Spain must not agree to rendition of pro-Palestine donor in US global crackdown on dissent

• James "Fergie" Chambers, an American philanthropist and major funder of pro-Palestine causes, was arrested in Ibiza on 10 July on a US extradition request
• Chambers has been denied bail and transferred to Madrid, where Spain's Audiencia Nacional is handling the extradition proceedings
• His arrest came days before US secretary of state Marco Rubio convened officials from 65 countries in Washington to coordinate a global crackdown on what the administration calls "transnational far-left terrorism"

Madrid — CAGE International demands Chambers' immediate release and calls on Spain to reject the US rendition request. His arrest is a blatant attempt to silence dissent against genocide. Within days of his kidnapping in Ibiza, the US secretary of state stood in front of delegations from 65 countries and called for exactly this kind of repression of activism - financial targeting, intelligence sharing, coordinated law enforcement - to be built out across borders. 

The War on Terror apparatus assembled after 2001 was built to police Muslim life and opposition to foreign wars. It is now being used to criminalise Palestinian resistance and political dissent.

Chambers funded legal defence, bail, and direct action against arms manufacturers supplying the Israeli military - the same conduct that has seen Palestine Action activists convicted and imprisoned in Britain under a terrorist designation for property damage. What is being tested in Madrid is the ability of states to cement illegal rendition strategies across the globe, and remove someone from public life for the crime of opposing a genocide.

Anas Mustapha, Head of Public Advocacy at CAGE International, said: 

"This is what full-spectrum policing of Palestine solidarity looks like once it goes global. Fergie Chambers is being pursued because he funded the people trying to stop a genocide, and with counter terrorism powers providing the legislative basis for this persecution."

His family and supporters are asking people to contact their national embassies in Spain, and to demand his release and an end to the extradition proceedings.

[ENDS]