Moscow, Russia – The delegation of U.S. anti-war activists met today, Dec. 16, with the Embassy of the State of Palestine Ambassador to the Russian Federation, Dr. Fa’ed Mustafa. Ambassador Mustafa agreed to the meeting after a request was made by the Anti-Globalization Movement of Russia, the hosts of the international conference of anti-war forces.

The delegation that met with the ambassador included Joe Lombardo, co-chair of the United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC), Bill Doares of the International Action Center and UNAC and Mo Hannah, also a member of UNAC and me.

First on the agenda for our delegation was to talk with Ambassador Mustafa about the case of Rasmea Odeh, the Palestinian activist from Chicago and the newest political prisoner in the U.S. She was convicted in a federal court in November of a violation in her immigration application in 2004. In 1969, she was imprisoned by the Israeli occupying army in Palestine. She was convicted by a military ‘court’ there after being sadistically tortured, which caused her to confess to a crime she didn’t commit. In her trial last month, the judge ruled that no evidence could be presented of the crimes of the Israeli occupation.

The ambassador of course knew a lot about her case, and expressed support for her. He agreed to share our report with Ramallah, and to continue to raise awareness about her among people in Palestine. He urged our delegation to link her case to the stories of thousands of Palestinians who are also falsely arrested and imprisoned, tortured and brutalized by the Israelis.

Finally, we expressed to him that the U.S. government complicity with the Israeli occupation in Rasmea Odeh’s case exposes their overall role as the main backer of Israel’s occupation.

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