LOCAL GROUP WORKING FOR MIDEAST PEACE

RECEIVES DEATH THREAT

CONTACT: 510-655-6384 CELL: 415-847-1782

After debating last night on “How Can Peace Be Achieved betweeen Israelis and Palestinians?” a local woman and her organization received a voice mail message saying: “"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..."

The caller went on to say, “"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."

The recipient of the threat is Alison Weir, who speaks widely on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. She is executive director of If Americans Knew, a nonprofit organization known for providing information on the Middle East.

In last night’s debate she predicted that Israelis and Palestinians searching for a just peace will succeed when US tax money no longer goes to fuel Israeli militarists such as Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Sharon was found guilty by the Israeli Knesset in 1982 for his role in the Sabra and Shatila massacre in Lebanon.

Weir said that she takes the caller seriously. “I am named an ‘enemy’ on a website of the Jewish Defense League, a group known for violent acts – most recently, police are investigating charges that its members planned to firebomb Congressman Darrell Issa’s office in southern California.”

Weir says that there has long been a concerted effort to intimidate people speaking out on this issue, but says, “We will not be silenced. I hope others will join us.”

Weir says that she plans to be in her office all day Monday, working to inform the public on this urgent issue.

Berkeley police and the FBI are investigating the death threat, which is a felony.

FULL TRANSCRIPT OF THE 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."