she stated, “I returned to the West Bank in early 1969 and was arrested on February 28 and accused of involvement in the supermarket explosion in West Jerusalem and another in the British Consulate. We had placed a bomb there to protest Britain’s decision to furnish arms to Israel. Actually we placed two bombs, the first was found before it went off so we placed another.” See http://www.palestine-studies.org/sites/default/files/uploads/files/Prisoners%20for%20Palestine-%20A%20List%20of%20Women%20Political%20Prisoners.pdf, at 45. And finally, defendant’s testimony at the instant trial, in which she claimed one of the two sisters who was arrested with her in Israel died in custody is also false. See id. at 49 (stating that her father and paralyzed sister were released after 18 days, and her other sister was released after a year and a half).

Here are images of the quoted section of the book:

Rasmea Admission of Bombing Women - Prisoners for Palestine part 1
Rasmea Admission of Bombing Women - Prisoners for Palestine part 2

At the Israeli trial, one of the co-conspirators, 17 year old Samieh Ali Ibrahim Almuyal, admitted that Rasmea got him involved in the bombing plot, as reported by the Jerusalem Post on Jan 23, 1970 (h/t @nuritbaytch)(full article embedded later in this post):

Jersusalem Post SUPERSOL SABOTEURS SENTENCED TO LIFE Samia admits charges at trial

One of Rasmea’s ‘s friends, Ayisha, bragged about Rasmea’s leading role decades later.  Here is an excerpt from the documentary Women in Struggle (full video here)

“Rasmeah Odeh was more involved than I was [in the grocery store bombing] … I only got involved during the preparation of explosives. We wanted to place two bombs to blow up consecutively. I suggested to have the second bomb go off five or six minutes after the first bomb so that those who get killed in it would be members of the army and secret service, but it did not explode. They diffused it 20 seconds before it exploded.” [Transcription via Elder of Ziyon]

Here are the key screen shots from the video:

Women in Struggle Video Rasmiyeh Oudeh super sol

Women in Struggle Video Rasmiyeh Oudeh more involved

Women in Struggle Video Rasmiyeh Oudeh studied location

Women in Struggle Video Rasmiyeh Oudeh preparation explosives

The co-conspirator Ayisha also admitted involvement at the time she confessed (which she claimed was after torture).  

The story she told the Israeli police in 1969 was consistent with the story she told in 2004, and in fact weapons and explosives were found in both Rasmea’s and Ayisha’s homes (see police reports earlier in this post):

Women in Struggle Rasmieh Odeh Ayesha Confessed About Weapons Location

Women in Struggle Rasmieh Odeh Ayesha Confessed About Weapons Location 2

The co-conspirator Ayisha making these admissions years after prison release is the same woman pictured in the 1970 Jerusalem Post article about the trial verdict next to Rasmea and their lawyer (as pointed out at the Investigative Project website).

A full copy of Jerusalem Post article is embedded later in this post.

Jersusalem Post SUPERSOL SABOTEURS SENTENCED TO LIFE Rasmieh and Ayesha with Lawyer

Rasmea Received A Fair Trial and Defense in Israel

A consistent theme in the pro-Rasmea campaign is that Rasmea was not permitted to defend herself in the Israel military court trial.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

The record produced by Israel pursuant to Treaty reflects extensive pretrial and trial proceedings.

While only a limited amount of these documents have been made public by the prosecution or defense in the Detroit case (as part of Court motion filings), it reads like a docket you might expect in a U.S. Court, although some of the procedures, like a “trial within a trial,” are not a domestic procedure. (The “trial within a trial” was as to admissibility of confessions.)

The full index of the prosecution of Rasmea and her co-conspirators is available at Exhibit K to the government’s Motion to Admit Foreign Evidence filed in the federal case.

Rasmieh Odeh Case – Exhibit K to Motion of United States to Admit Foreign Evidence

Although extensive proceedings do not guarantee fairness, independent evidence demonstrates that the trial was fair.

Here is the full Jerusalem Post report on the trial (reprinted with permission):

Jersusalem Post SUPERSOL SABOTEURS SENTENCED TO LIFE full

(Jerusalem Post, January 23, 1970)(reprinted with permission)

There are several key portions of the trial report.

First, the issue of alleged torture of all suspects was extensively addressed by the military court, leading the trial to stretch out over 6 months, before the allegation was rejected:

Jersusalem Post SUPERSOL SABOTEURS SENTENCED TO LIFE Trial 6 Months Torture Allegation

This is consistent with the court docket, which reflected that Israel presented witness testimony disputing the torture allegations.

Again, only some of the details of that Israeli rebuttal testimony on the issue of torture are among the documents obtained. We have Rasmea’s full account, but only a partial account of the rebuttal:

Rasmieh Odeh - Index Israel Records -Witness Testimony to Rebut claims of torture

Rasmieh Odeh - Israeli Witness Disputes Torture

(English Translation of Original)

Rasmieh Odeh - Israeli Witness Disputes Torture 2

(English Translation of Original)

Rasmieh Odeh - Israeli Witness Disputes Torture 3

(English Translation of Original)

There is no way to judge credibility from these partial records of events that took place 45 years ago. The key point is that the torture allegation was disputed by witnesses at the time, and subject to defense by Rasmea’s lawyer.

This all would have taken place while being observed by a representative of the International Red Cross, who indicated in the Jerusalem Post article that the trial was fair.

Rasmea also was found to be the mastermind, which is consistent with Ayisha’s 2004 video testimony:

Jersusalem Post SUPERSOL SABOTEURS SENTENCED TO LIFE Rasmieh Ringleader

After voluminous documentary evidence and testimony, Rasmea was found guilty, as this portion of the verdict (the only portion made public by the prosecutors and defense in the Detroit case) reflects:

Rasmieh Odeh - Israel Verdict as to Rasmieh

(English Translation of Original)

Note that the recital in this portion of the verdict is completely consistent with the 2004 video account by Ayisha and evidence independent Rasmea’s confessions.

An observer from the International Red Cross also attended the trial, and declared that the trial was fair:

Jersusalem Post SUPERSOL SABOTEURS SENTENCED TO LIFE Red Cross Observer Statement Fair Trial

While the claim is made that this was a mere “kangaroo court,” in fact the court found one of the defendants not guilty of one of the charges:

Rasmieh Odeh - Israel Verdict as to Defendant No. 3 Partial Acquittal

(English Translation of Original)

In June 1975, Rasmea briefly escaped from prison.

On March 14, 1979, Rasmea and 75 other prisoners in Israeli jails were exchanged for one Israeli soldier captured in Lebanon.

2014: Rasmea Guilty of Immigration Fraud

In 1994, Rasmea applied for a visa to the United States.  Rasmea falsely answered questions related to prior arrests, convictions and prison service (yellow highlighting added):

Rasmieh Odeh Case - Visa Application - Trial Exh 2A - Name

* * *

(Yellow Highlighting Added)

(Yellow Highlighting Added)

When Rasmea applied for naturalization (after changing her name) to become a U.S. Citizen in 2004, she again falsely answered key questions (yellow highlighting added):

Rasmieh Odeh Case - Naturalization Application - Trial Exh 1A - Photo

* * *

(Yellow Highlighting Added)

(Yellow Highlighting Added)

The Detroit federal trial was simple and the guilty verdict for immigration fraud inevitable given the facts.

Rasmea undeniably had been convicted in Israel in 1970 for the bombing of the SuperSol supermarket in Jerusalem.  Rasmea also was convicted in connection with a failed bombing at the British Consulate that same day.

Rasmea was sentenced to life in prison after a trial in a military court, served ten years, then had her sentence commuted.

Rasmea’s conviction and prison incarceration are facts.  Those facts, however, were not disclosed by Rasmea on her 1994 Visa Application and 2004 Naturalization Application, despite questions clearly calling for such information.

Those false answers formed the basis for the Indictment of Rasmea and subsequent trial in federal court, which commenced on November 4.

At the trial, Rasmea claimed that she didn’t understand the word “EVER” (all caps in original) and thought it meant only convictions and imprisonment since Rasmea came to the United States.  The prosecution, and apparently the jury too, scoffed at the suggestion that “ever” doesn’t mean “ever.”

The prosecution used the analogy in closing argument about a woman asking her husband-to-be if he “ever” had been married, and the husband answering “no” even though he had been married in a foreign country before coming to the United States. It was a ridiculous defense, and rightly rejected.

It is no surprise that the Detroit jury took only 2 hours of deliberation to find Rasmea guilty.  Rasmea lied. Those lies were in writing.  It was as close to a 2 plus 2 equals 4 case as you can get.

Rasmea was defiant after the verdict.

Sentencing is in March, 2015.

Rasmea faces up to 10 years in prison (although far less than that is likely) and then deportation.

Jury Nullification Trial Tactic Fails

The “Free Rasmea” campaign, which started months before the trial, reflects the narrative.  As previously written, twice Judge Gershwin A. Drain had to issue orders protecting jurors from interference from protesters, at least one of whom expressed a desire to influence the jury.

Poster Rasmieh Odeh All Out For Detroit

Rasmea’s trial strategy reflected these tactics.

Initially, Rasmea tried to Jew-bait Judge Paul Borman, originally assigned to the case, into recusing himself because of his close ties to the Jewish community.

(Rasmea Odeh appearing before Judge Paul D. Borman)

(Rasmea Odeh appearing before Judge Paul D. Borman)

Judge Borman initially rejected the attempt, which would have been akin to asking a black judge to recuse himself or herself in a case involving a black party.

Judge Borman wrote, in part:

… Defendant concludes that I must recuse myself from this case because my lifelong support of, and my fund raising efforts on behalf of, the Detroit Jewish Federation, a local social service organization which distributes some of its funds to provide social services in Israel and other international Jewish communities, necessarily predispose the Court against this Defendant. Further, with not a shred of factual support, Defendant makes the startling claim that in the course of trips to Israel the Court necessarily has become personally privy to “extra-judicial information about the issues of torture and the operations of the military courts raised by Defendant in this case.” ….

Defendant claims not to challenge my “charitable work on behalf of Jewish people” or my “trips to Israel as a tourist.” Yet this is the principal basis of the factual allegations relied upon in questioning my ability to judge this case impartially.1 Defendant misrepresents the nature of my actual work. Based upon statements contained in a biography created in connection with my receipt from the Detroit Jewish Federation of an Award for my work on behalf of the Jewish Federation, Defendant leaps to the conclusion that I have inside information regarding the “Israeli military legal system in the Occupied West Bank,” that will affect my ability to be impartial in this case. Not a single piece of factual evidence is offered to support this baseless assertions.

[Footnote 1] Defendant, even after the Government Response clarifying that I am not the Paul Borman that is married to Marlene Borman, yesterday filed supplemental documents containing tax information related to my cousin’s family. Those documents, and more specifically my cousin’s charitable giving, have nothing at all to do with me.

… Defendant offers not a shred of evidence, nor even a factual assertion to support the suggestion, that I was made “privy to extra-judicial information” about the subject matter of this trial. Defendant states that “[a]s a respected jurist, it is logical that [I] must have made inquiries of Israeli officials about the persistent complaints of torture and illegality of the Occupation and the military court system,” and that it is “more than likely” that I received explanations from Israeli officials of an extra-judicial nature that “can only” affect my impartiality. (Mot. 4.) (Emphasis added.) These factually baseless allegations are irresponsible speculation.

Like every one of my colleagues on the bench, I have a history and a heritage, but neither interferes with my ability to administer impartial justice to Ms. Odeh or to the Government. “‘It appears to be an inescapable part of our system that judges are drawn primarily from lawyers who have participated in public and political affairs.’” Buell, 274 F.3d at 347 (quoting United States v. Alabama, 828 F.2d 1532, 1543 (11th Cir. 1987). My relationship to my faith and my heritage through my activity on behalf of the Detroit Jewish Federation, reads nothing like the innuendo and rank speculation that infects Defendant’s motion. As Judge Higginbotham first observed and as numerous courts have similarly concluded, “[t]he facts pleaded will not suffice to show the personal bias required by the statute if they go to the background and associations of the judge rather than to his appraisal of a party personally.” 388 F. Supp. at 159….

Twenty years ago nearly to the day, I swore an oath to “administer justice without respect to persons, and [to] do equal right to the poor and to the rich, and [to] faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all the duties incumbent upon me [] under the Constitution and laws of the United States.” 28 U.S.C. § 453. I have honored this oath every day, and will continue to do so, as I preside over this case and all cases in this Court. I unequivocally express my ability and intent to decide this case solely according to law. Defendant has not provided facts that would permit a reasonable, objective person to question this Court’s impartiality. Defendant’s motion strikes at the very heart of a Federal Judge’s pledge to administer impartial justice, and does so with careless and rank speculation.

The Court concludes that disqualification is not required and the Defendant’s motion is DENIED.

Later, Judge Borman, on his own initiative, recused himself when additional documents produced in the case revealed that his family in the 1960s at the time of the bombing, had a small interest in the SuperSol supermarket chain.

(Hon. Gershwin A. Drain)

(Hon. Gershwin A. Drain)

Rasmea’s supporters hailed Judge Borman’s recusal at the time, but based on Judge Drain’s subsequent pre-trial and trial rulings, Rasmea’s supporters now bitterly complain about Judge Drain’s alleged unfairness and partiality.

Rasmea also tried to put Israel on trial in a clear attempt at jury nullification, but the judge would not allow it since her conviction was the only relevant fact to the federal immigration charges.

The judge’s ruling made perfect sense. If prosecutors had to retry cases from foreign jurisdictions for every immigration fraud case based on non-disclosure of conviction and imprisonment, the applicable questions on visa and naturalization forms would lose all viability.  How are U.S. prosecutors supposed to prove cases where all the witnesses are abroad involving events from years or decades earlier?

During the trial, Rasmea defied the judge and blurted out to the jury that she was tortured and was a political prisoner in Israel. Judge Drain sustained prosecution objections, but there doesn’t seem to be any other consequence for Rasmea.

The federal prosecution also is portrayed as a persecution of pro-Palestinian activists in the U.S.   Even defense counsel claimed the Israeli government and “Israel Lobby” were behind it:

Fortunately, the Judge did not let Rasmea’s defense turn the courtroom into a three-ring political circus.

End of Story: “Free Rasmea Odeh” Campaign Based False Narrative of Innocence and Victimization

In the Introduction, we hinted at the nature of the victim narrative which has been built up by Rasmea’s supporters.

A good, relatively non-inflammatory, example of the arguments behind the Free Rasmea movemant  is set forth by Ray Hanania in The Arab Daily News (h/t Elder of Ziyon)(emphasis added):

It’s hard to know what the truth is about Rasmea (Rasmieh) Yousef Odeh, 66, the Palestinian woman who was charged by Israel 45 years ago with conducting an act of violence against Israeli civilians.

Ironically, Odeh was charged by Israel but was never given the opportunity to defend herself. Israel routinely denies Palestinians the right to a legal defense and has incarcerated tens of thousands of Palestinians on false charges of engaging in violent acts, even though in many cases, the accused have merely expressed verbal opposition to Israel’s brutal occupation…

Israel accused Odeh with participating in the planning of a terrorist attack that took the lives of two civilians at a crowded Jerusalem supermarket on Feb. 21, 1969. She was 21 years old at the time. Responsibility for the incident was claimed by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) which has a strong base of activists in Chicago.

An Israeli military court convicted Odeh and three others “for membership in an illegal organization,” (the PFLP) and as such she was accused of participating in all three bombings. Odeh’s supporters insist she was tortured by Israeli interrogators who are notorious for their brutality, and she was forced to make an admission of guilt.

Odeh’s supporters insist she was not involved in the attack and was convicted the same way all Palestinians are convicted in the Israeli court system, without justice or the right to defend themselves. Odeh has refused to discuss the incident and declined several interview requests on the issue. At the time of the attack, Israel was arresting and killing Palestinians as a part of a campaign to eliminate critics in the West Bank which it had occupied only 21 months earlier.

Similarly, an article at The Nation, by someone also covering the trial for the anti-Israeli Electronic Intifada, asked Will Rasmea Odeh Go to Prison Because of a Confession Obtained Through Torture?  At The Hill, the policy director of the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, wondered Why is Obama’s DOJ prosecuting a torture victim?

Rasmea’s lawyer in the federal case, Michael Deutsch, filed a motion for judgment notwithstanding the jury verdict declaring Rasmea’s innocence:

The Court also improperly limited the defendant from testifying in her own defense by preventing the defendant from testifying that she was tortured to coerce her confession in 1969, that she was innocent of the accusation brought by the Israeli Military Occupation legal system, and that the Israeli military legal system operated in violation of international law, Due Process and fundamental fairness.

There are many other more inflammatory accusations about Rasmea’s conviction in Israel coming from the usual known anti-Israel propagandists.

Yet what is there to support this narrative? As to innocence, the record of guilt is clear, and independent of the confessions.

As to alleged torture, we have no verifiable way of confirming or disputing Ramea’s story of multiple gang rapes, rape with a stick while suspended from the ceiling, being forced to watch another prisoner tortured to death, electric shocks to genitals, and coercion used against her father in a failed attempt to get him to rape her.  We would like to think that no one would make up such a claim, and that we absolutely could trust such testimonies.  But we also would like to think that someone would not plant a bomb in a supermarket with a back up device to explode when first responders arrived.

As noted above, the timing of the confession, coming just one day after arrests, casts doubt on Rasmea’s entire story, as does her denials of involvement in the bombings despite her own and others admissions after release from Israeli prison of involvement.

If Rasmea were tortured as she described, which is questionable, it was despicable and should be condemned, but that does not absolve her of killing two university students and lying on her visa and naturalization forms, all of which are independently proven without reference to the confessions.

Rasmea is now a cause, based on the false narrative of innocence and victimization for being Palestinian.

(Protesters lock themselves to Courthouse doors in Oakland)(Photo credit Lara Kiswani via Twitter)

https://twitter.com/JVPBoston/status/534483355124133888

(Boston Jewish Voice for Peace protesters via Twitter)

Conclusion

The Free Rasmea Odeh campaign is based on fiction and political polemics, not the reality of what happened at the SuperSol supermarket and Rasmea’s false answers on her immigration applications.

Perhaps the Court will show some mercy for Rasmea in sentencing in March 2015, and not sentence her to lengthy prison time prior to deportation.

If so, that will be more mercy than Rasmea showed for her bombing victims.

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Comments

Excellent summary of the case against Odeh.

Thanks for the ammunition

That’s quite abit of work you did in compiling and putting together all the different available documents, articles, and interviews related to her case in Israel.

My question is that to the extent Israel is willing to come down hard on Palestinians who allegedly perpetrate crimes, such as the death of these two Israelis by a bomb, why isn’t similar justice afforded to those not Israeli, such as Americans killed or maimed for life by Israeli military action. I’m thinking of Rachel Corey and another young American from the San Francisco area, who went to Israel with his Jewish girlfriend to visit her relatives. They went to witness a protest and were on the side. After the protest was over, he was shot in the face by a high velocity teargas cannister and damaged for life. To this date, six years later, Israeli courts have done nothing. The family has to put up bond money to guarantee they will not stay in Israel after the court hearing. They do. They fly to Israel and other witnesses from other countries fly there, only to be told, after they arrive, the case has been postponed. That’s not all. Information provided by Israel, concerning the incident, keeps changing. Others would call that fabricating the story. Probably nothing will be done here, just like nothing was done about an Israeli bulldozer running over and killing Rachel Corey (who, like other protestors, were there to try and block Israel’s rampant practice of bulldozing Palestinian homes).

You want justice. You scream for it from the roof tops. Justice is only justice when it’s equally applied to both sides, to all. That is not present in Israel, as much as they brag about being “so democratic.” It’s a Jewish, theocratic state, (except if you come from Africa). Israel has a four tier legal system. The best, the fairest, are for Israeli citizens. Then it progressively worse, until you arrive at the “justice system” provided for those Israel Occupies. A military court trial there is about as fair as Gitmo trials here.

Right now, Israel “law” is doing “collective punishment”, bulldozing the family homes of those two men who slaughtered the four Rabbis and the police officer. What other country acts with such a heavy hand?

Israel continues to Occupy another country, Palestine, and continues to abuse that lopsided power position by stealing their land, building illegal settlements on confiscated land, allowing its IDF forces to kill civilians with live ammunition, shoot them in the face with high velocity teargas cannisters, and most recently to slaughter over 2,000 civilians in Gaza. And you wonder why those Occupied are pushed to suicidal measures.

As long as you just look at one side and ignore the whole picture, you are not providing the truth. Justice (hearing from both sides, giving both sides equal time, equal value) is symbolized by that lady with a blindfold on, holding the scales (balanced, or meant to be provided a context in while balance happens). That is not what Israel provides or is doing.

If this is not your intent, you should rename by site (Legal ……).

    Ragspierre in reply to Dean Olson. | November 19, 2014 at 11:10 am

    You are a liar, immoral, and a moron. You really have nothing to contribute here.

    When…if ever…you can reform, you can try again.

      platypus in reply to Ragspierre. | November 19, 2014 at 12:47 pm

      Liar is not the only four letter word I can think of. It still amazes me how someone can hang out in places full of people he can’t stand. Nobody does that except masochists and certain types of thrill seeking sex deviants.

      Anyway, the silent treatment needs to be taken down from the top shelf and dusted off.

    a butt hurt idiot acts butt hurt.
    what a shocker, news at 11.

    weenchit in reply to Dean Olson. | November 19, 2014 at 11:37 am

    The “Occupation” is also a lie. Israel does not “occupy” land it doesn’t own. The Arabs are the ones occupying land that is Israel. The entire Palestinian state concept is based on lies. There is no historical, legal, moral or practical justification for its existence. Your propaganda machine is old and tired and is not going to get you any victories anymore. All you will ever get is a legion of stupid people to keep agreeing with you. But in the end you will lose.

      Dean Olson in reply to weenchit. | November 19, 2014 at 12:17 pm

      Dear Weenchit, check your history. Israel was created in 1947 by the United Nations, dividing up Palestine (an existing people, populating an area with other races, religions, cultures living side by side and existing together). But, that wasn’t enough, so the war of 1948 claimed more of the pie. Which apparently still wasn’t enough, so the war of 1967 took over the whole enchilada.

      Though Israel by force took over all of the Palestinian area (and the Jordan and Egyptian areas), Internationally this was declared an Occupation of these areas by Israel. Meaning, they,on their own, cannot by International law, take whatever they “claim” is theirs.

      They “gave back” the area taken from Egypt, but not from Jordan. Israel still Occupies that Jordanian area. The big news, though, is always in the Occupied Palestinian areas.

      So, no matter what you “think” (as so expressed), International law, the rest of the world, sees what Israel is doing is an Occupation.

      Israel ceased to exist as a country in 66 C.E., when Israel, then an Occupied country, choose to rise up in revolt against their Occupiers, Rome, and were brutally put down, the Temple torn down, and Israel wiped off the map. 2,000 plus years ago. And, out of that destruction, two sisters survived and became new world religions claiming similar religious roots, Rabbinic Judaism and Christinaity (which as you notice contains a very Jewish word, Christos, or Messiah, or the Anointed One). Judaism as it existed before 66 C.E. ceased to exist and new children emerged from the ruins.

        Doug Wright Old Grouchy in reply to Dean Olson. | November 19, 2014 at 12:57 pm

        Your comments are another reason why the 1st Amendment is so very important to the USA!

        Without that wonderful amendment, your opponents would not be allowed to express their contrary views, which are based on reality, truth, justice and the American Way.

        But, the downside is that you’re allowed to spew out your venom. Still, we now know what you are. Try to live in peace, we will.

        weenchit in reply to Dean Olson. | November 19, 2014 at 1:05 pm

        “Palestine” is not an “existing people.” The Philistines were not an existing people at the time Rome named the region Philistina. The people in Gaza, East Jerusalem etc are just Arabs. There has never been a country called Palestine and there never will be one. Arabs didn’t care about this region until 1948. They only cared about it when their attempts to wipe out the Jews failed and they lost territory despite their aggression against Israel. Israel did not steal land from anyone.

        Milhouse in reply to Dean Olson. | November 19, 2014 at 5:04 pm

        Lies. Israel was not created by the United Nations. the first clue should be that the General Assembly has no power to do anything. The 1947 partition was a proposal that the General Assembly made, to try to resolve the conflict. The Jews reluctantly accepted the deal, the Arabs rejected it, so it was never implemented. End of story. That deal went permanently off the table the moment the Arabs decided they’d rather go to war. They had no right to any of the land, but the Jews were so desperate for peace at the time that they agreed to that very bad deal; they will never agree to it again. The Arabs ended the war in control of Judea, Benjamin, Samaria, the Gaza strip, and half of Jerusalem. Not content with that, in 1967 they tried to wipe out the Jews and grab the whole thing; they failed, and lost what they had been occupying for 19 years. That’s what happens to aggressors. They have no more right to claim it back than Germany has to the territory it occupied during WW2. Or for that matter, than Germany has to the territory that it had before WW2, but lost to Poland as a result of its aggression.

        Gremlin1974 in reply to Dean Olson. | November 19, 2014 at 7:34 pm

        Uhh, Fantasy is not history.

        “…dividing up Palestine (an existing people, populating an area with other races, religions, cultures living side by side and existing together)…”

        But not people living in peace. The Muslims had always mistreated and oppressed the Christians and Jews, ever since the Muslim conquests of the Middle East.

        And even so, Muslims pogroms were a regular recurring feature of Muslim “tolerance”, ever since the conquest. See my comment on the “Israel to ease self defense gun restrictions” post on this blog.

        “Convert, accept subjugation or die” are the choices that the Koran mandates for Christians and Jews. “Convert or die” are the choices the Koran mandates for people of all other religions.

    Spiny Norman in reply to Dean Olson. | November 19, 2014 at 11:48 am

    Oh gawd, another one.

    2003 called and wants its clumsy propaganda campaign back.

    tom swift in reply to Dean Olson. | November 19, 2014 at 1:18 pm

    My question is that to the extent Israel is willing to come down hard on Palestinians who allegedly perpetrate crimes, such as the death of these two Israelis by a bomb, why isn’t similar justice afforded to those not Israeli, such as Americans killed or maimed for life by Israeli military action.

    And my question is, what has all this extranea to do with this case?

    This case is about who we Americans ‒ and American law ‒ consider to be our fellow citizens.

    Bombers and perjurers we can do without.

      Dean Olson in reply to tom swift. | November 19, 2014 at 3:36 pm

      Dear Tom Swift, you are assuming that all the documentation presented in the article, coming from the Israeli military trial, is “fair and unbiased” and represented a trial like we offer here in the United States.

      Israeli legal system(s) (there are four different tiers) don’t play by the same rules we’ve established. It was a military trial. Gitmo and other gulags run by our CIA and the military “swept up” all kinds of people they accused. Turns out, when looked at by our civilian legal system, most of them were innocent. Even if they were, they could not have brought them to trial because of the things they did to the “combatants” that are illegal, even war crimes under International law.

      Amazing how the Israeli military court system can find so many Palestinians guilty of this or that, but not check out, let alone bring to trial all the documented extrajudicial killings, maimings and killing of civilians, like Rachel Corey, etc. Pretty big blind spot there.

        Ragspierre in reply to Dean Olson. | November 19, 2014 at 3:58 pm

        Gitmo and other gulags run by our CIA and the military “swept up” all kinds of people they accused. Turns out, when looked at by our civilian legal system, most of them were innocent.

        You’re BOTH an idiot and a liar.

        All you do is ape lying-points from your moonbat masters. Go away. You are hurting the cumulative IQ here.

        Dean, what you (and so many protesters) ignore is that it is completely IMMATERIAL and IRRELEVANT for purposes of the present prosecution and conviction whether Ms. Odeh committed the crime for which she was convicted in Israel, and whether she was tortured and forced into making a confession. Frankly, for purposes of U.S. Immigration law, I don’t give a damn!

        She WAS arrested. She WAS convicted. She WAS jailed. She lied on her U.S. immigration papers.

        The U.S. Immigration forms did not ask “Were you RIGHTLY arrested?” “Were you RIGHTFULLY convicted?” When you complete the U.S. Immigation forms, if you feel that your arrest, conviction and incarceration were wrongful, you are required to answer “Yes” and you have ample opportunity to explain. NO ONE, not even you and your buddies, denies that she lied on her U.S. Immigration papers. You can fabricate whatever bullshit you want, but she committed perjury in her U.S. Immigration forms. End of story.

        By Dean Olson’s logic, German soldiers in WWII should have been taken back to America for civilian trials rather than shot.

    Gremlin1974 in reply to Dean Olson. | November 19, 2014 at 7:32 pm

    Its not that I don’t look at the whole picture, its that I just don’t agree with your interpretation of the picture. As far as I am concerned the restraint that Israel has shown for the past several decades is admirable, considering that, imho, they should have driven the terrorist filth into the sea 20 years ago and have been done with it.

    Your side lost the war, in fact they not only lost but got trounced by that little country on several occasions. If “Palestinians” want “fair treatment” then I would suggest that they try not killing and blowing stuff up. If they continue to kill innocents and blow stuff up then as far as I am concerned Israel should adopt a stance of 1 to 10,000, that means for every one Israeli citizen killed they should kill 10,000 of whoever killed that citizen. I also think this is the stance that the US should take for protection of its own citizens.f

    The problem you have is that you live in a fantasy land.

      Milhouse in reply to Gremlin1974. | November 20, 2014 at 1:57 pm

      I disagree. The restraint that Israel has shown for the past several decades is not admirable, it’s insane, and a crime against its own population. Successive governments, including Netanyahu’s, have deliberately put their citizen’s safety at great risk, merely for the sake of kowtowing to the anti-Israel left, both abroad and at home (particularly in the judiciary and the state prosecutor’s office, both of which are independent of the elected government, and hold it in contempt). Governments are established among men only in order to secure their people’s liberties; a government that deliberately endangers its people has no right to exist.

    “It’s a Jewish, theocratic state”

    And yet, curiously, it is a state in which people are free to be atheists, to live secular lives, to be openly gay, and so on.

      pst314 in reply to pst314. | November 19, 2014 at 7:58 pm

      …which is to say that it’s not much of a theocracy.

      You like to throw around lies with such abandon that you make it very clear that you are deeply dishonest. And given the moral character of the side you have chosen, it is equally clear that you are a morally depraved individual. Not mistaken, depraved.

      Milhouse in reply to pst314. | November 20, 2014 at 1:59 pm

      Yes, one constantly hears, even from people who are generally pro-Israel, that it’s a theocracy, which is just insane. Israel is a Jewish state in exactly the same way that Ireland is a Catholic state, and the UK is an Anglican state.

Can she be deported into Kurdistan…???

they want to overturn her conviction go elsewhere, not up to us to fix her imagined slights.
the form doesn’t say anything about convicted falsely, or with torture, or with whatever else they imagine the form said.
it only says were you convicted.
theres only one answer.
yes.
she lied.
simple.

Send her to work in a pig farm.

With all the debate about Israel aside, she’s guilty, when and where do we boot her ass out of here?

    CalFed in reply to StanW. | November 19, 2014 at 2:51 pm

    Title 8, USC 1451 states in relevant part:

    When a person shall be convicted under section 1425 of title 18 of knowingly procuring naturalization in violation of law, the court in which such conviction is had SHALL thereupon revoke, set aside, and declare void the final order admitting such person to citizenship, and shall declare the certificate of naturalization of such person to be canceled. Jurisdiction is conferred on the courts having jurisdiction of the trial of such offense to make such adjudication.

    This seems to indicate that the revocation of her citizenship will follow as a natural consequence of her conviction. Of course, we will no doubt have to live through the appellate process.

People that blow up innocents, or chop off heads, are not past fabricating anything, even stories of torture.

It was at the naturalization stage that she could have come clean and faced the music, but she chose to lie once again, and doomed her chance for success.

That does not let her ignorant or malicious supporters off the hook.

    Dear oldschooltwentysix, That’s true. Of course, who I am thinking of is Israel and what they recently did in Gaza, exactly what you say “blow up innocents and chop off heads” (which is literally true of DIME demolitions). I agree, people that do this are not past fabricating anything.

    Ever think in this other direction?

      Milhouse in reply to Dean Olson. | November 19, 2014 at 5:10 pm

      More lies. In the IDF’s entire history it has never once deliberately targeted an innocent person. Innocent bystanders accidentally killed while targeting a legitimate target is 100% lawful; that is how war is fought. But while most armies accept a ratio of 3 civilians killed to 1 enemy, Israel has kept the ratio down below 1:1. The vast majority of those killed in the recent Gaza campaign were enemy soldiers. That some innocents had to die with them is unfortunate, but they’re no different than the innocent Germans whom we killed in WW2. (Or for that matter the innocent Frenchmen whom we killed on D-Day! Funny how nobody thinks that was a crime!)

        Gremlin1974 in reply to Milhouse. | November 19, 2014 at 7:41 pm

        Also the largest reason that innocents are accidently hurt and killed by the IDF is because the abject cowards who purposefully target innocents also use innocents as shields to protect their yellow godless behinds.

      Ragspierre in reply to Dean Olson. | November 19, 2014 at 6:09 pm

      “…Rachel Corey, etc. Pretty big blind spot there.”

      Yeeeeeup. HUGE blind spot.

      See, moron, I’ve operated BIG bulldozers. Modern D-8s and larger. You can’t see anything BUT a blade in front of you. You can’t see the cutting edges of the blade. You can ONLY see the front of the tracks, not any part of what’s in front of them.

      And that is NOT an armored bulldozer, in which visibility is even LESS.

      So, if you are some stupid hippy-chick who bops out in front of a moving dozer, you have just killed yourself. The operator has no idea you are there, and THAT stupid.

A Modest Suggestion:

This thing posting under the name “Dean Olsen” is an obvious Troll that may or may not harbor anti-Israeli/anti-Jewish ideals. The thing that cannot be refuted is that it is a Troll, and folks here are feeding it. Ignore it, don’t respond to what the screeds it spews, and it will dry up and go somewhere else.

All these responses are just giving it what it wants. Stop feeding it!

Hay Rags, Mike45, Gremlin1974, your comments about Rachel Corey are disgusting. You can joke about a fellow American (whether she was hippy or not) being crushed to death by a CAT bulldozer, yet get so pissy over the trial.

And, Walker Evans, my name is Olson (not Olsen). And, believe it or not, I am not a Troll, and more importantly, I am not anti-Jewish and I am not anti-Israel. I represent a different viewpoint (not part of the choir, as you have noticed). Some of my best friends are Jewish. As trite as that sounds, I’m speaking about my wife and her four kids, and others were I work and neighbors I have and believe it or not, where I worship.

I am American, like I assume all of you are. But that doesn’t mean I’m happy with our government. Just like I get very upset with Israel’s violent and lethal actions.

And Walker, your comment to close in your ranks, to pretend like I’m not here, that is okay, too. But I am here. I do represent a very different viewpoint than most of you. And since you all choose to go onto a public forum, out in the open and available for anybody to walk thru the door, quit your snivelling.

    Gremlin1974 in reply to Dean Olson. | November 20, 2014 at 3:01 pm

    Uhh, I never made any comment about Rachel Cory, nor a bulldozer. So once again you are inaccurate or just out right lying.

    As far as the whole bulldozer thing, Rags never said he was “happy” or “joking” about someone being crushed by a bulldozer. (More inaccuracy or lies.) Whether you like it or not he is correct if you run in front of a large piece of machinery while it is running and moving then you take your life in your own hands.

    He is also correct about the limited visibility from such machinery. But then again I guess you would blame the train driver for someone who jumped in front of a train/subway?

    It comes down to this, if you decide to pay “stupid human tricks” then you are responsible for what happens to you. That is not a joke, it is just fact.

    “I am not anti-Jewish and I am not anti-Israel. I represent a different viewpoint (not part of the choir, as you have noticed).”

    Yes, the viewpoint that by your comments is Anti-Israel, no one said you were Anti-Jewish.

    “Some of my best friends are Jewish.”

    Probably, but then again some of the most vocal Anti-Israel folks I have met are American Jews. It has never made sense to me, but it is what my experience has been.

    “Just like I get very upset with Israel’s violent and lethal actions.”

    So you believe they should just let folks rape, kill, pillage and burn without reprisal?

    Ragspierre in reply to Dean Olson. | November 20, 2014 at 3:22 pm

    Let me be MORE clear…

    You are a lying sack of shit. You have NO idea what you’re talking about, but simply come here to post absolute lies you’ve either ginned up yourself or read on the moonbattery.

    ONE such is your bullshit about a striated judicial system in Israel. As an attorney, we have EXACTLY that kind of system here, and have for our national history.

    That NEVER means that a citizen or accused here is dealt with prejudically by our system or Israel’s or England’s, for that matter. Some courts simply deal with matters or amounts in controversy others do not.

    And military courts have a very proud history of applying good law to the people standing before them, both in this country and in other common law nations, including Israel.

    As I said, you are just a liar, AND an IDIOT who has not bothered to research the crap your skull has been packed with.

    You are most assuredly a troll, and, as is typical of trolls, you are lying about THAT.

    I LIKE dealing with trolls, since they provide a wonderful chance to teach.

Dear Rags, you seem to have a limited vocabulary. And friend Gremlin1974, by shouting praises for what Rags said about Rachel, you are just as complicit as saying it. And by the way, she did not “jump out” in front the CAT. Check out the article and pics in Rolling Stone from back then. Like other protestors, she went to the home of the doctor that Israel said they were going to bulldoze. Protestors BLOCK the path (stand in front of, or sit down in front of). She was standing and present as the bulldozer was pulling up. There is a picture of her standing, then a follow up picture of her being crushed.
You are looking at her back and into the front of the bulldozer cage, where I assume the driver was. I assume he could see, unless he was so short, he couldn’t see over the instrument panel and window in front of him. He probably assumed she would jump out of the way.

And Rags, as a lawyer you dam well know Israel has a structured tier system, one for Israeli citizens, then dimenishing separate courts for those who fall outside this category. All the way down to military courts to deal with all the crumbs.

And Rags, you are wearing rose colored glasses to think even here, or England our legal systems are not skewed. We have the largest prison population in the world and it’s primarily loaded down with people of color.

Look at the “justice” about to announced by the grand jury in Furgeson. Look at the LACK of justice on wall street: not one prick who defrauded pension funds, home owners, investors has been brought to trial. Not one.

It’s not the end of the world. It just means we have a lot of work to do and need to roll up our sleeves and get to it.

Blessings to all of you.

    Ragspierre in reply to Dean Olson. | November 20, 2014 at 4:42 pm

    See?

    You are not an American, except in the MOST strained definition of that term. You HATE America.

    You cannot support any part of the bullshit you have posted. You just LIE.

    Well, we DO have a large prison population, but that in no way suggests a dearth of due process in our system, much less suggest it is biased against “people of color”. East Indians are “colorful” and make up a tiny minority of our prison population BECAUSE they commit very few crimes. Ditto Koreans.

    See, you’re just another lying, idiot Collectivist troll.

    But it IS fun to punk you…!!!

    Gremlin1974 in reply to Dean Olson. | November 20, 2014 at 6:28 pm

    My “Shouted Praise” was for the logical and thoughtful argument made in regards to what was, to any objective and reasoning, person a tragic accident.

    While I feel for the ladies family it still doesn’t change the fact that Mrs. Corrie ran in front of an armored bulldozer that has a blade that is at least 6 feet tall, and the “hood” area is more on the 9 to 10 foot range, it is also an enclosed cab with armored glass and even less visibility than a normal bulldozer. It is entirely likely that the operator could not see her. Also I notice you use the retoric that she was “crushed to death” which is not true, Corrie was never “run over” by the bulldozer treads, she died because something hit her in the head, she was not crushed.

    Once again, I do not celebrate her death, but if you do something that puts your life in danger and then you die, that is on you.

Glad you are having so much fun, friend Rags. You seem to be much more emotional (and vitreolic) about this, and in possession of a limited amount of slur words.

It just blows me away how most of you submitting comments have rose colored impressions of Israel, Like Milhouse’s shining praise for IDF and Israeli’s military ratio of 1:1 (I assume he feels the over 500 children killed in the Gaza butchery were armed combatants). I don’t think he saw the CNN “caught on camera” account of two of those IDF assassinating two teenage Paletinians.

And Rags, I do remember the USS Liberty, GTR 5, June, 1967. Do you?

    Ragspierre in reply to Dean Olson. | November 20, 2014 at 5:58 pm

    Sure do, stupid.

    “The USS Liberty incident was an attack on a United States Navy technical research ship, USS Liberty, by Israeli Air Force jet fighter aircraft and Israeli Navy motor torpedo boats, on 8 June 1967, during the Six-Day War.[3] The combined air and sea attack killed 34 crew members (naval officers, seamen, two Marines, and one civilian), wounded 171 crew members, and severely damaged the ship.[4] At the time, the ship was in international waters north of the Sinai Peninsula, about 25.5 nmi (29.3 mi; 47.2 km) northwest from the Egyptian city of Arish.[1][5]

    Israel apologized for the attack, saying that the USS Liberty had been attacked in error after being mistaken for an Egyptian ship.[6] Both the Israeli and U.S. governments conducted inquiries and issued reports that concluded the attack was a mistake due to Israeli confusion about the ship’s identity,[2] though others, including survivors of the attack, have rejected these conclusions and maintain that the attack was deliberate.[7]

    In May 1968, the Israeli government paid US$3,323,500 (US$22.5 million 2014) in compensation to the families of the 34 men killed in the attack. In March 1969, Israel paid a further $3,566,457 to the men who had been wounded. On 18 December 1980, it agreed to pay $6 million as settlement for the final U.S. bill of $17,132,709 for material damage to the Liberty herself plus 13 years’ interest.[8]”

    NOW, YOU put up your links to a striated Israeli justice system, you lying SOS.

    Also, put up your sources to DIME ‘demolitions’ (by which you meant ‘munitions’, ya moron).

    Doug Wright Old Grouchy in reply to Dean Olson. | November 20, 2014 at 6:01 pm

    Well now, thanks once again for the 1st Amendment, since you feel free to spout your disgusting rhetoric, we know what you are; I’m grateful for that.

    The one point I grant you considers the USS Liberty; the attack on it was unforgivable but do recall back then, LBJ wasn’t a good friend of Israel then and Israel couldn’t be sure what that ship was doing there; the IDF probably suspected the worst given Israel and the USA’s relationships then. Our relationship with Israel has changed greatly since then and that’s a good thing; at least that was so until Obama came along.

    Still, everything else you mentioned can be easily countered by the facts on the ground; facts not your biased opinions.

“Check out the article and pics in Rolling Stone from back then. Like other protestors, she went to the home of the doctor that Israel said they were going to bulldoze. Protestors BLOCK the path (stand in front of, or sit down in front of). She was standing and present as the bulldozer was pulling up. There is a picture of her standing, then a follow up picture of her being crushed.”–Dean Olson

Dean, your reference to a long discredited series of photographs of Rachel Corrie’s unfortunate confrontation with an Israeli bulldozer is emblematic of your dishonesty in this matter.

Those photographs purporting to show Rachel Corrie immediately before and then immediately after being hit by the bulldozer have long been determined to have been faked by her colleagues at the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) The pictures in question…

http://commentisfreewatch.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/new.png

In fact, the “before” picture was taken several hours before Corrie’s fatal confrontation. Further, if you look closely at the pictures of the two bulldozers it is clear that they are not even the same machine.

Both the NY Times and CNN issued retractions over this matter in which they clarified that the two pictures had been taken hours apart.

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/26/pageoneplus/corrections.html

(scroll to 3/17)

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/meast/03/16/rafah.death/

At the time of her fatal confrontation Corrie had handed off the bull horn to another ISM member and was kneeling in front of the Bulldozer that hit her.

From Wikipedia…

“The IDF produced a video about Corrie’s death that includes footage taken from inside the cockpit of a D9. The video makes a “credible case”, wrote Joshua Hammer in Mother Jones, that “the operators, peering out through narrow, double-glazed, bulletproof windows, their view obscured behind pistons and the giant scooper, might not have seen Corrie kneeling in front of them”.

Furthermore, one of the main ISM witnesses to the fatal incident admitted in an interview that the bulldozer operator could have lost sight of Corrie after she fell behind a mound of dirt.

You see, Dean, the misinformation that you spread is far to easy to debunk for any of us to take what you say seriously.