On March 8, remember victims of #DayWithoutAWoman co-organizer Rasmea Odeh (#DayWithoutEdwardandLeon)

On March 8, remember victims of #DayWithoutAWoman co-organizer Rasmea Odeh (#DayWithoutEdwardandLeon)

March 8 is being organized as “A Day Without A Woman,” and promoted by the people behind the highly-organized Women’s March.

The March 8 protest asks women not to work and to otherwise go on strike.

It was conceived by a small group of radicals, including convicted terrorist murderer Rasmea Odeh.

Rasmea was one of the first female military members of the marxist terrorist group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine.

The evidence is overwhelming of Rasmea’s involvement in the February 21, 1969 bombing of the SuperSol supermarket in Jerusalem that killed to Hebrew University Students, Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner.

Rasmea’s defense, that the only reason she was convicted was that she gave a false confession after 25 days of sexual torture by the Israelis, is demonstrably false. In fact, Rasmea confessed in writing just one day (not 25 days) after arrest and there were multiple independent sources of evidence of her involvement, including bomb-making material found in her bedroom.

Rasmea’s two co-conspirators have spoken on film of Rasmea’s involvement as part of pro-Palestinian documentaries, with one of them terming Rasmea the mastermind of the supermarket bombing.

Rasmea also was convicted of the attempted bombing of the British Consulate.

The 1970 trial was extensive.  Rasmea had independent legal counsel. A representative of the International Red Cross attended the trial, and stated afterwards that the trial was fair.

Rasmea’s role in the PFLP and the Palestinian terrorist movement was so significant that arch terrorist Leila Khalid, the first female airplane hijacker, formed the Rasmea Odeh Brigade. The 1972 Munich Olympics Black September terrorists included Rasmea’s name on the list of prisoners whose release was demanded for Israeli athlete hostages (who were gruesomely tortured and later killed during a rescue attempt).

Rasmea never has apologized for or expressed any remorse for the killing of Edward and Leon.

Rasmea was released in 1979 as part of a prisoner exchange for an Israeli soldier captured in Lebanon. From Lebanon Rasmea made her way to Jordan, and then obtained a visa to the U.S. in 1994.

On the visa application, Rasmea lied about ever having been convicted or imprisoned, and failed to disclose her time in Lebanon. In 2003 Rasmea lied again on her naturalization application, falsely denying having been imprisoned or convicted, or being a member of a terrorist group.

She was convicted of immigration fraud in 2014 and ordered imprisoned for 18 months and then deported. Rasmea obtained a retrial after the court ruled that she should have been permitted to assert a defense that PTSD caused her to give false answers on her naturalization application, so it was not a “knowing” lie (which is part of the crime). The retrial in in May 2017.

Rasmea has become a hero of the anti-Israeli, anti-American and other radical groups. Rasmea and her supporters methodically pushed her to the forefront of the Black Lives Matters and other “intersectional” movements in order to demonize and dehumanize Israel. Anti-Israel groups like the misleadingly named “Jewish Voice for Peace,” and the aggressive campus group Students for Justice in Palestine, have embraced and celebrated Rasmea.

So it was no real surprise that Rasmea was one of the signatories, along with people like Angela Davis, calling for the March 8 international women’s strike.

Rasmea’s involvement has received some national media attention, as we wrote about and documented in Convicted terrorist Rasmea Odeh co-organized March 8 #DayWithoutAWoman.

I have yet to see a statement from Women’s March disavowing Rasmea’s involvement.

Edward’s niece, Terry Joffe Benaryeh, who lives in Texas, recently wrote in Huffington Post about the her outrage of Rasmea being involved in the Women’s March event, Explain It To Me:

Explain to me how a woman who planted a bomb which killed two young men at the Supersol market in Jerusalem on February 21st 1969 is now an organizer of the upcoming Women’s Strike. The stated goal of this strike is “to increase equality, justice, and human rights for women around the world.” I unequivocally commend this goal.

But, explain how my family is supposed to reconcile the reality that the woman who stripped my uncle of his life is now deemed a hero by many of my fellow Americans. What justification is there for Rasmea Odeh, a woman who killed two people (with the intention of killing more!) to lead a peaceful fight for human rights? In the documentary, “Women in Struggle”, Odeh and her accomplice, Ayesha, talk in detail about their gruesome acts. Ayesha names Odeh as the ringleader. Explain to me how explosives found at Odeh’s home matching those used in the bombings sits with your conscience.

What is the difference between the acts of Omar Mateen, Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, Dylan Roof, and Rasmea Odeh? There is no difference….

The Women’s Strike lists as its Principle #1 that “Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. It is a positive force confronting the forces of injustice and utilizes the righteous indignation and spiritual, emotional, and intellectual capabilities of people as the vital force for change and reconciliation.” Rasmea Odeh signed her name to this movement. And she did so with blood on her hands.

I feel for Terry. While I have never met her, I have met many of her relatives in Israel, including the siblings, nieces, newphews, grand-nieces and grand-nephews of Edward and Leon.

They are buried side-by-side on a windswept hillside cemetery in Jerusalem. I visited their graves and said prayers.

[Graves of Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner Jerusalem, photo by William Jacobson]

We should remember it as a Day Without Edward and Leon, just like every day since a bomb planted by Rasmea Odeh took their lives on February 21, 1969.

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