>
> In the Name of God, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful
>
> AMERICAN MUSLIMS FOR JERUSALEM
>
> American Jewish extremists threaten family of Jewish peace activist
> Jewish groups called on to condemn this domestic terrorism
>
> For Immediate Release
>
> (Washington, DC, 4/3/2002) – The Washington, DC-based advocacy group,
> American
> Muslims for Jerusalem (AMJ), called on major Jewish organizations today to
> condemn
> death threats and incitement against American Jewish peace activist Adam
> Shapiro and his family. Shapiro, of Brooklyn, New York, has been in
> Ramallah risking his life to escort
> Palestinian ambulances and medical workers through Israel’s military siege.
> “Israelis
> shoot at the ambulances or sometimes commandeer them,” he said. “Having
> an
> international person on board creates a safety net of sorts to let the
> medics do their
> work.” (Daily News) Shapiro personally tried to escort wounded
> Palestinians out of the presidential compound where Palestinian President
> Yasser Arafat and his bodyguards are under siege by Israeli forces.
>
> According to the New York Daily News, Shapiro’s parents have been receiving
> death
> threats and were forced to flee their home for safety. A Jewish student
> group in New York condemned him as a traitor, calling him a "piece of
> garbage" and vowed to protest outside his family’s home. Daily News
> columnist Zev Chafets compared him to John Walker Lindh.
>
> The threats against the Shapiro family are particularly disturbing in light
> of the fact that extremist Jewish groups, like the Jewish Defense League
> (JDL), have a record of violent acts against American Jewish groups that
> are supportive of Palestinian/Israeli peace, like Americans for Peace Now
> and the New Israel Fund. They have also targeted members of the US
> Congress, American Muslim and Arab-American leaders and organizations. The
> JDL was implicated in the 1985 bombing assassination of Alex Odeh, Southern
> California regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination
> Committee. JDL head Irv Rubin and member Earl Krugel were charged last
> December with plotting to blow up the offices of Congressman Darrell Issa
> (R-CA) and a California mosque.
>
> In a statement AMJ Executive Director Khalid Turaani said:
>
> “Adam Shapiro’s community should rally around him, not condemn him for
> risking his
> life on behalf of universal human values of freedom and justice. He has
> shown courage in standing against terrorism even when it places him at odds
> with many in his community.
>
> "While a small but growing number of American Jewish organizations is
> willing to speak out against Israeli terrorism and occupation, major
> American Jewish groups have remained silent. They have never spoken out
> against Israel’s long list of human rights violations – its 35-year
> military occupation of 3 million Palestinians, policies of collective
> punishment, the demolition of homes, uprooting of olive and fruit trees,
> deliberate attacks on emergency medical personnel and journalists,
> assassinations of Palestinian civilians, and summary executions of
> Palestinians in their custody.
>
> “Israel’s dismal human rights record has been condemned by the United
> Nations, all
> major human rights groups, all major Christian churches and the Vatican.
> Yet, for major
> American Jewish groups – groups that have a history of defending civil
> liberties at home
> and just causes abroad – these violations have fallen on deaf ears. It is
> as if they
> believe Israel is not held to the same standards of human decency that
> countries around
> the world or even the United States are held to.
>
> “We call on these groups to condemn Israeli abuses and to condemn the death
> threats
> that the Shapiro family is receiving. They must distance themselves from
> extremism
> and terror, whether it comes from Tel Aviv or Brooklyn, New York.”
>
> -END-
>
Regards,
Jabou N.Joh,
President/ceo,
Cumberland Investment Group,
557 Holt Valley Rd,
Nashville, TN, 37221
Tel: (615) 292-3052
Mobile: (615) 573 1785
Efax: (702) 995 0969
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