Germany deports Palestinian woman convicted of two Israelis’ murder

Rasma Odeh, a 73-year-old Palestinian woman who was involved in the murder of two Israeli students 50 years ago, was prevented from speaking at a boycott event in Berlin and had her visa revoked by the German authorities.

Odeh, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, had been due to speak at a conference organised by BDS group Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East, on “Palestinian Women Fighting for Liberation”. The invitation drew harsh criticism from German politicians from Israel, and America, with both countries’ ambassadors, Richard Grenell and London-born Jeremy Issacharoff issuing strong condemnation of the German authorities for allowing her into the country at all.

After days of complaint, the government cancelled the conference and announced that Odeh was barred from speaking and had immediately to leave the Schengen Area, comprising 26 European countries.

Odeh was responsible for a 1969 bombing that killed two students – Leon Kanner and Eddie Joffe – in a Jerusalem supermarket.

She was also convicted by the Israeli authorities for a second bombing at the British consulate. She was sentenced to life imprisonment in 1970 for her role in the bombings. She was released from prison in 1979 due to a prisoner exchange. She now lives in Jordan after living in the US for more than two decades.

The US government deported Odeh in 2017 for immigration fraud. She lied about her terrorism convictions when she entered the US.