It's my murdered child's birthday

Today, November 27, my precious daughter Malki would have turned 36. 

If only she hadn't stopped with a friend at Jerusalem's Sbarro pizzeria on her way to a summer camp counselors' meeting. 

If only the evil Ahlam Tamimi had been arrested on her way to that target to satisfy her bloodlust. 

If only Tamimi hadn't succeeded by bombing to death 15 innocent Jews. 

If only our worst nightmare hadn't eventuated. 

If only, if only...

But the reality is my angelic, generous, musical and loving daughter is gone while Tamimi is alive and free, enabled by the world's silence to boast publicly about her "accomplishment" and to urge others to emulate her.

She did just that some six weeks ago in a video address to Turkish children that has gone unreported in the news.

Among her words to them: 

"I participated in two jihad attacks which produced thank the lord, the deaths of 15 Zionists... These 2 jihad attacks are a crown on my head. Thank god, I entered history doing the best deeds."

This dangerous monster lives under the protection of Jordan's King Abdullah II who persists in defying the United States' demand for extradition. 

His widely revered father, the late King Hussein, signed an extradition treaty with the US in 1995. Jordan gave formal assurances to the US prior to it being put into effect that all Jordanian formalities had been satisfied. The US says today that the treaty is in full force and effect. Jordan makes no formal statement about this but conveys in a variety of ways that it views the treaty as invalid due to a decision of its highest court in 2017, twenty-two years after the treaty took effect. 

Despite his recalcitrance, Abdullah somehow still garners the adulation of powerbrokers across the globe while Jordan annually receives US aid amounting to billions of dollars.

And all the while, Tamimi, one of only two females listed among the FBI's 25 Most Wanted Terrorists, lives free and famous in Jordan.

When will this brazen injustice be rectified!

Abuse in a Tiberias institution - Part 2

[For Part 1, see "About a boy on the road"]

"Notice how the police don't act. The director of the institution said she'd deal with it, and that satisfies the police. The complaint is about the institution itself and the police are satisfied with the institution investigating itself regarding abuse. Sound reasonable to you? Had this involved a person without disabilities, a thorough investigation would already be underway."

Those words are the reaction of a professional who has endeavored for years to have Israeli institutions of this sort shut down or, until that eventuates, supervised closely.

Meanwhile, the chain of institutions adored by Israel's politicians, ADI/Aleh, continue to con naïve donors and supporters overseas. Ironically, those fans live in countries that shuttered their large, closed institutions years ago and today provide care and therapies at home and in the community.

Nonetheless they are convinced that, for Israel's population with disabilities, life behind locked doors, isolated from the community, is acceptable. Even laudable.

Presumably they imbibe the propaganda jargon that ADI churns out on its Facebook page. Here is a recent sampling: 

"The Shefa School in Manhattan serves students with language-based learning disabilities... As such, the incredible students and teachers are uniquely empathetic to the needs of our ADI family and were so excited to dive into the ‘ADI Bechinuch’ disability inclusion programming... After watching a virtual tour about how art therapy enhances the lives of the ADI residents, the students were hooked on the programming and made beautiful multisensory Chanukah cards for their new friends in Israel... The Hebrew word ‘Shefa’ means abundance, and it’s clear that these wonderful students possess a wealth of talent, skill, insight and empathy. We are so grateful that they are pouring all of their strengths into ADI Bechinuch, and we can’t wait to see them later this year when they join us in Israel for a day of activities at ADI!"

You can hashtag "pretty" words up the wazoo but that won't alter the reality: large, closed, isolated institutions for adults, children and babies with disabilities.

About a boy on the road

Frimet Roth: The boy (Pencil)

This past week has seen activists on behalf of people with disabilities all fired up here in Israel. 

Somebody - new to our Whatsapp group - shared details of his encounter with an escapee from an institution in Tiberias, northern Israel, for people with disabilities. 

The frightened youth had "jumped into my car" to quote the man. And then pleaded to be driven to the nearest synagogue.

The man photographed the boy - I have posted my sketch of that photo - and after a few questions concluded he had fled from the residence [name deleted]. 

The boy cried while relating to the man that he'd been  physically abused by staff there.

The man whose name I am withholding despite his posting it, called and spoke to the director of that institution, while recording the conversation. He then posted that audio recording which I have heard. 

He explained in the call that the frightened boy had told him he is being beaten there. 

He went on to say that the moment he had arrived at the institution the boy ran to the guard's booth refusing to enter the building. Without skipping a beat, the director  inquires whether he's certain the boy is from her institution. He explains that if it's the facility beside the pool, then that's the one. She confirms that it is. 

The director then requests the name of the road on which he had entered the caller's car. The caller provides those details. We then hear the director ask a co-worker, "Which resident fled and escaped again?"  She learns his name and then thanks the caller for contacting her. 

She then concludes with this: "Everything is OK and is being taken care of" adding "It's a resident who has been hitting himself since the morning. He's restless." 

The man, who did as instructed, then reported the incident to the police. Shortly afterwards he updated our Whatsapp group with this: 

"Update from the Tiberias Police: The incident is closed. They spoke to the director of the institution and she will deal with it."

Needless to say, this enraged our group. As one member aptly responded:

"Unbelievable. Left it with the director of the institution. Who at the police updated you? The abuser is the investigator, the judge and the executioner."

Accounts of abuse at institutions for people with disabilities and police indifference to them continue to emerge. Yet the government of Israel fails to act. 

These places need to be shut down as they have been in the rest of the developed world.  Why is Israel so advanced in other fields and yet so prehistoric in this one?

Pandora Papers: How has Jordan's Abdullah ridden out the storm?

Image Source: The Guardian UK

It is one month since the release of the Pandora Papers: "A Money Bomb with Political Ripples", the New York Times dubbed them at the time. Other major papers gave the revelations wide coverage.

Major political repercussions were predicted by the pundits. And despite my now deep-seated cynicism, I too entertained a smidgeon of hope for our mission, Justice For Malki. 

Could it be that Jordan's king, star of those papers ["While foreign aid poured in, Jordan’s King Abdullah funnelled $100m through secret companies to buy luxury homes"], whose name opened nearly every article covering them, would actually lose some of his magic?

In its October 4, 2021 piece, the New York Times quoted Gary Kalman, director of the U.S office of Transparency International, an organization that monitors financial corruption around the world.

“I don’t think this is the end of Vladimir Putin — let’s not get carried away,” said Gary Kalman, director of the U.S. office of Transparency International, an organization that monitors financial corruption around the world. “But I do think the leaders of these countries, King Abdullah and others, do worry about their reputations,” Mr. Kalman said​ in a telephone interview.

Kalman went on:

For King Abdullah especially, he said, Jordanians now know “he has spent money on properties in Malibu and Georgetown, while in Jordan they don’t have enough money to provide basic services. That looks really bad.”

But not bad enough. A month down the road from Pandora's revelations, Jordan's dictator still has in his thrall powerbrokers of every persuasion imaginable: on both sides of the Congressional aisle, of all religions, and residing on several continents.

Arnold and I and our small circle of supporters are puzzled and perturbed by the global tolerance of Abdullah's documented corruption. 

The silence of the US government after Jordan's steadfast refusal to comply with its demand of Ahlam Tamimi's extradition is incomprehensible. 

The State Department's limp statement that the extradition treaty between Jordan and the U.S. - which Jordan declares void - is valid, is disappointing. 

The refusal of American Jewish and Israeli leaders to speak out and pressure Jordan to extradite her is beyond despicable. And the silence they toss us - or worse, their occasional empty, cliched words of sympathy - are offensive.

Our Malki, still so missed and loved, would have been 35 this month. It is a puzzle to me why so many callous people have managed to attain such influence and power and in so many spheres. And why those people choose warm relations with a dictator who shelters a mass murderer over fighting for justice.