John Studer, who coordinates the defense committee and is the director of the Political Rights Defense Fund, joined me in the July 28 visit.

The victory, said Abdel-Muhti—who has spoken out in my defense from the time I was seized by immigration cops last December—“was possible thanks to the support of working people and those who feel and participate in our struggles.”

Abdel-Muhti has been jailed for more than a year, but he faces no criminal charges. The immigration cops say they are holding him on the basis of immigration law violations and a 1995 deportation order.

In February Abdel-Muhti, who was born in Palestine before the formation of the Israeli state and has lived in the U.S. since the 1970s, was transferred from the Passaic County jail in Paterson, New Jersey—one of the prisons used by the immigration police to jail immigrant workers facing deportation—to the York County jail here. That prison topped the list of the largest immigration jails in the country in 1999. Immigrants facing deportation proceedings comprised 44 percent of its population in 2000. Abdel-Muhti has been locked up in solitary since February 26, and can leave his cell for only 45 minutes a day.

Abdel-Muhti was brought out dressed in an orange prison uniform, and remained handcuffed and shackled throughout our meeting. We were separated by a glass partition and conducted our discussion by phone. “The government is stepping on our constitutional rights and violating our human rights,” he said. He said his transfer away from family and supporters in New York and New Jersey to this Pennsylvania prison, which has been cited for its abusive practices by Amnesty International, was punishment for his continued political activities inside prison. Abdel-Muhti was involved along with other inmates in a hunger strike while being held at the Passaic County jail last January to protest the prisoners’ indefinite imprisonment.

The Palestinian activist said he was being punished for being critical not only of the brutal dispossession of the Palestinians, but also of all the crimes committed by the U.S. immigration police. “In this jail, even the doctor told me that I have no right to speak because I am an immigrant and a ‘terrorist,’” he said. Members of the Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti are pressing the government for his release and for an end to deportation proceedings. His fight has become intertwined with that of others facing similar threats.

“The fight for my release and against my deportation is for all those that have been victimized after September 11, and that strengthens my commitment,” he said. Hearing a brief account of the most important lessons drawn from the Calero defense campaign’s victory, Abdel-Muhti was particularly interested in the response found in the labor movement. “The support you received shows how the unions can fight for our interests,” he said.

The Committee for the Release of Farouk Abdel-Muhti has urged supporters of democratic rights to send letters of protest demanding his release and an end to all deportation proceedings to David J. Venturella, Assistant Deputy Executive Associate Commissioner, office of Detention and Removal, 425 I St, NW, Washington, DC 20536; , tel. (212) 305-2734, fax (202) 353-9435; David.j.venturella@usdoj.gov.

To write to Abdel-Muhti, address correspondence as follows: Farouk Abdel-Muhti #75122, York County Jail, 3400 Concord Road, York, PA 17402-9580.  
 
 
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