Come support group that received death threat

[at the corner of Alcatraz; two blocks south of the Ashby BART station.]

PHONE: 510-655-6384

Regarding the death threat* received by Alison Weir and If Americans Knew:

A number of people have offered to come to our office on Monday, Oct. 6, at 1:30 pm to stand with us as we refuse to stop our efforts to inform the American public accurately, fully, and truthfully about Israel and Palestine. We welcome all those who would like to join us. The Berkeley Police say that they will be monitoring the area and will check for explosives.

Nevertheless, we would like to emphasize that we take this threat seriously. Fanatic defenders of Israel have committed acts of violence in the past. The chairman and a member of the Jewish Defense League were indicted January 10 on charges of conspiring to bomb the office of Congressman Daryl Issa. The group was also investigated for the 1985 murder of the West Coast Regional Director of the American Arab Anti-discrimination Committee.

According to Middle Eastern expert Donald Neff: “In a 1986 study of domestic terrorism, the Department of Energy concluded: ‘For more than a decade, the Jewish Defense League (JDL) has been one of the most active terrorist groups in the United States....Since 1968, JDL operations have killed 7 persons and wounded at least 22’.”

This is of particular concern, as If Americans Knew founder Alison Weir is listed as an “enemy” on the website of the New York JDL. In addition to slandering her and stating, in a reversal of the truth, that she “denies the holocaust,” the group writes: “MAY YOU ONE DAY KNOW WHAT LIVING IN TERROR IS LIKE.”

If Americans Knew will not, however, be silenced or intimidated, and will continue to work to disseminate the factual information that Americans have the right and need to know. It is our belief that the American people, finally armed with such information, will take the steps necessary to end the tragic and escalating carnage in Israel and Palestine.

* FULL TRANSCRIPT OF DEATH THREAT:

"Hi. I heard your speech today in UC-Berkeley; the debate. And I'm telling you this right now. On Monday, at 2 PM, you better not be in your office. Because me and my buddies, who were trained in the Israeli Army, will come and kill every single one of you son-of -a-bitches for what you are doing to destroy Israel. So watch out.
This is not a joke. On Monday you better watch out. Don't come to work. And close your organization or you're going to die."
-- Received Friday, Oct. 3, 2003