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-Caveat Lector-
Hello,
I stumbled onto this group while looking at Nigel Parry's website, and I joined
because I have experienced the results of the Patriot Act and Mr. Ashcroft's
attempt to take away our civil rights. My name is Jimmy Hanna, and I am a
24-year old Egyptian-American living in Munich. I worked at the German
affiliate of an American high-tech company, Cadence Design Systems, with
headquarters in San Jose, CA. On April 28 I went to the Occupied
Territories to
undertake humanitarian acts, and when I returned to work I was promptly fired.
The company gave me a letter of termination that I have reproduced at the
end of
this message.
Outraged, I filed suit in a German court, and I also filed a complaint with the
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In the German court,
I was
able to achieve some measure of justice. Under an agreement between my lawyer
and the company, the firing was thrown out and I received a small settlement.
When I filed my complaint with the EEOC, even before the investigation began,
the head of the San Jose office told me that "Based on the information you have
provided it appears that the company was within their rights to terminate you."
Note that this statement was made even before the investigation began,
effectively dooming any chances of a fair outcome.
I feel that I was targeted because of my Egyptian heritage and for helping
Palestinians. The company headquarters knew about my trip and undertook a full
background check on me. My manager told me that the company thought I had
affiliated myself with terrorists! My case went all the way up to the CEO of
the company, who said that he approved of the firing. This story was published
in the San Jose Mercury News, but after that no American newspaper would
pick it
up, even the parts of my case that occurred after the story broke. I want
people to know about it because I think it is wrong what this company did
to me,
and I want to make sure that it doesn't happen again to anyone else. For a
company to fire an employee for humanitarian actions smacks of hypocrisy,
not to
mention racism. I am fighting to make my voice heard to put an end to the
targeting of Middle-Eastern people that is occurring due to the "war on
terror".
-Jimmy
-- This is the letter of termination:
Termination of your work contract by 31st of July 2002
Dear Mr. James Hanna,
Due to unacceptable conduct and political actions in a geographical area where
Cadence does business (Israel) we hereby terminate your work contract with
Cadence Design Systems within the contractual notice period of two months for
the end of the month. The resulting risk to Cadence does not support further
employment and therefore your are exempt revocable from your work with
immediate
effect.
Regards,
Cadence Design Systems GmbH
-- This is the article that was published about me
<http://www.bayarea.com/mld/bayarea/business/technology/3355138.htm>http://www.bayarea.com/mld/bayarea/business/technology/3355138.<http://www.bayarea.com/mld/bayarea/business/technology/3355138.htm>htm
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.''
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