Rasmea Odeh Speech At Northwestern Draws Protest From Hillel — And J Street
By Sam Kestenbaum May 15, 2017
The Northwestern University chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine is hosting the Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh — sparking a protest by Hillel that has been joined by the school’s J Street U chapter.
The Monday SJP event in titled “When They Come for Rasmea Odeh, They Come for All of Us” and organizers say Odeh will speak about “her struggle and the larger struggle for Palestinian Liberation,” from SJP read.
Northwestern’s Hillel says it will a candlelit vigil nearby, which the J Street group will join.
“Our goal is not to protest free speech, but instead to mourn the victims of the convicted terrorist who is speaking on our campus,” a statement from Hillel read.
Rasmea Odeh was convicted by a military court of a 1969 bombing that killed two and served 10 years in Israeli prison. (Her defenders maintain she was tortured into confessing.) When applying for U.S. citizenship in 1995, she covered up her conviction and is now being deported.
Odeh has become prominent amidst anti-Trump protests and played a key role in the giant Women’s March on inauguration weekend.
Email Sam Kestenbaum at kestenbaum@forward.com and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum
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