The trial of Rasmea Odeh — feminist, community organizer, Palestinian refugee — is entering its fourth day. The US government is targeting Odeh as part of a coordinated, multi-pronged attack on Palestinians in the United States, aiming to cut off Palestinians in exile from the struggle in their homeland and to further shatter the Palestinian national movement.

By attempting to destroy what the Reut Report has called “hubs” of the organizing effort, the US government is in effect carrying out a counterinsurgency operation against both Palestinians in this country as well as their supporters. To that end, the government has repeatedly attempted to link Palestinians in exile to what it calls “terror.” By using “terror lists,” for example, it has successfully managed to prevent Palestinians in the United States from offering support to any of the Palestinian political parties that have not caved in to the Zionist project.

The government has also used those lists to criminalize purely humanitarian efforts to strengthen Palestinian society — most notoriously in the case of the Holy Land Five. Furthermore, the US government has sought to judicially harass and disrupt any and all Palestinian exile formations. The prosecution of Odeh is one example of that ongoing persecution.