NOVANEWS
Been to Israel/Palestine lately? The FBI may come knocking on your door.By the time she was in high school, Sarah Smith had already been named one ofthe 100 most influential women in Chicago by Chicago’s business magazine,Crain’s. Now Smith, who happens to be Jewish, has beensubpoenaed by the FBI to appear before a grand jury on January 25 to explainher trip to Israel-Palestine with two Palestinian women friends. (As terrifyingas this whole episode is for everyone involved, it says something about Pales-tinian safety that only Smith has come forward publicly.) All three young Chicagoresidents have been subpoenaed, joining ranks with 14 other peace activists fromthe Midwest who have been similarly targeted in recent months.Here is Sarah Smith’s full statement from a December 6 press conference:
Smith’s father, Stan Smith, added “I think Patrick Fitzgerald, the US District Attorney,Robert Parker of the FBI need to see my daughter and her friends and apologize to them.And I think President Obama, who was elected in 2008 because he said he would stopthis sort of thing, should make a point on his next trip to Chicago to personally apologizeto my daughter and her friends for how his government is intimidating them.”Meanwhile, there are actions across the country to protest this crackdown on peaceactivists (sign the petition here). Firedoglake’s Kevin Gosztola has this report:
Democracy anyone?December 3, 2010More Recent Articles
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