JANAN ABDU'S SPEECH TO SOLIDARITY RALLY

NOVANEWS

Protesting Detention of Ameer Makhoul and Omar Saeed

Kafr Kanna

13 May 2010

On behalf of my family and friends, allow me, through this platform, to send a message of admiration and love to my beloved husband Ameer Makhoul, and my friend and brother Omar Saeed, for their steadfastness and say to them: “You are rocks.. Let no wind shake you!”

I wish to thank you, individuals and institutions, for your support and love, and your work that stems from a belief that Omar and Ameer’s case is not a personal issue, but the issue of all Palestinians in Israel. Your support and love bolster our and their strength and resilience.

To the Shin Bet, which effectively controls and runs all the state’s institutions, ties the hands of the courts, and constricts the freedom of the press… To the Shin Bet, which, through Ameer and Omar, is trying to send a message to all of us, people, leaders and families, I say: You did not and will not succeed.

By arresting Omar, abducting Ameer from his house under the cover of night, and detaining the two in conditions reminiscent of apartheid practices, the Shin Bet unmasks the true face of this racist regime. Those who break into people’s homes, wreaking havoc in them and restraining a wife and two daughters.. they are the ones who are afraid.

These repressive practices, the use of emergency laws, and the violation of fundamental human and civil rights will only make us and Ameer and Omar stronger and more unified.  Ours is a strong and tenacious people.  Ours is a people with a strong identity and solid backbone that will keep us standing.

Let them know that their attempts at obliterating our identity, and preventing our natural and legitimate outreach to the Palestinian people and Arab countries will only make us more determined to defend our rights and the justness of our cause.

They kidnapped Ameer to silence him, because he defends freedoms and exposes the reality of their practices. The abduction of Chairman of the Popular Committee for the Defense of Political Freedoms in an attempt silence his voice only takes place in a terrorist state. It does not occur in a state of law, nor in a country that claims to be democratic!

Finally, I say to them: The Arab world is not our enemy, and will never be! Their policies aimed at gagging our mouths will not intimidate us.  On the contrary, they will make us stronger because ours is a just cause and we are the rightful owners of this land.

If they wish for this country to turn into a large Guantanamo, we say:

Your prisons cannot hold all of us

No prison in the world can hold an entire people

So let them bring it on!

Ameer Makhoul and Omar Said, we salute you

Janan Abdu Makhoul
‘Ameer makhoul is a prisoner of conscience. We call for his immediate and unconditional release”.Philip Luther, Deputy Director of Amnesty International’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.

SEE: www.adalah.org

 

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