Rasmea Odeh standing with her supporters outside the federal courthouse in Detroit, March 12

DETROIT— A federal judge sentenced Palestinian activist Rasmea Odeh to 18 months in jail on Thursday, March 12, but she will remain free on bond, pending appeal.

Odeh, 67, was convicted of unlawful procurement of citizenship on Nov. 30 for failing to disclose on her U.S. naturalization application that she was imprisoned in Israel about 45 years ago. In 1969, Odeh was convicted of participating in a bombing. However, she maintains that the Israeli conviction was based on a forced confession obtained by torture. 

U.S. District Judge Gershwin A. Drain stripped Odeh of her citizenship after pronouncing the sentence. Her defense attorneys will file an appeal request with the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. If the court of appeals refuses to grant Odeh a new trial, she would be arrested again, serve her sentence and then be deported. 

The sentencing hearing on Thursday turned into a political debate about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the right to resistance. 

Jonathan Tukel, the lead prosecutor on the case, tried to paint Odeh as a terrorist, requesting a heavy sentence of 5 to 7 years, which exceeds the sentencing guidelines for the offense.

Odeh’s lead attorney, Michael Deutsch, argued that his client should not be sentenced to any jail time, given both her age and poor health. Odeh suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that her defense says was caused by her torture in Israel.

Tukel showed videos of women from the Popular Front of the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) talking about Odeh’s involvement in the bombing. Another video, recorded when Odeh was still in an Israeli jail, featured an audio in which a PFLP fighter says that a hijacked airplane in Jordan is under the command of the Rasmea Odeh Task Force. 

“Throughout her life, she has been involved in terrorism,” Tukel said of Odeh.

Deutsch told the judge that Odeh’s involvement in the struggle against Israeli occupation was legitimate resistance. He argued that occupied people have a right to resist, comparing Palestinian resistance to American revolutionaries who stood up to British imperialism.

The defense attorney said Palestinians are oppressed and that Americans have been denied the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

“Who has the planes?” Deutsch asked. “Who has the tanks? Who has one of the most powerful militaries in the world, with the support of the U.S.?”

The defense attorney added that using Odeh’s involvement in the resistance to enhance her sentence would be preposterous and unfair.

To make his point, Deutsch quoted former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who said, “If I were a Palestinian of the right age, I would join, at some point, one of the terrorist groups.”

Deutsch said that imprisoning Odeh would serve no purpose. “Don’t let this terrorism pandering influence you,” he told the judge. 

Tukel said the dangerous nature of the crime that Odeh concealed from immigration authorities should prolong her sentence.

In her statement to the court, Odeh focused on her life struggles. The Palestinian activist was born in the town of Lifta, west of Jerusalem, in 1947. Her family was driven out of the village by Zionist militants and she spent her early childhood in a refugee camp.

“Every time I try to build up my life, an outside force destroys it and I have to start from zero,” she said.

She added that after her father left the family, she tried to start anew by going to school in Beirut, but the Israeli occupation did not allow her to continue her studies. Then she was imprisoned. Upon her release from an Israeli prison after 10 years, she lived in Jordan, where she established herself and had a job and a car. However, she said her father got sick in the United States and she had to leave Jordan for America to care for him. She was made to start from zero once again. 

Odeh told the judge that deporting her would destroy her current life with the community in Chicago. She added that as she approaches 70, having her start yet another new life would feel like an execution.

Drain said the case was not political but about lying under oath. He also said he believes Odeh did engage in terrorist activities, but has since reformed. He acknowledged receiving more than 72 letters by people from “different walks of life” detailing Odeh’s positive impact on the community, through her work with the Arab American Action Network.  

The judge explained that he has to hand Odeh a sentence within the guidelines to deter others from lying on their immigration and citizenship applications in the future.

Deutsch described the sentence as excessive and unjust. The defense has 14 days to file the appeal. The prosecution agreed to keeping Odeh on bond until the Circuit Court makes a decision on whether to retry the case.

Odeh’s supporters had been protesting in front of the courthouse and packing the courtroom during every hearing. Thursday drew the largest crowd of supporters, amid heavy presence of federal marshals, who blocked Lafayette Street in front of the courthouse before and after the hearing.

Deutsch said there is ground for appeal because Drain’s limiting Odeh’s testimony and not allowing her to talk about her torture and PTSD.

“They used all these Israeli documents because of a treaty,” the defense attorney continued. “The treaty does not supersede the Constitution. The Israeli military court operates in violation of the U.S. Constitution and international law. The government throughout the trial kept saying that she was convicted of a bombing in which two people were killed. They didn’t have to say that. It was prejudicial and unnecessary.” 

Hatem Abudayyeh, the executive director of the AAAN, said the case is political heart, and Odeh’s prosecution is to deal a blow to Palestinian activism in the United States.

“We believe this was a case about Palestine, not about immigration or lying on a form,” he said. 

On Wednesday evening, the Rasmea Defense Committee held a fundraiser for Odeh at the Arab American National Museum, where Abudayyeh said that Odeh’s case concerns all Palestinians around the world, and everybody who sympathizes with their cause. 

He added that every time activists are doing effective work toward social justice, the federal government cracks down on them with grand juries and indictments.

Asked about support for Odeh in Metro Detroit, Abudayyeh said it has been strong and named multiple local Arab and Muslim American organizations that are helping the Palestinian activist.

“If there aren’t many people out for Rasmea here or in Chicago, it is not a testament on the community, but a testament on the general atmosphere of intimidation and criminalization of dissent,” he told The Arab American News. “It is understandable that some folks are scared. But we are challenging this atmosphere and telling them that they are not going to be able to intimidate us.”