Following International Public Pressure Campaign, Award-winning Palestinian Journalist to be Allowed Entry to the U.S.
"Reflections on Life and War in Gaza,"
Featuring Mohammed Omer
Featuring Mohammed Omer
Speaking Tour on Conditions in Palestine to Take Place as Debate Between U.S. and Israel over Expanded Settlements Continues
Chicago: 7:00 pm, Monday, April 5th at the Newberry Library, 60 W. Walton
with ALI ABUNIMAH, author, One Country, and founder, Electronic Intifada
Hosted by Haymarket Books, Contact: 773-583-7884,
Houston: 7:00 pm, Tuesday, April 6th at the Rothko Chapel, 3900 Yupon
Contact: 713-524-9839, Free and Open to the Public
Albuquerque: 11:00 am, Thursday, April 8th at UNM Student Union Building (SUB) Ballroom
Hosted by the UNM Coalition, Free and Open to the Public
6:30 pm, Thursday, April 8th, at the Albuquerque Mennonite Church, 1300 Girard
Hosted by Middle East Peace and Justice Alliance, Suggested Donation: $20 (no one turned away), Contact: lorir@unm.edu
Santa Fe: 6:30 pm, Friday, April 9th at the Unitarian Church in Santa Fe, 107 West Barcelona
with DAHR JAMAIL, author, Beyond the Green Zone and The Will to Resist, and co-recipient of the 2008 Martha GellhornAward
Hosted by Middle East Peace and Justice Alliance and Another Jewish Voice-Santa Fe, Suggested Donation: $5 (no one turned away), Contact: ngharrison1@gmail.com
CHICAGO, IL— Back from the brink of cancellation, a speaking tour on conditions in Palestine will take place April 5th-9th with award-winning journalist and photographer Mohammed Omer. Subjected to an extended, and unexplained, hold on his visa, Omer and supporters launched a public pressure campaign, winning his entry from the U.S. consulate.
As Omer related, "The support has been essential, and it proves that public pressure is effective. I am immensely grateful and can't wait to thank all of you in person. I have always regarded the United States as the champion of freedom of the press. This is where I hope to practice this right."
In 2008, Omer became the youngest recipient of the prestigious Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, for his firsthand reportage of life in the besieged Gaza strip. As his prize citation explained, “Everyday, he reports from a war zone, where he is also a prisoner. He is a profoundly humane witness to one of the great injustices of our time. He is the voice of the voiceless… Working alone in extremely difficult and often dangerous circumstances, [Omer has] reported unpalatable truths validated by powerful facts.”
Upon attempting to return to Gaza following his acceptance of the Gellhorn award in London, Omer was detained, interrogated, and beaten by the Shin Bet Israeli security force for hours; and eventually hospitalized with cracked ribs and respiratory problems (For the full story, visit Israel's Haaretz). He has since resided in the Netherlands and continues to undergo medical treatment there for his subsequent health problems.
Nearly canceling his planned speaking tour, the U.S. consulate held his visa application without explanation. Organizers decided to protest, as in recent years, numerous foreign scholars and experts have been subject to visa delays and denials that have prohibited them from speaking and teaching in the U.S.—a process the American Civil Liberties Union describes as “Ideological Exclusion.”
As his hosts at Haymarket Books commented, "The issue of Palestine, and particularly the voice of Palestinians is so frequently side-stepped and marginalized in mainstream political discourse. Yet the Israeli-Palestinian conflict plays a huge role in American foreign policy, as we can see in the ongoing debate between the U.S. and Israel over expanded settlements. We believe that the conditions in Palestine represent one of the great humanitarian catastrophes of our time; and we were simply not willing to accept that Mohammed did not have the right to travel to the U.S. to share his reportage—and that Chicagoans did not have the right to hear what he has to say."
Omer will visit Houston, Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Chicago, as planned, to discuss his reportage, personal experience, and the struggle for Palestinian rights.
Background on Mohammed Omer:
Mohammed Omer was born and raised in the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza strip. He maintains the website Rafah Today and is a correspondent for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. His home in Rafah was crushed by an Israeli bulldozer while the family was inside, seriously injuring his mother. Yet, as Omer explained in an article he wrote upon winning the award, “My ambition was to get the truth out, not as pro-Palestinian or anti-Israeli, but as an independent voice and witness.” His reportage features interviews with regular Gazans attempting to survive amidst bombing, home demolitions, and the crippling economic blockade, which has created devastating shortages of electricity, water, fuel, and other necessities for survival.
Mohammed Omer is available for select interviews. To request, contact: Sarah Macaraeg, 312-315-8476, sarah@haymarketbooks.org
Additional background:
Chronicle of Higher Education: http://www.insidehighered.com/
Rafah Today: http://www.rafahtoday.org/
Ali Abunimah, CNN Editorial: http://www.cnn.com/
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