Anyone who cares about the pursuit of justice just received an unexpected holiday gift last week. Congress passed a huge omnibus spending bill, otherwise known as Public Law 116-94.
Tucked into this bill by an anonymous member of Congress was HR 7055, which states: "None of these funds provided by this Act, may be used to provide assistance, to the central government of a country which has notified the Department of State of its refusal to extradite to the United States any individual indicted for a criminal offense for which the maximum penalty is life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, or for killing a law enforcement officer."
In other words, providing monetary assistance to a country that refuses to extradite those who have commited high-profile crimes is forbidden. For many families who have been suffering in quiet anguish for the last 18 years, this is nothing short of a miracle.
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Allow me to explain. On Aug. 9, 2001, 21-year-old Ahlam Tamimi picked up Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades terrorist Shuheil al-Masri from the West Bank and accompanied him to the Sbarro pizzeria on the corner of Jaffa and King George streets in the heart of Jerusalem. Tamimi said that she had particularly chosen this restaurant because it was frequented by young Jewish families.
Masri walked into the restaurant, ordered, and calmly proceeded to eat his lunch. He was carrying with him a guitar case rigged with explosives, nuts, bolts, nails, and a suicide belt. Shortly after 2 p.m., an explosion could be heard that rocked Jerusalem for miles. Masri detonated the belt, killing 15 people, including seven children, and wounding 130 others.
Two among those murdered were American citizens, Malki Roth, 15, and Judith Greenbaum, 31, who was pregnant at the time. Another four Americans were seriously wounded: David Danzig, Mathew Gordon, Joanne Nachenberg, and Sarah Nachenberg. To this day, Joanne Nachenberg remains in a vegetative state.
According to the Antiterrorism Act of 1991, USC 18, section 2332 (b) anytime an American is maimed or murdered overseas in an act of terrorism, the United States maintains the right and responsibility to try that suspect in American courts and have him or her serve out his or her punishment within the US.
Tamimi, the woman who was responsible for planning and helping to execute this heinous crime, has made a career of boasting about this vile act.
She has confessed numerous times on tape, swaggering about the extent of the crime and the number of Jewish casualties. It is particularly revolting to hear her speak of the delight, on tape, when she first learned that she had killed eight Jewish children.
In 2002, an Israeli court sentenced her to 16 consecutive life sentences.
However, in 2011, the government of Israel decided to trade her along with 1,026 other Hamas terrorists with "blood on their hands" for the captured Israel Defense Forces' soldier Gilad Schalit.
She immediately fled to Jordan, where she was treated like a hero and showered with flowers. She was given her own Hamas television show, Breezes of the Free, which aired every Friday, and was used to encourage others to commit acts of terrorism. She appeared on another television show, Carnival and was fawned over as though she were a celebrity.
EMET, or the Endowment for Middle East Truth has successfully pushed for congressional letters and hearings on this issue. One hearing was held in the Senate Judiciary Committee under the direction of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) in 2015, while another in the House Oversight Committee was led by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in 2016.
After a forecful line of questioning by Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) on March 4, 2017, the Justice Department agreed to meet with Malki Roth's parents, Arnold and Frimet Roth, and uncovered an indictment of Tamimi, putting her on the FBI's "Most Wanted List," and offering a $5 million award for her capture.
The United States has made an extradition request to the Jordanian government for Tamimi, citing the extradition treaty both countries signed in 1995. However, Jordan claims that no such treaty exists.
So far, three Jordanian terrorists have been extradited from Jordan to the US and are now serving out lengthy prison sentences in American jails: Eyad Ismoil, Mohammad Zaka Amowi, and Nader Saadeh.
Somehow, when the terrorists don't have the rock star status of Tamimi, then an extradition treaty suddenly "exists."
The United States gives Jordan approximately $1.7 billion in aid each year. While Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, it has done absolutely nothing to steer the societal landscape toward peace.
Perhaps this new law will provide them with an incentive to uncover their buried extradition treaty.
Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.
