American & Israeli Lives Matter Too

Blood is running throughout the streets of Israel right now.

On Tuesday, Avraham Hasno (z”l) was the tenth Jew killed during the current wave of terrorist attacks in Israel that began this month as a direct result of Palestinian and Islamist incitement. The first two victims – Eitam and Na’ama Henkin (z”l) were shot dead in their car by Fatah terrorists in front of four of their children.

Eitam Henkin has another distinction.  He is among the at least 62 American citizens killed by Palestinian terrorists, in and around Israel, since the Oslo Accords were signed.  Since 1991, American law has given the Department of Justice (DOJ) the legal tools to prosecute these terrorists with the Anti-Terrorism Act, passed in 1990, which requires the prosecution and punishment, in US courts, of individuals who murder or maim American citizens in acts of international terrorism.

Since 2005, there has been a specific unit – the Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism (OJVOT) – within the DOJ solely dedicated to pressuring the DOJ to prosecute these terrorists. This unit was established pursuant to the passage of the Koby Mandell Act of 2004.

However, as of today, the DOJ has never indicted, extradited, or prosecuted a single Arab Palestinian terrorist who has harmed an American within Israel or the Palestinian territories. Not a single one.

EMET’s Founder and President, Sarah Stern, who has spent decades working with the American victims of Palestinian terrorism, was one of the main initiators of the Koby Mandell Act.  She, and EMET, are not about to stop now.

EMET believes that the Obama administration has swept under the rug its responsibility towards Americans killed by overseas terrorists.

EMET believes that if the government of the United States does not value the lives of our own American citizens, we are giving a “free pass” to those terrorists for the wanton murder of our citizens—particularly if they happen to be studying, travelling, working or living in Israel or the disputed territories.

EMET believes that the Obama Administration has abrogated its responsibilities to these Americans on the altar of the Oslo Accords, which the Administration fears will be abandoned by the Palestinians if they are required to pay for their incitement and terrorism.

EMET believes that the Administration’s failure to hold the PA accountable for the incitement and terrorism, and to bring to justice terrorists that have killed Americans in Israel, sends a message that American blood – both Jewish and non-Jewish alike – is cheap.

EMET will push Congress to hold the Administration’s feet to the fire on this issue.  We will not stop fighting against Palestinian incitement, and for the pursuit for justice for the American victims of Palestinian terrorism.  EMET has, and continues, to call for Congressional oversight hearings regarding the unwillingness of the Department of Justice to prosecute Palestinian terrorists who have killed or harmed American citizens.

Because of EMET’s constant and relentless efforts, we know that at least one Congressional Committee will be holding a hearing on this soon.

The families of American victims deserve equal justice.  The victims, may their memories be for a blessing, deserve it.  Help EMET continue our critical work to demand that the Department of Justice do its job and that equal justice is served.

It’s been twenty five years since the Anti-Terrorism Act was passed, which says that our government can bring to justice in the United States any suspect who has been implicated in the murder or harming of an American citizen overseas. It’s been ten years since the Koby Mandell Act was passed, which had set up an office in the Department of Justice that was established in order to be an advocate for the American victims of overseas terrorism within the Department of Justice.  And still not a single Palestinian terrorist who has been implicated in the murder of an American citizen in Israel or the disputed territories has been brought to justice on these shores.

It’s a simple matter of justice.