A case of shameful silence and deliberate inaction…writes Michael Kuttner
The United States of America which prides itself as the torch bearer of justice, liberty and morality in the world is shockingly guilty of betraying these very virtues over its continued failure to bring to justice the murderers of many of its citizens at the hands of Palestinian Arab terrorists.
Michael Kuttner
This refusal to act despite the legislative authority to do so is a scandal which needs to be rectified as quickly as possible.
Moreover those in charge need to be held responsible and accountable for a lamentable lapse over many years in making sure that those who have murdered Americans in foreign countries especially Israel are extradited, tried and subsequently punished.
In 1985 a law was passed as part of the Federal Anti Terrorism legislation permitting the US Government to investigate, extradite and prosecute those who are suspected of murdering or maiming American citizens in acts of terrorism committed outside the United States. It is very clear, specific and one would imagine simple to comply with but in a situation that can only be described as bizarre has never been implemented. About 10 years ago the US Congress decided that an office within the Justice Department, called “the office for victims of overseas terrorism” be created to (in their words) ” ensure that the investigation and prosecution of terrorist attacks against American citizens overseas remain a high priority within the Department of Justice”. Nothing ambiguous about this and yet for some mysterious reason yet to be explained not a single terrorist has ever been pursued by this office.
More than 50 Americans have been murdered by Palestinian Arab terrorists and countless more maimed and the numbers keep rising. Every victim is a heart wrenching story of family tragedies and traumas made even worse by the fact that apparently the US Government has no desire to seek justice on behalf of the families concerned. Two examples illustrate the scandalous situation which exists at present.
The Sbarro restaurant explosion in August 2001 resulted in 15 people murdered including 2 Americans. Ahlam Tamimi was caught, tried and sentenced to sixteen life sentences in an Israeli jail for her part in this terrorist outrage. However in 2011 she was freed as part of the captured soldier, Shalit exchange. She now resides in Amman and hosts her own talk show. This is where it gets obscene.
Here is what she told our agency in videotaped interview about her role in that bombing:
“Of course I do not regret what happened. Absolutely not. This is the path. I dedicated myself to Jihad for the sake of Allah and Allah granted me success. You know how many casualties there were? This was made possible by Allah. Do you want me to denounce what I did? That’s out of the question. I would do it again today and in the same manner..”
The US government could ask for Tamimi’s arrest yet has refused to do so.
Another example concerns the murder of Asher Palmer (aged 24) and his infant son, who was 2 days short of his first birthday, who were killed when the vehicle they were in was attacked by Palestinian Arabs in September 2011.
Asher who was driving lost control of the car when rocks were thrown at them near Kiryat Arba. Two Palestinian Arabs were arrested and admitted to carrying out the attack while a third terrorist who witnessed the attack and subsequently stole possessions from Asher’s body was convicted of theft. Asher held US citizenship.
A family left bereft and devastated is still waiting for justice from the American authorities.
These are just two examples of many in which the full implementation of US law is ignored. The perpetrators of these murderous outrages are not being extradited and tried in American courts for the murder of American citizens.
Some questions need to be asked: Why is this situation allowed to continue?
Why has nothing been done over all these years? What possible logical explanation can the US Justice Dept. give?
Finally but perhaps most importantly: is there any strange coincidence in the fact that the victims are Jewish and the terrorists are Islamic?
Does the banning by Washington of the term Islamic terror actually mean that these past and future terrorists are permanently immune from facing US justice for the murder of American citizens?
Michael Kuttner is a Jewish New Zealander who for many years was actively involved with various communal organisations connected to Judaism and Israel. He now lives in Israel and works for The Israel Resource News Agency in Jerusalem.
The US has been guilty of silence on massacres from Deri Yesin to the flotilla. It has even been silent on the massacre of its own troops on the Liberty.
The US State Department has had a history of anti-semitism and disdain for the State of Israel. It has curried favour with the Arab states to satisfy its need for oil. — read the Secret War against the Jews by Mark Aarons and john Loftus.
Regarding the current US president and some of his appointees, this quote from the renowned Latin scholar, Cicero, in my view, reflects the direction the US government, Justice department, media etc. in weakening the US and the West in favour of the rise of Islam.
” A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and he carries his banners openly. But the traitor moves among those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not traitor, he speaks in the accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their garments, and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of a city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to be feared “
Michael,
Another well written piece. Your last sentence spelled it out perfectly. In fact, it could have been improved by the deletion of the word “Does” at the beginning and the question mark at the end.
The US under the leadership of Barack Hussein Obama will always grant immunity from prosecution as terrorists to those Islamists guilty of terrorist acts on US soil. They don’t even use the term “Islamic terrorism” anymore but “work place violence” or some other such nonsense, thereby ensuring that if caught, the perpetrators will be tried in civilian court.
As to acts of terror committed against US citizens abroad (Jewish or not, makes not the slightest difference), the families of those people can forget about ever seeing justice as long as this administration is in power which will be for another 4 years at least.