Tell US Consulate: Let Omar Barghouti speak to us

Effectively canceling a planned speaking tour, the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem has inexplicably delayed the granting of a visa for Omar Barghouti, founding member of the Palestinian Civil Society Boycott, Divestment, Sanction (BDS) campaign, due to tour the United States this April for the release of his new book, Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights. The book publishers have asked for our help.

Contact the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem and the Department of State to ask them to fulfill the promise from the Obama Administration of "promoting the global marketplace of ideas" and grant Barghouti's visa immediately. Demand your right to hear this key leader in the nonviolent struggle for a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Subject:

Your Letter:

Omar Barghouti - who has advanced academic degrees from US institutions, who lived here for 11 years, whose daughter attends school here- has been inexplicably denied a visa to come to the US in April for a long-planned tour to talk about his new book, "Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights," published by Haymarket Books. A book Archbishop Desmond Tutu called  “lucid and morally compelling… perfectly timed to make a major contribution to this urgently needed global campaign for justice, freedom and peace.”

Barghouti has invitations to speak in New York City, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Brandeis University, Washington DC, and Philadelphia, and should be allowed to visit.

At a time when the United States has been forced to recognize the democratic revolution of Egypt after long supporting its dictator Hosni Mubarak, I hope the US government is not violating the freedom of speech of a visiting author and leader for the struggle for democracy for Palestinians.

I demand the right to hear Omar Barghouti speak. He is an important participant in the debate and a key leader in the search for a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on human rights and equality.

Daniel Rubinstein

Consul General, US Consulate, Jerusalem

US State Department--Visa Services

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