UPDATE: Jane will be on CNN today at 2:30 (eastern time) for an interview [UPDATE - It got bumped due to news of Sen. Kennedy's brain tumor], and on BBC by phone at 6:30pm - be sure to tune in! [/update]
My Cotillion blog sister, Jane Novak who blogs at Armies of Liberation, is the subject of a major article in the New York Times today:
Ms. Novak does not fit the profile of a dilettante in exotic causes. A former sales manager for a textile company, she speaks with a distinct Brooklyn accent, having grown up in Flatbush. When a Yemeni government minister visited the United States last year and invited the notorious “Jane,” as she is known throughout Yemen, to go to Washington for a meeting, she turned him down. “It was too much, the money, the kids, all for a one-day trip,” she said.
Nor does she have any background in Middle East studies. One of her opponents in Yemen accused her of being a Zionist member of Aipac, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. “I had to Google it,” Ms. Novak said with a chuckle. “I didn’t know what it was.”
It was after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that Ms. Novak, who used to work not far from the World Trade Center, first took an interest in the Arab world. “I thought it would be a good idea to write in the English-language Arabic press on subjects we could all agree on, freedom of the press, equality, stuff like that,” she said.
Through her efforts on behalf of Yemeni democracy and freedom, Jane was contacted by Abdul Karim al-Khaiwani, a Yemeni journalist currently imprisoned and facing a probable death penalty - all because he did his job and reported the truth of what was happening in Saada Province with the Houthi Rebellion.
She says her campaign is a matter of basic principle. “This is a country that lets Al Qaeda people go free, and they’re putting a journalist on trial for doing his job?” she said. “It’s just completely crazy.”
But Ms. Novak does admit to a personal interest in the case. She and Mr. Khaiwani have become close friends, though they have never met, and neither speaks the other’s language. One of the charges against him is receiving a cellphone text message from her, as part of an alleged plot (which he denies) to aid the Houthi rebels in northern Yemen.
“The penalty for this crime is usually death,” Mr. Khaiwani said during an interview at his home in the Yemeni capital, Sana, in January. A lanky 42-year-old with large, piercing eyes and a dark sense of humor, he has already been jailed four times by the authorities in connection with his journalism. Last year he was kidnapped and beaten by men he says were plainclothes police officers.
Mr. Khaiwani added, with a broad smile: “If you add to this my relationship with Jane Novak, it means the death penalty for sure.”
I urge you to add your name to the petition to demand that the Yemeni government free al-Khaiwani, and remove restrictions on journalists. The Yemeni government harbors and helps terrorists, and - as evidenced by their release of the convicted USS Cole bombers - has no real interest in fighting terrorism. Please join with Jane and scores of other people, and hopefully truth and justice will prevail for the people of Yemen - and al-Khaiwani will be freed.
SIGN UP NOW TO FREE AL-KHAIWANI!!!
UPDATE: Here's a pretty complete list of people blogging about this (thank you, Nicki!!)
- The Birthplace of the Process of Illogical Logic
- PoliGazette
- Fausta's Blog
- Conservative Belle
- My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy
- International Herald Tribune
- Nice Deb
- The Cotillion
- Yeah, Right, Whatever
- Jihad Watch
- Talk Islam
- Cathouse Chat
- The Jawa Report
- Tigerhawk
- Texas Sparkle
- Crossroads Arabia
- Exit Zero
- Tech Republican
- Villainous Company
- Louisiana Conservative
- Hooah Wife and Friends
- Titus One Nine
- National Review Online (NRO)
- RightWingSparkle
- Alabama Improper
- politburo diktat 2.0 (ACE)
- Bill Doskoch
- Free Republic
- Atlas Shrugs
- The Home of Two of Jonah's Military Guys
- Alarabiya
- Redstate
- The American Mind (Sean Hackbarth)
- Blatherings
- Bill Boushka
- NeoConstant
- Time / CNN
- Little Miss Attila
- A View from England
- E the People (en español)
- Politics after 50
- Steal the Bandwagon
- The Reservoir
- Merri Musings
- Free Mark Steyn (link)
- The Jawa Report Radio Edition (click to listen)
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