Killed for Driving While Palestinian: Statement on the Death of Omar Abdulmajeed As'ad in Israeli custody:

 

The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project is deeply saddened and outraged by the death of US citizen Omar Abdulmajeed As'ad at the hands of Israeli soldiers.  

 

Mr. As'ad was a Palestinian-American businessman who spent four decades of his life in Milwaukee before retiring with his wife to the Palestinian village of Jiljilya, near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. 

 

He was stopped by Israeli solders in the early hours of the morning as he was driving home after visiting family on January 12.  According to eyewitness reports, the soldiers forced him from his vehicle, blindfolded, handcuffed and beat him, then dragged him to a nearby construction site where they left him lying face down on the ground in the cold.  Mr As'ad, an elderly man who suffered from heart problems, was clearly not a threat to anyone, was never under arrest and had not been accused of any crime.

  

We send our condolences to Mr.As'ad’s family in the Milwaukee area and in Palestine. Because Israel has repeatedly shown that it is incapable of investigating itself, we call on the US State Department to conduct its own thorough and public investigation into his death, including interviewing the witnesses, in order to ensure some small measure of justice for Mr. As'ad and his family.

 

U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin has issued a mild statement of concern in this case, as has Rep. Gwen Moore of Milwaukee. We urge them not to stop there but to vigorously pursue this case. We realize that the treatment afforded to Mr. As'ad by Israeli soldiers is no more worthy of condemnation than that routinely handed out to ordinary Palestinians (see for example the recent case of elder Haj Suleiman, who the IDF left fighting for his life and who has now died). Yet our government should have a special responsibility to protect its own citizens regardless of their ethnicity. We urge them to fulfill it.

 

 

 

Resources:

ADC Statement on the Case

Milwaukee Journal Sentinal article, with memorial service pictures

Statement by Rep. Betty McCollum

 

  

Madison Fair Trade Holiday Festival 2021

 

saturday, December 4, 2021

Dear Friends of Playgrounds for Palestine,

We are finally back in person after missing the Madison fair trade festival for two years. Please see the link below and visit our table to prepare for the holyday season, help Palestinian farmers and build a new playground for the children in Palestine. Playgrounds for Palestine and Madison Rafah Sister City Project are joining forces to build a new Playground in a kindergarten in Hebron, Palestine. Get your PfP oil, Zaatar, Soap and other products from Madison Rafah table and Palestine Partners table as well. For the first time, the fair trade festival will have 3 tables with Palestinian products.

Hope to see you there.

https://www.fairtrademadison.org/

 

Madison Fair Trade Holiday Festival 2020

 Dear friends of Playgrounds for Palestine,

Do you miss our oil and don't know how to get it for the holidays because of the Covid-19 pandemic? Here is good news of how you can get it. The Madison Fair Trade Festival is virtual this year. Go to the link below then go to the vendor's page and you'll find us there with other vendors. You'll find more information about the playgrounds when you visit our page too. Don't miss this chance to stock your favorite oil for the year or give it to your loved ones.

https://www.fairtrademadison.org/