Justice for Omar As’ad

by LouAnn Villani, Middle East Crisis Committee

On February 3, 2022 in a cold rain we protested in front of the office of Congresswoman Jahana Hayes in Waterbury. We were there trying to get her attention about the Israeli killing of Palestinian-American Omar As’ad.

Soldiers had taken the 78-year-old man from his car within a Palestinian village, handcuffed him, blindfolded him and gagged him. The Israeli soldiers held him for a while and put him on the near-freezing ground and drove away. An autopsy showed he had died of a heart attack from stress caused by assault. We had told Hayes about this killing fully, but she’s never said a word, and continues to be silent about this.

Over 500 people have signed a petition calling for justice for Omar As’ad. It’s up on Change.org. We link at thestrugglevideo.org/the-struggle. Or contact us at [email protected] and we’ll send you the direct link to it.

What we’ve said about Hayes can be said about Congress-woman DeLauro. She has said nothing about the death of Mr. As’ad who was a grocer in the U.S. for some 40 years. She should be protested too. In fact she’s worse. She had her Appropriations Committee sponsor a bill to give Israel an extra $1 billion for missile defense on top of the half-billion they get for missile defense each year which is on top of the $3.3 billion they get for “defense.”

Neither Hayes or DeLauro have signed on Betty McCollum’s bill which would take money away from Israel’s annual gift to the extent that they use that money to mistreat children. At our protest we also held signs calling her out for this. You can learn more about this bill and other ways you can help the Palestinian cause at our website thestrugglevideo.org.