The Almagor Terror Victims Association has dispatched a letter to US Secretary of State John Kerry criticizing US efforts to free convicted Palestinian murderers and requesting a meeting with Kerry.
The letter is a response to continuing US pressure on the Israeli government to accede to Mahmoud Abbas’ demand that Israel free all Palestinian prisoners who have been in Israeli jails since before the Oslo Accord. Abbas has preconditioned peace talks with Israel on the release of these prisoners and on Israel’s freezing construction rights of Jews in eastern Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria (the West Bank).
The letter, sent by Almagor heads Lt.-Col. (ret.) Meir Indor and Dr. Aryeh Bachach, along with a group of Israelis whose relatives were murdered by these terrorists, seeks “to point out that the release from jail of over a hundred violent criminals—the vast majority of whom are serving at least one life sentence—is not a logical precursor to peace talks. By demanding such a thing, Abbas makes clear that he remains faithful to the way of his boss of forty years, arch-terrorist Yassir Arafat.”
The letter goes on to imagine how Kerry himself “would react to a Chechen group’s demand to free Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving Boston bomber: you would dismiss it with disgust. An American official would never think to suggest that the Boston bomber be released, because his public life would be over by the end of the next news cycle.”
Noting that Israel, like the US, has a court system and that “those murdered by the terrorists left behind family and friends who cannot sit idly by as you seek to take away from them their only hint of closure and justice,” the letter provides several examples of the terrorists whose release Abbas is demanding:
– “Jaradat Mahmad Anis Aiman took part in the murder of two Arab Israelis in order to steal their weapons; kidnapped, interrogated, and murdered two others who he believed were cooperating with the Israeli authorities; murdered another person he considered a “collaborator”; attempted to murder another person; murdered yet another individual whom he had kidnapped with intent to interrogate him; attempted to kidnap and seriously injured an additional person he suspected of “collaboration”; kidnapped, interrogated, and attacked another 13 people he thus suspected; fired and threw rocks on Israeli security forces on multiple occasions; and shot at civilians.
– “Muhammad Tawafiq Saliman Yousef Jabarin was one of the terrorists who committed the slaughter of “the Night of the Gliders” (as it is known in Israel): he used a glider to infiltrate Israel from Lebanon and proceeded to murder three soldiers and seriously injure a fourth.
– “Salah Ali Hader Razeq stabbed a university professor to death in Jerusalem, working with his accomplice; broke into the home of another Israeli civilian and proceeded to stab and choke him to death; stabbed to death an individual he suspected of cooperating with the Israeli authorities; and on two occasions attempted to murder other Israelis in their homes.
– “Shamasaneh Yousef a-Guad Mahmad and Shamasaneh Yousef a-Guad Guad offered two youths a ride in their car, then stabbed them to death, and then shot to death a taxi driver who gave them a ride. The latter terrorist also shot to death a soldier whom he had offered a ride.”
Signatories to the letter include Almagor CEO Lt.-Col. (ret.) Meir Indor; Almagor Bereaved Parents Forum Chairman Dr. Aryeh Bachrach; Rahamim Dadi, brother of murder victim David Dadi; Rachel Boblil-Ohana, sister of David Dadi; Sapir Hazut, daughter of Daniel Hazut; Allegra Yisrael, mother of Moti Yisrael; Geula Delarosa, mother of David Delarosa; Elad Delarosa, brother of David Delarosa; Ora Klein, widow of Tzvi Klein; and Yigal Erez, brother of Shmuel Erez.