February 14, 2005
The Honorable Major Owens
289 Utica Avenue
Brooklyn, New York 11213
Fax: (718) 735-7143
Re: Detention of Pat O'Connor
Dear Congressman Owens:
In 2003, some members of our organization, Jews Against the
Occupation (JATO), met with you at the Open House you held in
Brooklyn and, subsequently, with one of the aides at your Brooklyn
office. Prior to that, representatives of JATO and the U.S. Campaign
to End the Israeli Occupation met with Mr. Norman Meyer in your
Washington office to discuss the Rachel Corrie Resolution (H.Con.Res.
111) and issues pertaining to the Israeli Separation Wall.
We are very glad to have had the opportunity to express our concerns
to you and your aides. We are now writing because we have recently
observed the Israeli security apparatus denying entry to and/or
issuing the deportation of United States citizens from Israel and
the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPTs) in violation of
international human rights laws enabling freedom of speech,
movement, and assembly. These laws, which both Israel and the United
States have ratified, include the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (Articles 9, 11, 13, 19, 20, & 29) and the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Articles 9, 12, 13, 19, &
22). Pat O'Connor, an Irish-American citizen, was denied entry into
Israel and the OPTs in 2003 and charged with being a "security
threat." O'Connor's sister, Cynthia, is your constituent. When
O'Connor challenged Israel's potentially damaging charge against him
in an Israeli court, he lost on grounds of "secret evidence" that
neither he nor his lawyer was allowed to see or challenge. We can
only presume that he was targeted because he participated in
peaceful protest against the Israeli Separation Wall in villages
such as Jayyous and Biddu with the non-violent Palestinian rights
group, International Solidarity Movement (ISM).
You may know that Israeli authorities have for some time been
deploying unjust means such as these to preempt legitimate, peaceful
protest on behalf of Palestinian rights. Denial of entry to Israel
and the OPTs has now been deployed against nearly one hundred
international activists. Whereas these sorts of actions are bad
enough, the unreasonable blacklisting of United States citizens such
as Pat O'Connor by Israel is completely unacceptable. The United
States must protect its citizens abroad. If the Israeli security
apparatus claims that a United States citizen is being held for
reason, whether of national security or other stated reason, and
that reason proves to be either false or unverifiable, we expect the
claims of justice to be pursued and the matter rectified.
Certainly the House Democratic Israel Working Group could, at your
suggestion, call attention to the violations of O'Connor's rights.
The Group might also prod the U.S. State Department to pressure the
Israeli security system to make its activist blacklist more
transparent to United States government officials. This in effect
would open up Israel's internal security procedures in a way that
can help ensure the safety and well-being of United States citizens
traveling in the region. We are concerned that failure to achieve
such transparency will not only further jeopardize the security of
those citizens. As such citizens are often increasingly demonized as
"terror threats," inaction on the part of the U.S. to challenge
Israel's illegal or abusive conduct may augment the ill-will
currently being projected at the United States by many of our
country's allies.
As you may recall, JATO is a nonsectarian group of progressive,
secular and religious Jews of all ages and backgrounds, many of whom
are your constituents, who live throughout metropolitan New York
City and advocate for peace through justice for both Palestinians
and Israelis. We continue to contact your offices because many
members of JATO reside in your district (including several listed
below) and believe that you share cherished values with them, such
as concern for the basic human rights of all persons regardless of
race, gender, creed, sexual orientation, religion, or nationality.
Representatives from JATO are also happy to speak with you about
this matter. We would ask for no more than a short period in which
to elaborate our concerns. You may reach our voice-mail at (212)
539-6683 or the undersigned at (212) 580-8081. We would appreciate a
timely response from you indicating that appropriate action has been
taken on behalf of Pat O'Connor, and we thank you in advance for
your prompt attention to our inquiry.
Sincerely,
Jews Against the Occupation