Jury finds Palestinian activist guilty in U.S. immigration case

By Jeff Karoub Associated Press DETROIT (AP) - A federal jury on Monday found a Chicago activist guilty of immigration fraud for failing to disclose her conviction in a Jerusalem supermarket bombing that killed two people. Rasmieh Yousef Odeh, 67, was charged for not revealing she had been imprisoned by an Israeli military court for several bombings in 1969. She served 10 years before being released in a prisoner swap with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Odeh is associate director of Chicago's Arab American Action Network. She is widely respected in Chicago for her work with immigrants, especially Arab women. Fearing her flight, U.S. District Judge Gershwin Drain revoked her bond and ordered her detained until her scheduled sentencing March 10. Defense attorney Michael Deutsch argued Odeh wasn't a flight risk, pointing out she had turned down an earlier opportunity to plead guilty and leave the U.S. Deutsch said he plans to appeal the conviction and file a motion to reconsider Odeh's detention. The criminal case against Odeh angered pro-Palestinian activists who accused the U.S. government of trying to silence critics of Israel. Dozens of supporters traveled from Chicago to watch the trial. Many gathered outside the downtown courthouse and marched along a sidewalk to protest Odeh's conviction and detention. Odeh says Israeli authorities tortured her to get a confession, but Drain barred reference to that at trial. He said what happened in Israel was not relevant to whether she lied on the citizenship form. "I think your verdict is a fair and reasonable one based on the evidence," Drain said. An officer led Odeh from the courtroom in handcuffs. "I'm very strong," Odeh told supporters. One woman watching the trial via video feed in the courthouse sobbed inconsolably while another called the judge's order "haram" - an Arabic word meaning "sinful" or "forbidden." Odeh urged her supporters to stay strong. Many were in tears, but they cheered and chanted her name as she spoke and responded with "naam," which is "yes" in Arabic. "I felt the verdict is not justice," Odeh told The Associated Press. "The government did not allow us to defend ourselves." She faces up to 10 years in a U.S. prison and could lose her U.S. citizenship. "An individual convicted of a terrorist bombing would not be admitted to the United States if that information was known at the time of arrival," U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade said in a statement. "Upon discovery that someone convicted of a terrorist attack is in the United States illegally, we will seek to use our criminal justice system to remove that individual." Deutsch said he was upset that jurors spoke to government lawyers for half an hour after the verdict but declined to meet with defense attorneys. He also was displeased that the judge took the "very unusual" step of commending the jurors' verdict. "That was a window into the judge's thinking about this trial," Deutsch said. "We feel we have some very strong issues for appeal, and we hope somebody will listen to us." Odeh and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Tukel clashed during her testimony last week when she insisted she didn't believe the criminal history questions extended beyond the U.S. She was interviewed in 2004 by a Detroit immigration officer, Jennifer Williams, who told jurors she always tells citizenship applicants that criminal history applies to "anywhere in the world." Odeh, however, testified that Williams didn't use those words. Published: Wed, Nov 12, 2014