Letters to the editor
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Murderers protected by foreign governments must be brought to justice
Your important Sept. 13 editorial pointed out, correctly, that the lack of an extradition treaty between Qatar and the United States does not have to be an obstacle to Qatar handing over senior Hamas terrorist Khaled Mashaal to the U.S. for prosecution (“US should seek Khaled Mashaal’s extradition”). Even countries that have such treaties often surrender criminal suspects outside the normal treaty channels in order to save time or expense; Mexico has done that so often that in the legal community the process is nicknamed “extradition, Mexican-style.” The question is whether the Biden administration is willing to put pressure on the Qataris to hand over Mashaal.
Unfortunately, the precedents are not encouraging. Ahlam Tamimi, one of the bombers of the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem — in which three Americans were murdered — has been living openly in Jordan for many years. The Obama administration indicted her, but kept the indictment secret. The Trump administration revealed the indictment, but never demanded that the Jordanians hand her over — even though America and Jordan have an extradition treaty.
There are also dozens of Palestinian Arab terrorists who have murdered Americans and are living under the protection of the Palestinian Authority — some of them are even serving in the Palestinian security forces. Yet the U.S. government has never pressed the PA to hand them over for prosecution.
It’s tragic that many of our political leaders seem to care more about offending Jordan or the PA than prosecuting these killers of Americans. The American Jewish community needs to speak out loudly to demand that these murderers be brought to justice.
Moshe Phillips
National chairman, Americans For A Safe Israel
New York, New York
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