Rasmea Odeh appeared in federal court in Detroit this afternoon for sentencing on immigration fraud charges.
As expected and agreed to in her plea agreement, the Court sentenced Rasmea to deportation and loss of U.S. citizenship. She will serve no further jail time beyond the 33 days already served prior to being released on bail, and is fined $1000. It is not clear when she will be deported, but is now under ICE supervision (but was not taken into custody, per order of the Judge).
Numerous anti-Israel groups promised to bring large crowds of supporters to the sentencing to support Rasmea. Instead, the turnout was paltry, as these tweets from her supporters show.
Even busing people in couldn’t raise the crowd size to a face-saving level:
Expect Rasmea supporters to grossly exaggerate the size of the crowd supporting her, they always do.
Rasmea’s and her supporters have concocted an elaborate conspiracy theory portraying Rasmea as the victim of Zionist and Racist American machinations. In fact, Rasmea’s guilt on immigration fraud charges was clear.
Rasmea’s immigration plea resulted from her lies on immigration and naturalization forms in which she concealed a prior conviction and prison term for a 1969 supermarket bombing in Jerusalem that killed two Hebrew University students, Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner. Rasmea also concealed her conviction for the attempted bombing of the British Consulate that same year. Rasmea was released in a 1979 prisoner exchange for an Israeli soldier captured in Lebanon.
[Graves of Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner Jerusalem, photo by William Jacobson]
The following posts at Legal Insurrection, among others, methodically rebut the propaganda put out by Rasmea and her supporters:
I told the story of Rasmea’s guilt and the fake victim narrative in an interview with the Investigative Project on Terrorism. The video, screenshots and a partial transcript appear in our post, On Eve of Sentencing, The Lies of Rasmea Odeh and Her Supporters Exposed
The only reports I have are from people who attended the sentencing.
Apparently Rasmea was as defiant as ever. She never has shown any remorse for any of her crimes, and continues against all evidence to claim that she is the victim.
Local News reporter Rod Meloni observed the sentencing, and tweeted some details of the proceedings.
According to Rasmea supporter Ali Abunimah of The Electronic Intifada, Rasmea launched into a long tirade against Israel, and repeated her claims that she was tortured into confessing (I explain in the video above why her story does not hold up):
According to reports, the Judge made the following statements during the hearing:
“All this history doesn’t have any bearing”“I’m not really interested in whether you are or are not a terrorist”“Even if you suffered from PTSD I find it hard to believe that caused you to make false statements” to obtain visa and naturalization“These questions [on the immigration forms] were unmistakably clear”You made false statements “and you did it intentionally”“I don’t think the PTSD defense you were putting forth would have been successful”“When people come here we expect them to be honest and truthful, and you weren’t”“This case is really more serious than you think it is.”
Outside the Courthouse, Rasmea’s lawyer Michael Deutsch lambasted the Judge in very pejorative terms, even claiming the Judge was “controlled by the U.S. media, by the U.S. power” and didn’t want to hear about the “occupation of Palestine.”
Rasmea also spoke, also attacked the Judge, and declared her right to resist occupation. “We will liberate our Palestine, all Palestine.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office released a statement which reads, in part:
“Today’s court action clears the way for this defendant’s removal from the United States and should serve as an unequivocal message that the U.S. will never be a haven for those seeking to distance themselves from their past atrocities,” said Steve Francis, HSI special agent in charge.
Rasmea Odeh Sentencing Press Release – US Attorney’s Office by Legal Insurrection on Scribd
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Rasmieh Odeh Case – Notice of Intent to Request Judicial Order of Removal by Legal Insurrection on Scribd
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Rasmieh Odeh Case – Defendant’s Statement in Support of Judicial Order of Removal by Legal Insurrection on Scribd
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Rasmieh Odeh Case – Judicial Order of Removal by Legal Insurrection on Scribd
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Rasmieh Odeh Case – Order Revoking United States Citizenship by Legal Insurrection on Scribd
[This post was updated multiple times]
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