U.S. terror victims: Prosecute Palestinian terrorists
Palestinian prisoners swapped for Shalit (photo: Reuters)
American victims of Palestinian terror have called on U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to prosecute Palestinian terrorists who have killed or injured U.S. citizens. The terrorists in question were recently released from Israeli prisons in the swap deal which freed Israeli Soldier Gilad Shalit from Hamas captivity.
Under the 1991 US Anti-Terror Act, the United States can prosecute foreign nationals who perpetrate terrorism against American citizens, even if those acts are not carried out on US soil. However, for prosecution to proceed, the law requires the written certification of the American attorney-general that the offenses had been intended to “coerce, intimidate or retaliate against a government or civilian population.”
According to the Parents Forum for Justice (PFJ), a group of U.S. citizens and parents whose children were murdered or maimed by Palestinian terrorists in Israel, 83 U.S. citizens were killed while another 53 were injured by Palestinian terrorists from 1993-2006.
The 1,027 Palestinian terrorists released in exchange for Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped in 2006 by Hamas, have been celebrated as heroes by the Palestinian people. Thanks to the U.S. Anti-Terror Act, some might also soon be defendants.
Comments (3) »Thursday, January 19th, 2012 at 12:48 PM | Amichai Farkas
Photo Friday welcomes Gilad Shalit home
After he spent nearly five and a half years in Hamas captivity, we couldn’t think of any more beautiful site than Gilad Shalit about to descend the stairs to his home, his family right behind him, and their street filled with Israelis celebrating the return of their lost son. This is what answered prayer looks like, friends!
For more images of Gilad’s historic release, visit the IDF’s image gallery.
Comments (19) »Friday, October 21st, 2011 at 3:53 PM | David Kuner
Noam Shalit: Gilad’s captivity was harsh
Gilad takes a walk near his home (photo: Reuters)
On Thursday, Noam Shalit, Gilad Shalit’s father, spoke with reporters about his son’s condition just days after he was released from nearly five and a half years in Hamas captivity. While Noam says Gilad’s appetite is good and he’s going for walks and bike rides, he admits his son has trouble sleeping and is suffering from the effects of sunlight deprivation.
Comments (5) »In response to a question quoting Hamas’ statement that Shalit was not tortured in captivity, his father said: “I suggest you take anything Hamas says with a grain of salt. Gilad underwent very difficult things during his captivity. I won’t go into that now… His treatment did improve a little bit over time.”
Gilad, he said, “talks to us and shares what he can. I don’t know how I, or you, would have survived this long in captivity, so considering what he’s been through he is doing okay.
“The most important thing now is ensuring he readapts gradually. Gilad is not one to make any special requests – he is taking things as they come. We are trying to give him everything we can.
As for the days ahead, Noam Shalit said that his son will continue to follow his doctors’ orders: “More rest, more care, and gradually getting his life back together.”
Friday, October 21st, 2011 at 12:50 PM | David Kuner
The U.N.’s moral bankruptcy
Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations
Those who seek to undermine free, democratic societies must privately laugh at how easily we in the West are often tied in knots by our own moral obtuseness.
Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (itself a caricature of its name) and the office of U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon released statements just before the Shalit trade happened expressing “concerns regarding reports that hundreds of Palestinian prisoners from the West Bank may be released to the Gaza Strip or abroad. If in some cases this has been without the free and informed consent of the concerned individuals, this may constitute forced transfer or deportation under international law.” He added, “we are not sure to what extent they consented to this.”
Allow me to summarize:
Under international law, it is illegal to forcibly transfer prisoners of war or send them to other countries. The U.N. is concerned that Israel may have “forcibly transferred” some of the terrorists to places they didn’t want to go. I’m sure you’re as concerned as I am.
Every convicted terrorist (remember, every one of these “detainees” has been convicted by a free and independent court) was privately interviewed by the International Committee of the Red Cross to assess their wishes pertaining to release. And what authority allowed those interviews to take place? That would be Israel.
Gilad Shalit was taken captive in a cross-border raid that took place on his own soil – a violation of international law. At the time of his kidnapping he was a uniformed soldier in his nation’s armed forces, thereby requiring his captors to meet certain standards of treatment under international law. He was held in a dungeon for more than five years and never saw the sun (and has the vitamin D deficiency to show for it) – a violation of international law. He never had access to the Red Cross as required by international law. His captors released a single video of him to prove that he was alive – and then only to maximize…
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Thursday, October 20th, 2011 at 3:00 PM | Rabbi Jonathan Greenberg
The contrast between good and evil
Palestinians in Gaza City celebrate the release of prisoners. (Photo: Reuters)
Yesterday afternoon, as Gilad Shalit crossed the threshold of his parents’ home for the first time in more than five years, his neighbors in Mitzpeh Hila danced outside and sang heiveinu shalom aleichem (we bring peace unto you).
In Gaza, the crowds celebrated the freedom of murderers and called for death and martyrdom.
In the aftermath of yesterday’s events, Israelis have focused their attention on the complex but heartwarming news about Gilad getting on with his life – he took a walk in his neighborhood today, had his first home-cooked meal in almost 2,000 days, and slept in his own bed; normal activities that most of us take for granted.
In Gaza, Turkey, Lebanon, and other places rife with anti-Semitic hatred, terrorists of all stripes are spending the day plotting – in public and private – the next steps in ridding the world of “the Zionist entity.”
The contrast between good and evil – right and wrong – couldn’t be clearer.
Some, however, still can’t see it. The major lesson the New York Times has drawn from events of the last 36 hours is that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not serious about peace because he was more willing to negotiate with Hamas (the terror organization that held Gilad Shalit) than with Fatah (the terror organization that barely clings to the leadership of the Palestinian Authority and is in its seventh year of a four-year term).
Terrorist hero Samir Kuntar – who, in case you’ve forgotten, murdered Danny Haran and his beautiful little girl, Einat – draws a different (albeit equally outrageous) conclusion: The Palestinians need to take more Israeli hostages. “I call on the resistance groups to kidnap more Israeli soldiers and not make do with one,” Kuntar said.
Wafa al-Biss, a just-released terrorist who attempted to blow herself up at an IDF checkpoint in 2005 but “failed,” spoke with schoolchildren in Gaza this morning. Her message: You should try to be just like me. ”I…
Read More » Comments (14) »Wednesday, October 19th, 2011 at 3:19 PM | Rabbi Jonathan Greenberg
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