As you know I am finding ways to help people in the US and other countries to be connected with Israel. Last night while we were watching the news during our evening snack I saw a story that really got my attention because it brought up a subject of which I had never thought about.
On the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) news they carried a story by Eric Stakelbeck, CBN News Terrorism Analyst, about the number of Americans who have been killed by Palestinian terrorists. Did you know that PA terrorists have killed at least 54 Americans? Did you know that Ahlam Tamimi who master minded the bombing of the Sbarro Pizzeria in Jerusalem, which killed 15 people was released in the Gilad Shalit deal, now lives in Jordan and is unrepentant about her actions. Did you know that among the 15 who were killed was a schoolteacher from New Jersey? Did you know that the US has an extradition treaty with Jordan? According to Sarah Stern, president of the Endowment for Middle East Truth in Washington, D.C, if America wanted to get this woman and shackle her and have her stand trial and actually be punished for her heinous crimes, they could. She says that for some reason the U.S. government is not following through on cases involving Palestinian terrorists. She says, “There's a 1990 anti-terrorism law that says that any time an American is killed anywhere in the world, we have the right to retrieve that suspect and have them stand justice.” She helped push through legislation on Capitol Hill that could bring justice to American families affected by Palestinian terrorism. This led to the Department of Justice opening an office devoted to American victims of overseas terrorism.
Yet according to the article, in the seven years since that office opened, not one Palestinian involved in terror against Americans has been extradited or even indicted to face justice in the United States -- despite plenty of leverage in the form of hundreds of millions of dollars in U.S. aid to the Palestinian Authority each year. The U.S. has extradited a Somali pirate, al Qaeda members, and several Israeli citizens who were involved in drug trafficking and Internet fraud, but no Palestinian terrorists.
American terror victim, Alan Bauer, told CBN News that the American reluctance to pursue Palestinians is not limited to those involved in the Gilad Shalit exchange and has been going on for years, under both Presidents Bush and Obama. “The U.S. government has decided that extraditing Palestinian terrorists would hurt its reputation with the Palestinian people. And as such, it has made no real effort,” Bauer said. He hopes that will change. Along with other victims of Palestinian terror, Bauer recently sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder urging him to bring their attackers to justice. Of the 1,000 Palestinian terrorists who were released for the price required for Hamas to release Gilad Shalit it is known that at least 15 were involved in killing Americans.
One has to wonder why the US government would be so hesitant to act on this. If they would take action on this it would be for Americans and not for Israel. So why would they not want to act in behalf of Americans? By not wanting to bring justice to those Palestinians who have killed Americans it seems to me that they are favoring the Palestinians over Americans. I have a feeling that because US Presidents are so set on helping to negotiate for a two state solution that they are afraid that if they hurt the Palestinian feelings then they won’t want to work on peace. That is a kind of ridiculous idea. By not taking action it is possible that those released will have another chance to kill more Americans.
There is concern that the killers like those who killed the Fogel family sentenced to several life sentences, will one day be released to free some Israeli prisoners in the future. For example the four murderers, terrorists, who attacked Kay Wilson and killed her American friend, Kristine Luken, could one day be released to kill more. The fact that Israel is willing to release terrorists to free Israeli prisoners is a strong motivation for the Hamas and/or the Palestinians to kidnap more Israeli soldiers. God forbid. If the US would extradite those murderers and sentence them with capital punishment then we would know for sure that they would not return to kill more Americans or Israelis. Israel seems hesitant to give the death sentence to these terrorists even though they did for those Nazis caught after the War.
So if you want to get involved in this from your own living room, you can write to the Department of Justice and to your congressman to put more pressure on the US to take action. Why should they be inconsistent about who they extradite?
By Frank Mecklenburg
February 3, 2012
