For Immediate Release
August 25, 2010
Palestine Liberation Organization
General Delegation to the United States
The General Delegation of the Palestine Liberation Organization to the United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the conviction of Abdallah Abu Rahmah by an Israeli military court yesterday.
Mr. Abu Rahmah, an internationally respected leader of the non-violent movement against the wall that Israel is building on land belonging to the village of Bilin in the occupied West Bank, was convicted on a trumped up charge of "incitement" and organizing illegal demonstrations. Mr. Abu Rahmah, who will be sentenced next month, faces a possible ten-year jail sentence.
Lady Catherine Ashton, the European Union's representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, issued a statement declaring, that "The EU considers Abdallah Abu Rahmah to be a human rights defender committed to non-violent protest," adding that the EU was "deeply concerned that the possible imprisonment of Mr. Abu Rahmah is intended to prevent him and other Palestinians from exercising their legitimate right to protest against the existence of the separation barriers in a non-violent manner."
Mr. Abu Rahmah, a 39-year-old schoolteacher and father of three young children, has been in an Israeli jail since his arrest last December.
We call on the Israeli government to release Abdallah Abu Rahmah and all other Palestinian political prisoners from its jails immediately in accordance with international law and as a gesture of goodwill towards the peace talks that are about to begin in Washington.
For more information contact:
Christopher Hazou
Communications Officer
General Delegation of the Palestine Liberation Organization to the U.S.
1320 18th Street, NW
Suite 200, Washington, DC
(202) 974 6360
No comments:
Post a Comment