IAC urges support for Palestinian activist arrested in New York
April 30, 2002--Three New York detectives and one agent of the Immigration and Naturalization Service --accompanied by a group of uniformed police officers—carried out an arrest of Faruk Abdel-Muhti in Corona, Queens in the early morning of April 26, 2002, at the apartment Abdel-Muhti shares with Bernard McFall.
The cops knocked loudly and said they wanted to ask Abdel-Muhti some questions about Sept. 11. McFall asked if they had a warrant. They claimed they did not need a warrant, and that they believed there were weapons and explosives in the apartment.
Advised by attorney Gilma Camargo of American Association of Jurists to open the door in order to prevent a violent intrusion, McFall did so. The agents asked to see Abdel-Muhti's identification. When he showed it to them they said he was under arrest for being in the U.S. illegally, handcuffed him and threatened him with deportation. They didn’t search the apartment.
In New York, Abdel-Muhti is a well-known Palestinian community activist who has recently contributed to Pacifica/WBAI’s radio coverage of the Israeli assault on occupied Palestine. It was the second time in three weeks that agents came to his home.
According to witnesses, INS agents stated that one of the reasons for arrest is Mr. Abdel-Muhti's outspoken critique of Israel's policies towards Palestinians. This arrest comes amid a nationwide sweep of police and INS raids against immigrants from the Middle East, South Asia and Northern Africa that began after Sept. 11 under the cover of the so-call war on terror.
Organizers for the International Action Center in the anti-war group’s New York headquarters urged the anti-war and progressive movement to support Abdel-Muhti in “his struggle against this example of political repression and racial profiling.”
Bernard McFall and Tarek Abdel-Muhti, Faruk's son, were in the apartment and witnessed the arrest. The Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants (CHRI), an immigrant rights activist group that has worked with Abdel-Muhti, is supporting him in his case.
Abdel-Muhti’s supporters are asking people to call or fax the District Director of INS in New Jersey Andrea Quarantillo and demand she release Faruk Abdel-Muhti immediately Phone: 973-645-4421 Fax: 973-297-4848. Also call the Deputy Commissioner of New York Police Department to protest their collaboration with the INS on this arrest and other arrests of Immigrants Phone: 646-610-5420 Fax: 646-610-8482.
For more information, contact the CHRI at 212-254-2591.
International Action Center
39 West 14th Street, Room 206
New York, NY 10011
email: mailto:iacenter@action-mail.org
En Espanol: iac-cai@action-mail.org
Web: http://www.iacenter.org
Support Mumia Abu-Jamal: http://www.millions4mumia.org/
phone: 212 633-6646
fax: 212 633-2889
Make a donation to the IAC and its projects
The International Action Center
Home ActionAlerts Press
Share this page with a friend