Let Mohammed Omer be heard

[IndianaGreen]

Let Mohammed Omer be heard

Haymarket Books is organizing to support the right of Palestinian journalist Mohammed Omer to enter the U.S. after approval of his visa was delayed.

March 19, 2010

EFFECTIVELY CANCELING a planned speaking tour, the U.S. consulate in the Netherlands has put an extended hold on the visa application of award-winning Palestinian journalist and photographer Mohammed Omer, scheduled to speak on conditions in Palestine on April 5 in Chicago.

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:

Every day, 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, 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 over 12 hours. He was eventually hospitalized with cracked ribs and respiratory problems (for the full story, visit Ha'aretz). He has since resided in the Netherlands and continues to undergo medical treatment there for his subsequent health problems.

http://socialistworker.org/2010/03/19/let-mohammed-omer-speak

[ProgressiveMuslim]

1. Did you hear Tarik Ramadan is finally allowed in?

Muslim Scholar to Make First US Appearance Since Lifting of Ban

And a prominent Muslim scholar who was barred from the United States under the Bush administration is scheduled to appear at his first US event since the ban was lifted earlier this year. The scholar, Tariq Ramadan of Oxford University, will take part in a panel on Muslims in Europe and the West at New York’s Cooper Union next month. Ramadan was barred from taking a position at the University of Notre Dame in 2004 after the Bush administration denied his entry without explanation. The Bush administration later said it was because Ramadan had once given money to a Palestinian charity.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/3/18/headlines

[Jefferson23]

2. The Bush legacy, so much destruction, words fail. This is good to see

corrected.