Oakland Says No to Hate: Another Vigil at Reem's

Reem Assil's Bakery café in Oakland has been subject to regular vigils by social justice advocates upset at her glorification of terror.  In true fascist manner, she has stopped at nothing to silence the vigils.  Participants have been physically attacked.  Police have been called.   When all else failed, Reem attempted to subvert the court system to suppress  oppositional voices. Still they persisted. Sunday January 28 was the latest vigil.

Reem Assil has been trying to position her establishment as the "go to" spot for all things anti-Israel. On the 28th, she hosted a book signing by Sunaina Maira and why not ?   Spread a little hate, make a little money.  It’s a win/win for her.  At Reem’s, you can plot both to destroy democratic Israel and crush capitalism. Then you can buy a 16 dollar Reem’s flatbread and drive your Prius home,  basking in the golden glow of your own self-righteousness. It’s a perfectly acceptable life style choice for the Bay area’s soy latte crowd.

Sunday was unusual.  Over 3 dozen community members showed up to express their unhappiness with Reem’s choice of decor.   A  small counterprotest of Reem's supporters were stunned silent.  Reem’s exaltation of convicted terrorist Rasmea Odeh has proven itself the unifying position of the left and the right.   Online publications as diverse as the leftist Forward and far right Breitbart have written about it. Rasmea Odeh’s role in the PFLP terror group  was so significant that during the 1972 Munich Olympics Black September terrorists included her name on the list of prisoners they wanted released in exchange for the lives of Israel’s Olympic athletes. 

Its hard to rationalize bombing a grocery store, but Reem Assil manages to.  Dead Jews?   Its resistance.  Dead Jewish men killed by a Palestinian woman?  That’s peak intersectionality. It doesn't get any better than that.

Photos from the Vigil:

Coverage from the local paper here:

Protests planned at controversial Oakland bakery

Palestinian mural protesters, bakerybackers face off in Oakland

Coverage from bloggers here:

The Latest Reem's Vigil

Today at the Oakland bakery of terror

Reem's Bakery Protest in Oakland
Reem’s Bakery To Jews: In Yo’ Eye!
Revealing Photos From Latest Reems Bakery Protest

Television Coverage:

KRON

Reem Assil abandons her assault on the first amendment

Since the summer, there have been a series of vigils at Reem's California, an Oakland bakery that features a floor to ceiling mural of convicted terrorist Rasmea Odeh.

Rasmea Odeh, a member of the PFLP terrorist group was recently deported from America for not disclosing her role in a grocery store bombing that led to the deaths of Leon Kanner and Edward Joffe.

In true "progressive" fashion,  the initial response to these vigils was a physical attack on the participants.  There were multiple attempts to harass and intimidate the participants. Mall security and the Oakland police department were repeatedly called. When that failed to stop the vigils, libelous reports about the participants began appearing across the web.  

The vigils continued.

The "progressive" response from bakery owner Reem Assil, a self described "community organizer" was to file for a restraining order, which was ultimately denied by the court. Twice.

Reem Assil's assault on individual rights and freedoms has been documented by the good folk at  Legal Insurrection:

Anti-Israel activists try to shut down protests over California bakery honoring Palestinian terrorist

Reem’s Oakland bakery seeks Ct order halting protests over terrorist mural

A participant in the vigils has written about her experience in the Times of Israel:

Reem’s Cafe Owner Has a First Amendment Problem

This week, Reem Assil dismissed the case against journalist Michael Lumish and two others

From Mintz Levin, the law firm handling Michael Lumish's case:

The lawsuit against Mr. Lumish has been dismissed by the plaintiff, Reem Assil. Early yesterday morning, we provided notice to Ms. Assil’s counsel that we were going to appear in court ex parte on Wednesday to adjust certain pending case dates because we would be filing later that day – on behalf of Mr. Lumish – a motion to strike Ms. Assil’s case as a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (“SLAPP” suit) designed to chill Mr. Lumish’s exercise of his free speech rights. A few hours later, while we were waiting for the Court to provide a hearing date for our Anti-SLAPP motion, we received word from the Court of the plaintiff’s voluntary dismissal.

Because Ms. Assil’s lawsuit against Mr. Lumish was precisely the type of effort to use the courts to try to obtain a content-based prior restraint on political speech, which California law does not countenance, we are very pleased that Mr. Lumish is no longer facing the burden of having to deal with such an action and attempt to intimidate him and others from engaging in peaceful protest. In light of the time and effort that we were required to invest in order to vindicate Mr. Lumish and to stand up for his free speech rights, we are considering the possibility of recovering defense fees and costs from Ms. Assil and/or her counsel in connection with this action and with their effort to silence protest against Ms. Assil’s own political speech and choice to use her restaurant to honor a convicted murderer and terrorist.

The take home lesson is that when we fight back, we win. This path is not easy, but this is the path. We can not let ourselves give in to threats and intimidation.

UPDATE

Mike Lumish has issued a statement, in a post chag spirit of t'shuvah.

Reem Assil and her malicious, anti-Zionist friends challenged the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and promptly got their legalistic butts kicked.

{Good for them.}

Anyone who followed the story of Assil's extremist and terrorist-admiring restaurant at the Fruitvale BART Station in Oakland knows that her attorneys dismissed her malicious "lawfare" action against Bob Pave, Robin Dubner, and myself.

This was due to the insightful work of Mitch Danzig, Evan Nadel, and Paul Huston of the law firm, Mintz Levin.

Speaking strictly for myself, I owe those gentlemen a significant debt of thanks.

There are, however, a few loose ends dangling that I want to tie up.

The first is that I owe an apology to StandWithUS, particularly Randy Kessler, Executive Director of the Northwest chapter.

And I owe a big tip 'o the kippa to Yael Lerman, Director of the SWU legal department.

{Were I her I do not know that I would have been quite so nice to me.}

When, during the vigils, it looked as if we would get zero support from the larger San Francisco Bay Area Jewish community, I lambasted that organization and stormed into Kessler's Facebook space with a self-righteous fit.

It was inappropriate, unfair, and I was wrong to do it.

Nonetheless, despite my bad manners, SWU did more to help the ongoing vigils at Reem's than any synagogue or other Bay Area Jewish organization.

Vigil at Reem's Oakland. July 22

While Reem's California patrons chanted a call for the genocide of the Jewish nation, progressive community members, including a former delegate for Bernie Sanders expressed their heartfelt desire for peace.

These are the people Jewish Voice for peace and their unsavory allies characterized as the alt-right, btw



From the side of peace and light:

"As long as this community continues to bless terrorists by putting their images on the wall there will never be peace in Oakland or in your hearts"

"By embracing terrorist and giving them platforms your are destroying the credibility of peaceful Muslims everywhere. "

Who are the real "progressives" here?  People calling out hate, people yearning for co-existence and mutual respect, or those calling for the genocide of the Jewish people?

Reem's Bakery Tries to Cash in

Reem Assil's latest strategy appears to be "When in doubt, lie through your teeth and claim  'I'm the victim.'"

Reem's bakery is attempting to capitalize on their attack on peaceful protesters, in an effort to prove that crime does in fact, pay.

From Reems Bakery Shamelessly Lies About Non-Violent Protest To Cash In On It, published  in IsraellyCool:

"They had racist signs"

Not a single photo exists of a "racist" sign. There was this:

Reem Assil thinks this is racist.

And this:

Again, from Israellycool

The signs are clearly not racist in the slightest, just anti-terrorist. If Reems are equating that with anti-Muslim, then it is them who are the racists.

And Reems expects us to believe those protesters (three 60-something-year-old ladies and a 78-year-old survivor of the Warsaw ghetto) were violent, especially the one in the wheelchair? What shameless liars.

Whether Reem Assil can cook is up for debate. But few doubt that her real talent lies in self promotion 

Non-Violent Vigil attacked at Reem's in Fruitvale

San Francisco's iconic Bound Together bookstore has a mural, captioned "History remembers 2 kinds of people. Those who murder and those who fight back."

Reem Assil has chosen to adorn her Fruitvale bakery cafe with the likeness of one who chose to murder.

Fortunately, Oakland has chosen to fight back.   This weekend, a group gathered to "Honor the victims, not their killer" , in what organizers promise to be the first of many informative vigils, speaking to the community about why the mural of Rasmea Odeh was so hateful.

In response, Reem Assil called upon her political allies for support.

The non-violent vigil was brutally attacked, and signs and flyers were ripped out of people's hands.

Again we see how in Israel, and in Oakland, violence is justified as a means to an end. Innocent citizens shopping in a grocery store or simply exercising their right to peaceful assembly and free speech are equally at risk.

Reem's bakery in Fruitvale. Mainstreaming Murder

Why is Reem's Bakery in the Oakland Fruitvale neighborhood promoting hate? Why is Reem's glorifying Rasmea Odeh, the confessed killer of 2 young students? Why is a bakery that claims to "connect people across culture" lionizing a murderer who targeted civilians in a grocery store?

Mural of PFLP terrorist Rasmea Odeh at Reems bakery in Fruitvale

Hebrew University students, Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner were best friends, murdered when members of the terror group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine bombed a Jerusalem grocery store in 1969. Nine other people were injured.

Rasmea Odeh, a member of the PFLP terror group placed her bomb in a kosher grocery store in Jerusalem for one reason- to target and terrorize Jewish civilians.   She was arrested and confessed to the murders after one day in custody. Physical evidence such as bomb making materials were found in Odeh’s home. Guy Wintelir, an observer from the International Red Cross attended the six month long trial and described it as fair. Rasmea was sentenced to life in prison over for her role in the attack. 

In 1980, after serving only 10 years of her sentence, Odeh was released in a prisoner exchange 

She immigrated to the United States in 1995, escaping detection by using a variety of aliases, but was found guilty in 2014 of lying on her immigration papers. She confessed after an appeal and is currently awaiting deportation.

In a 2004 documentary, Rasmea was implicated by her co-conspirator Aisha Odeh which Aisha admitted to participating in the Super Sol attack and named Rasmea as one of her accomplices.  She admitted  “Rasmea Odeh was more involved than I was [in the grocery store bombing] ... I only got involved during the preparation of explosives. We wanted to place two bombs to blow up consecutively. I suggested to have the second bomb go off five or six minutes after the first bomb so that those who get killed in it would be members of the army and secret service, but it did not explode. They diffused it 20 seconds before it exploded.”

In a community devastated by violence, why is Reems bakery glorifying this unrepentant murderer?

It remains unclear how glorifying a murderer builds connections across cultures

For more information on the crimes of Rasmea Odeh:

The Legal Insurrection website provides the most comprehensive coverage of Rasmea Odeh's history, and more importantly, those of her victims and their families.  

Justice for Rasmea Odeh

Vigil for Victims of Rasmea Odeh outside her appearance at Northwestern U

Statement from family of Leon Kanner on Rasmea Odeh plea deal

Statement from family of Edward Joffe on Rasmea Odeh plea deal

A bakery that dishes out hatred in Oakland

Convicted terrorist Rasmea Odeh to be stripped of citizenship and deported

Convicted Palestinian terrorist Rasmea Odeh, 69 will plead guilty to unlawful procurement of naturalization, will be stripped of her U.S. citizenship and deported, as part of a plea deal to avoid prison time.

A member of the PFLP terror group, Odeh was convicted of involvement in a 1969 grocery store  bombing in Jerusalem that killed 2 Hebrew University students and injured nine others. Bomb-making supplies were found in her apartment.  She released  after 10 years in prison in a prisoner exchange in 1980. Her co-conspirators bragged about their roles in the attack on Arab language media.

She lied about her status on US immigration forms and was able to become a citizen.

Anti-Israel groups have repeatedly defended the convicted terrorist. She is scheduled to speak at a Jewish Voice for Peace conference later this month.

Rasmea’s defense team have called her plea bargain a “victory”, claiming

Through a massive, organized defense campaign, Rasmea Odeh—a long-time icon of the Palestine liberation movement—is now a name known in every corner of the movement for social justice in the U.S.  From the Movement for Black Lives in Ferguson, Chicago, and beyond, to the call for a global #WomenStrike on International Women’s Day, Rasmea has become synonymous with resilience and resistance. This fight not only brought her story to the U.S. and the world, but also pushed forward the cause of the liberation of Palestine.

Wishing the forces of hate and intolerance many more such "victories".

Why is Jewish Voice for peace hosting an unrepentant Jew-killer at their annual conference?

Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner were friends and classmates at Hebrew University. On February 21, 1969 they were murdered by a terrorist bomb placed in a Jerusalem grocery store.

Rasmea Odeh was convicted of placing the bomb.

Photo from Legal Insurrection

The death of Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner, and why their murderer walks free today has been covered extensively by the blog Legal Insurrection

Rasmea Odeh prosecutors: At new trial, we’ll prove Rasmea was a terrorist

The Sickening Deification of Rasmea Odeh

New VIDEO surfaces implicating Rasmea Odeh in deadly supermarket bombing

Rasmea Odeh’s victims – then and now

Rasmea Odeh fundraiser features film proving her guilt

In spite of the overwhelming evidence of her involvement in the Jerusalem terror attack, Rasmea Odeh is free today and living in America. She has resurfaced because of allegations of immigration fraud- her role in the murders and her involvement with the PFLP terror group were fraudulently left out of her immigration request.

Photo from Legal Insurrection: victims of Ramea Odeh Edward Joffe and Leon (“Arie”) Kanner

The question remains: Why is Jewish Voice for peace hosting this unrepentant Jew-killer at their annual conference?

Rewarding murder

Thanks to Legal Insurrection for this.
What more can we say?

Rasmea Odeh sentenced to prison, deportation

Rasmea Odeh, a member of the PFLP terror group was convicted of a 1969 bombing that killed Hebrew University students Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner,  as well as the attempted bombing of the British Consulate in Israel.

She served 10 years of a life sentence before being released in a prisoner exchange in 1979, and came to America.  In November 2014, Rasmea was convicted in federal court in Detroit of lying on her immigration paperwork by denying her Israeli convictions,  incarceration, and affiliation with terror groups

Today, Rasmea Odeh was sentenced to 18 month in prison and stripped of her citizenship. She will be deported to Jordan at the end of her sentence. She is free on bond pending a planned appeal.

Anti-Israel activists attempted to turn this trial into a highly politicized  anti-Israel circus. It didn't fool Judge Gershwin Drain

"It's not about freedom fighters,"  Judge Drain said. "It's about telling the truth."

Victims of Rasmea Odeh: Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner

Funeral of Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner

Jewish Voice for Peace. Finding common cause with terrorists

Jewish Voice for Peace again finds common cause with the murderer of Jews

 

JVP writes:

On Monday, beloved community activist Rasmea Odeh was placed under arrest and taken to jail, where she will be held until her sentencing hearing in March. The Rasmea Defense Committee and SJP are calling on all of us in the movement to be a part of her continued fight. Rasmea's case demonstrates the horrors of the Israeli Occupation and the grave injustices of our own system.

Rasmea, accused of "illegal procurement of naturalization," has not been given a fair trial, and now faces up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and the possibility of deportation. In response, Boston activists will gather Monday evening outside the Federal Building.

We seek #Justice4Rasmea. #FreeRasmeaNow!

The JVP "Background" follows, which predictably, neglects Rasmea's role in the murder of 2 young men. My comments in italics

On Monday November 10th, 67-year-old Chicago-based activist Rasmea Odeh was unjustly found guilty on one count of Unlawful Procurement of Naturalization for allegedly failing to mention a 1969 conviction by the State of Israel, based on a confession obtained through brutal, sustained torture. 

Rasmea Odeh's lies included failing to mention her arrest AND conviction, as well as failure to mention her involvement in the PFLP terror group.

Her conviction occurred in a military court that has a greater than 99% conviction rate for Palestinians.

Rasmea Odeh lied on her immigration paperwork

Rasema Odeh’s 1969 confession was made after being held in Israeli custody, for twenty-five days, during which she was tortured and raped. 

As many have pointed out,  if Rasmea Odeh was willing to kill for her cause, don't you think she'd be willing to lie for her cause?

After Israeli security officials detained her father and threatened to force him to rape Ms. Odeh, she confessed to charges surrounding an unsolved bombing. Ms. Odeh has since spoke openly about her experience, including 1979 testimony before the United Nations in Geneva.

The confession was only part of the evidence against her.  There was substantial physical evidence as well.

Via Youtube:

"Rasmeah Odeh was more involved than I was [in the grocery store bombing] ... I only got involved during the preparation of explosives. We wanted to place two bombs to blow up consecutively. I suggested to have the second bomb go off five or six minutes after the first bomb so that those who get killed in it would be members of the army and secret service, but it did not explode. They diffused it 20 seconds before it exploded."

JVP's support of this convicted terrorist went beyond Facebook listings and organizing demonstrations. They also filed an amicus brief with the court, claiming Odeh had an 'exemplary personal history" that precluded her from being a flight risk.

Exemplary personal history?  Rasmea Odeh was complicit in the deaths of 2 young men, and in the attempted bombing of the British consulate in Jerusalem. A search of her home found grenades and explosives.

Bomb-making supplies were found in Rasmea Odeh's home

There is nothing that indicates that this vile, evil woman has shown the slightest remorse or regret about her role in these terrorist attacks. By coming to the defense of this unrepentant Jew-killer, JVP has again chosen to stand with those that would destroy our people.

 With thanks to the Legal Insurrection Blog, for their superb coverage of the Rasmea Odeh trial

Anti-Israel activists barricade the Oakland Federal Building (Sorta)

Breaking news from our friend Emunah,

As of 8am:

Anti-Israel activists (well, two of them anyway) Noura Khouri and Henry Noor are sitting symbolically in front of a doorway at the Oakland federal building to express their uncontrollable rage over convicted murderer Rasmea Odeh's  pending imprisonment.  Two of their comrades have used U locks to fasten their necks to the building.  They seem vaguely aware of just how ridiculous it look, and they avert their gaze from mine. A handful of other anti-Israel activists are also milling around aimlessly, waving banners and chanting slogans. 

A handful of Homeland security officers are surveying the scene, looking bored.
 

Two bomb sniffing beagles are walking the perimeter of the complex, happy to get out in the autumn air.

Also sighted (don't these people have jobs?) Kate Raphael, Dick Becker, Ramsey El Qare, Sara Kershnar, tree-sitter Ayre and several dozen angry Arabs, JVPers and other familiar faces.

The activists distribute a flyer glorifying Rasmea Odeh, a member of the PFLP terror group who was responsible for the death of two young men,  Edward Joffe and Leon Kanner.

Victims of Rasmea Odeh

The flyer, predictably, is short on facts.

Rasmea Odeh was a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a Marxist-Leninist group and a designated foreign terrorist organization.

She lied about this on her citizenship application.

 
Ayesha Oudeh, Rasmieh Yousef Odeh's co-conspirator has spoken about  their involvement in the bombing that killed Leon and Edward in the documentary, Women in Struggle.

Ayesha Oudeh stated on camera,  "Rasmea Odeh was more involved than I was [in the grocery store bombing] ... I only got involved during the preparation of explosives. We wanted to place two bombs to blow up consecutively. I suggested to have the second bomb go off five or six minutes after the first bomb so that those who get killed in it would be members of the army and secret service, but it did not explode. They diffused it 20 seconds before it exploded."

In 1995, Rasmea Odeh immigrated to the United States. She concealed her role in this terror attack on her application for U.S. citizenship and lied about her arrest.

On Friday at 7 pm, a fundraiser for Rasmea Odeh, a terrorist and convicted murderer, will be held in Oakland at the Oakstop on Broadway. 

The moral arc of the universe appears to be sinking fast.

Rasmea Odeh convicted of Immigration Fraud

Rasmea Odeh,  a member of the PLFP terror group was found guilty today of immigration fraud for failing to reveal her criminal background when applying for citizenship.   She had neglected to disclose her conviction in an Israeli grocery store bombing that killed two young university students when she first immigrated from Jordan in 1995 and again when she became a U.S. citizen in 2004.

According to Ron Hansen, a spokesman for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, the 67 year old activist was convicted of unlawful procurement of naturalization. She faces  up to 10 years in prison and will lose her U.S. citizenship.

Judge Gershwin Drain declared her a flight risk, and Odeh was removed from the courtroom in handcuffs.

From the FBI:
"...Odeh omitted her arrest, conviction, and imprisonment overseas, which were material facts for the United States government in determining whether to grant her citizenship.

“The United States will never be a safe haven for individuals seeking to distance themselves from their pasts,” said William Hayes, acting special agent in charge for HSI Detroit. “When individuals lie on immigration documents, the system is severely undermined and the security of our nation is put at risk.”

"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," McQuade said. "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." 

William A. Jacobson of the Blog Legal Insurrection has covered this trial extensively. See:

·           Rasmieh Odeh Defies Judge’s Order, Claims Torture to Jury
·         Jury nullification is defense strategy in Rasmieh Odeh trial
·         Will Pro-Palestinian activists clash with Judge at Rasmieh Odeh trial?
·         Court rejects Rasmieh Odeh motion to postpone trial
·         Devastating pre-trial rulings against Rasmieh Odeh in naturalization prosecution
·         Judge orders jurors protected from pro-Palestinian activists
·         Palestinian activist groups accused of attempting to influence jury

Convicted terrorist Rasmea Odeh to stand trial on Nov. 4

Rasmea Odeh, (aka Rasmea Yousef) a member of the PFLP terrorist group complicit in the death of 2 young men is the latest cause célèbre for the anti-Israel cru. A federal judge has scheduled a November 4 trial for the Palestinian community activist, who allegedly concealed her involvement in the terrorist attack when she applied to become a US citizen.

This week, a variety of anti-Israel groups sent out an email blast urging people to:

Call the prosecutors September 2 from 9:00am-5:00pm EDT and tell them: Drop the charges now!

Call Jonathan Tukel at 313-226-9749 (Chief of National Security Unit, U.S. Attorney's office, Eastern District of Michigan) and U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Barbara McQuade at 313-226-9100 or 313-226-9501 (voicemail).

When you call, say: "Hello, my name is ________, and I am calling from _________ to demand that U.S. Attorney McQuade drop the charges against Rasmea Odeh."

If you are in the Detroit area, please consider joining the US Palestinian Community Network to fill the courthouse. Rasmea's supporters will be gathering at 2:00pm EDT September 2 at the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan (231 W. Lafayette Blvd). The hearing begins at 3:00pm EDT.

Rasmea Odeh has used at least nine aliases since leaving Israel. Now known as Rasmea Yousef, she is the associate director of Chicago's Arab American Action Network. Israel sentenced Odeh to life in prison because of her involvement in a series of terror attacks. She was released after serving only 10 years of her sentence in a prisoner exchange. Odeh immigrated to the United States from Jordan in 1995.

She has never expressed any regret regarding her involvement in the Jerusalem grocery store bombing that took the lives of Eddie Joffe, 21, and his best friend, Leon Kanner.

Via the National Review:

In a 2004 documentary called Women in Struggle, Rasmieh Odeh and a woman named Ayesha Odeh speak openly about their terroristic activities in Israel and appear to lack any regret about the crimes they committed.

Ayesha says that "Rasmieh Odeh was more involved than I was [in the grocery-store bombing]. . . . I only got involved during the preparation of explosives. We wanted to place two bombs to blow up consecutively. I suggested to have the second bomb go off five or six minutes after the first bomb so that those who get killed in it would be members of the army and secret service, but it did not explode. They defused it 20 seconds before it exploded." Rasmieh Odeh describes how time in an Israeli prison deepened her "hatred against those who were responsible. Why? I am not responsible, the occupation is."

According to a FBI press release issued last year

Special agents arrested Rasmieh Yousef Odeh, 66, at a Chicago-area residence after the unsealing of an indictment filed in federal court in Detroit. The indictment charges procurement of citizenship unlawfully. The indictment alleges that Odeh was convicted in Israel for her role in the 1969 bombings of a supermarket and the British Consulate in Jerusalem, which were carried out on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a designated terrorist organization.

According to the indictment, Odeh and others placed multiple bombs at the British Consulate and in a supermarket. One of the bombs placed at the supermarket detonated, killing two and injuring others. A bomb placed at the Consulate caused structural damage to the facility. Odeh was sentenced by Israeli military authorities to life imprisonment but was released after 10 years as part of a prisoner exchange, and she then returned to the West Bank.

The indictment alleges that in 1995, she immigrated to the United States and naturalized as a citizen in 2004. In her immigration documents filed in the United States, the indictment alleges, Odeh omitted her arrest, conviction, and imprisonment overseas, which were material facts for the United States government in determining whether to grant her citizenship.

“The United States will never be a safe haven for individuals seeking to distance themselves from their pasts,” said William Hayes, acting special agent in charge for HSI Detroit. “When individuals lie on immigration documents, the system is severely undermined and the security of our nation is put at risk.”