> 
> 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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