On Sat, Jun 01, 2002 at 03:49:43PM -0400, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
> Posted on Tue, May. 28, 2002
>
> Cadence engineer fired for activism
>
> FIRM'S LETTER CITES WORK IN BETHLEHEM
>
> By Elise Ackerman and Lisa Fernandez
> Mercury News
>
> James Hanna never imagined his Middle East vacation would cost him his job.
>
> Disturbed by televised images of Israeli military forces invading
> Palestinian cities and towns, the 24-year-old computer engineer hired
> as a contract employee took a 10-day leave from his job at the Munich
> office of Cadence Design Systems in late April to do humanitarian
> work with the International Solidarity Movement, a group of
> pro-Palestinian activists who believe in non-violent resistance to
> the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
>
> ``For me, it was the injustice, the fact that nobody really seemed to
> care,'' said Hanna, who is a U.S. citizen.
>
> Hanna was detained by the Israeli army May 2 after he participated in
> an attempt to deliver food to armed gunmen and others hiding in
> Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity. Israel, which viewed many of the
> Palestinians in the church as suspected terrorists, deported Hanna on
> May 4.
>
> When Hanna returned to work the following week, he was fired. ``Due
> to unacceptable conduct and political actions in a geographical area
> where Cadence does business (Israel), we hereby terminate your work
> contract,'' his dismissal letter stated.
>
> A spokesman for the San Jose company, which is a leading provider of
> software used to design chips and electronic devices, confirmed that
> Hanna's employment contract had been terminated but declined to
> elaborate. ``There was an appropriate and justifiable reason,'' said
> spokesman Kevin Kimball.
>
> Amir Segez-Sayag, a spokesman for the Israeli Consulate in San
> Francisco, said the solidarity group's attempt to storm the church by
> rushing past Israeli soldiers was not a benign act of peaceful
> protesters. ``This is not any kind of humanitarian group that breaks
> into a church and makes provocation,'' he said.
>
> Dean Fryer, a spokesman for the California Department of Industrial
> Relations, said firing an employee for political activity is illegal
> in California. However, the state law generally does not apply to
> contractors like Hanna or to employees of foreign subsidiaries.
>
> Students dropped
>
> Hanna isn't the only person with California connections to face
> negative consequences for involvement in the Bethlehem incident. Two
> students who joined Hanna in the action at the church were punished
> by their universities.
>
> Robert O'Neill, a 21-year-old student at the University of
> California-Berkeley, and Nauman Zaidi, a 26-year-old from
> UC-Riverside, were dropped from their overseas program at the
> American University in Cairo for violating an agreement they signed
> with the university that prohibited them from traveling to dangerous
> places and war zones, university officials said.
>
> O'Neill and Zaidi returned to the United States on Monday after
> spending more than two weeks in Israeli custody attempting to fight
> deportation orders.
>
> ``In the Middle East, students are not allowed to go to the West Bank
> and Gaza, where they put themselves and others in danger,'' said UC
> spokesman Hanan Eisenman.
>
> Eisenman said the rule is consistent throughout the system's overseas
> program. ``In India, there are hot spots in Kashmir that are just `no
> go' zones.''
>
> Alan Schlosser, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union
> of Northern California, said that if Cadence fired Hanna for his
> political activities, it raises serious civil liberties questions.
>
> ``Free speech and political activities would be seriously hampered if
> a private employer were able to retaliate for political actions,''
> Schlosser said.
>
> Sharing details
>
> Hanna said he is still at a loss to explain what happened to him. ``I
> went to Israel on my personal time and did not affiliate myself with
> my company while I was there. I didn't associate with any militant or
> radical groups, and I conducted what I thought were thoroughly
> humanitarian acts,'' he said.
>
> Hanna said he was happy to talk to his manager about his experience
> in Israel and voluntarily informed him of the details of the trip,
> including his work at a school and the two days he spent in a refugee
> camp outside of Bethlehem.
>
> ``I stressed the non-violent and humanitarian aspect of what I had
> done,'' Hanna said.
>
> But according to Hanna, his boss told him that higher-ups in San Jose
> were concerned about his connections to Palestinian militants. ``He
> said they were worried I might do this kind of thing in the future,''
> Hanna recalled.
>
> Hanna said he would never align with militants, in part because his
> family, many of whom live in Egypt, have been persecuted by Muslims
> there for holding fast to their Christian beliefs.
>
> ``I want people to be aware of what happened to me, so they can
> understand what corporate America is thinking and doing in regards to
> the Palestinian-Israeli conflict,'' he said. ``People who speak out
> or act on behalf of the Palestinian people are being punished, both
> in the corporate and academic spheres.''
>
> <http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/3355138.htm>
> --
> Yoshie
>
> * Calendar of Events in Columbus:
> <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/calendar.html>
> * Anti-War Activist Resources: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/activist.html>
> * Student International Forum: <http://www.osu.edu/students/sif/>
> * Committee for Justice in Palestine: <http://www.osu.edu/students/CJP/>
-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu