Palestine Solidarity Group - Chicago Condemns FBI Raids and Repression

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The Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago strongly condemns the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s harassment and repression of solidarity and anti-war activists. Among the groups targeted are the Palestine Solidarity Group-Chicago, Twin Cities Anti-War Committee, Students for a Democratic Society, Colombia Action Network, and the Freedom Road Socialist Organization. The government is on an unchecked fishing expedition for evidence that the targeted activists provided material support to designated terrorist organizations.

On September 24, 2010 the FBI raided the homes of anti-war activists in the Midwest and during the raids and shortly thereafter, subpoenaed 14 activists to testify to a grand jury. So far the activists refuse to testify, as the grand jury is a political tool of the government to repress domestic political movements. They will not assist the U.S. attorney in handing down indictments against their fellow activists.

This suppression of civil rights and free speech has, as its goal, to criminalize activism undertaken in support of the Palestinian and Colombian peoples against U.S. funded occupation and war. The U.S. wants to hide the real impact of its $4 billion a year in military aid to Israel that results in the continued brutal occupation of the Palestinians. PSG-Chicago is dedicated to educating the American public on these abuses of Palestinian rights and to supporting the Palestinian call for boycott, divestment and sanctions of apartheid Israel. We will not be silent.

The United States government has a decade’s long history of repressing political dissent using secret grand jury investigations. Grand juries operate with impunity. They are a highly political tool, subject to the whim of a given administration, used to scare those who vocally oppose U.S. policy into silence. The Palestine solidarity movement in the US will not be silenced.

We urge all people of conscience and those who stand in solidarity with the Palestinians to join us in calling for an end to political repression, both here and abroad, as we continue to support the movement for self-determination for the Palestinian people.

Take Action:

Call President Obama at (202)-456-1111 and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder at (202)-353-1555

Demand:

  • End repression of anti-war and international solidarity activists!
  • Return all materials seized in the raid!
  • Call off the Grand Jury!