[IPSM] {Update!} Stop the Deportation of Palestinian Refugee Osama Saleh Omar!

[Stefan Christoff]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Mon, 26 Apr 2004 18:46:50 -0700 (PDT)
From: No One is Illegal Montreal <noii-montreal at resist.ca>


STOP THE DEPORTATION OF OSAMA SALEH OMAR!

Resist the Deportation of a Palestinian
Refugee to Occupied Palestine!

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WEDNESDAY APRIL 28th, 4pm - 6pm
Citizenship and Immigration Canada
1010 St-Antoine West, (metro Bonaventure)
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THURSDAY APRIL 29th, 11am
Federal Court, 30 McGill Ave.
(metro Square-Victoria)
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We are urgently calling for your support and solidarity to ensure that
Osama Saleh's deportation does not take place. He faces deportation from
Canada, to the West Bank town of Tulkurm this Thursday April 29th. The
fact that Citizenship and Immigration Canada plans to forcefully deport
Osama, a Palestinian refugee to the deadly and illegal Israeli occupation,
illustrates the profound injustice which is being perpetuated against
Palestinian refugees facing deportation from Canada.

We are calling on you to take action!

The Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees is calling
for a demonstration in solidarity with Osama Saleh this Wednesday from 4-6
pm, outside the Montreal offices of Citizenship and Immigration Canada, to
demand that Judy Sgro Minister of Citizenship and Immigration Canada and
Anne McLellan Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness to use
their discretionary powers to halt Mr. Saleh's deportation.

We also are calling on you to attend Osama's Federal Court hearing, this
Thursday, where Osama's immigration lawyer Stewart Istvanffy will appeal
his pending deportation order. Your presence at the hearing is extremely
important, as we must illustrate to the Federal Court and to Immigration
Canada that there is growing popular support for Osama's struggle against
his deportation to the West Bank.

In Solidarity,
Coalition Against the Deportation of Palestinian Refugees
Information: / Email: refugees at riseup.net / Tel: 514 591 3171

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION ON OSAMA SALEH:
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The rejection of Osama Saleh's refugee claim and now pending deportation,
illustrates the institutionalized persecution, which Palestinian refugees
have been subject to at the hands of Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
Osama has experienced the harsh realities of the Israeli occupation
throughout his life. As a child, he witnessed the arrest of his father and
endured heavy beatings at the hands of Israeli soldiers. During the first
Intifada, Osama as a young man was incarcerated for 10 months in an
Israeli jail simply for participating in demonstrations.

Osama`s case clearly illustrates the consistent biases of members of the
Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) toward Palestinian Refugees. In 2002,
Osama's refugee claim was rejected, despite his well-documented history of
torture, arrest, systematic persecution and violence as a stateless
Palestinian living under military occupation.

Osama`s rejected Pre-Removal Risk Assessment (PRAA) decision states: "It
has been determined that you would not be subject to risk of persecution,
torture, risk to life or risk of cruel and unusual treatment or punishment
should you be returned to your country of nationality or habitual
residence." However, it is clear that Osama will face "persecution and
risk to life" if he is deported to the military occupation in the West
Bank.

Osama's case further illustrates the disturbing and inconsistent
decision-making of Immigration Canada officials. In fact, a Palestinian
refugee claimant from the Occupied Territories has recently received a
positive PRRA decision acknowledging the dangers faced by Palestinians
under military occupation as reported extensively by countless
well-recognized human rights organizations such as Amnesty International
and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

Furthermore, there is clear Canadian acknowledgement of the danger and
persecution faced by Osama and other Palestinians in the Occupied
Territories. This acknowledgment is outlined by the travel advisory issued
by the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade which states:

"Canadians should not travel to the West Bank or Gaza Strip, which
continue to be affected by serious violence. Canadians in the West Bank
and Gaza Strip should leave as they are at high risk. They may, however,
encounter difficulties departing these territories during times of Israeli
closures or curfew, which are frequent."

To have one arm of the Canadian Government acknowledge and warn against
the ever-present dangers in these areas, and have another arm of the
Government forcefully deport refugees back to these same areas is, to say
the least, disturbing.

Osama is from the town of Tulkarem, which has been one of the most
severely affected towns in the West Bank throughout the second Intifada.
Since the start of the second Intifada in September 2000, over 2,775
Palestinians have been killed, and over 28,000 have been injured. B'Tselem
(an Israeli human rights organization) reports that Israeli security
forces consistently use violence, against Palestinians unnecessarily and
without justification. Inhumane curfews, checkpoints and closures,
stifling restrictions on freedom of movement, and the destruction of
civilian homes and agricultural land are tools to enact a policy of
collective punishment on all Palestinians.

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