Where does Speaker McCarthy stand on US justice?

US Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy
with Jordan's King Abdulla II and Crown Prince Hussein [Image Source]

As U.S. Speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy, addresses Israel's Knesset today, it would be apt to note whom he visited just prior to that event - King Abdullah of Jordan. 

As is obvious from the photo on the right, to call it a warm encounter is an understatement. It is also very disturbing.

Saturday's get-together came on the heels of a recent meeting the two had in Washington D.C. in January. At that tête-à-tête, McCarty lavished this praise on his buddy:

“From my perspective, our relationship, our friendship and your work to bring peace is just integral to where we go in the Middle East.”

Lest anyone imagine McCarthy challenged Abdullah on either occasion regarding any of his positions, the following press release by Jordan's monarchy left no doubt that did not happen:

McCarthy said, "Jordan is the very first country I chose to visit as Speaker. There’s a reason for that. They are a strategic ally in the Middle East and share America’s commitment to peace, prosperity — and most importantly — stability in the region." [Times of Israel, April 30, 2023]

Apparently McCarthy is not at all troubled by Jordan's harboring of a self-confessed Hamas terrorist who also happens to be a fugitive from the U.S. Dept of Justice. She is none other than Ahlam Tamimi, who murdered 15 men, women and children in the Jerusalem Sbarro bombing of 2001 which she orchestrated. Among the innocent victims was my child, Malki.

McCarthy's "love affair" with Abdullah is unfazed by that ruler's refusal to accede to the U.S. demand for her extradition and for justice to be done. It was made in 2017 under the 1995 treaty which Abdullah's father King Hussein enthusiastically signed, ratified and publicized.

Speaker McCarthy, tell us please: How does that reflect that Abdullah "share[s] America's commitment to peace, prosperity - and most importantly -stability in the region."

It is high time McCarthy made his devotion to Abdullah contingent on handing over Tamimi to the U.S. to stand trial for her murder of two U.S. citizens - one of them, Malki.

Because, really, justice absolutely ought to be "integral to where we go in the Middle East".

On failing to move our fight for justice to center-stage

King Abdullah II of Jordan addresses a Congressional committee

As Malki's yahrzeit nears (the twentieth day of the month of Av in the Hebrew calendar which this year falls on July 29, two days from now), we are digesting the failure of last week's efforts to bring our fight for justice to center-stage.

Despite some of our terrific media exposure, Jordan's King Abdullah scored his customary adulation - groveling, actually - from his US hosts. They included the White House, Congress and major media outlets. And that was across-the-board, bi-partisan groveling.

The king's last interview (actually the only interview he appears to have given to the American media throughout his entire lengthy visit (text here via Jordan Times; video here via CNN), was with CNN's Fareed Zakaria who rates by most, myself included, as level-headed, intelligent and insightful. 

So I was surprised and disgusted to watch him behave as sycophantically as every other American has in Abdullah's presence. Each sentence was preceded with "Your Highness" (he used the expression seven times). And his last line was "Your Highness, it always an honor and a pleasure to talk to you."

I invite anyone to explain to me why champions of democracy are so obsequious to a ruthless, unelected totalitarian dictator; a leader who protects a self-confessed mass-murdering terrorist and refuses to extradite her to the US despite its demand that he do so in accordance with a valid extradition treaty signed and ratified 26 years ago.

Mr. Zakariah, please explain why you studiously avoided this issue in your lengthy interview - "wide-ranging" was how the Jordanian press described it. 

Source: FBI website

Explain why the fact that Abdullah harbors one of the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists didn't detract one iota from the respect you lavished on him. 

How has he captivated you? With his impeccable mastery of the English language? His almost-British accent? His glibness? His beautiful, designer clad, and equally articulate, wife?

But Zakaria is in good company. Neither President Biden nor Secretary of State Blinken mentioned the Tamimi travesty of justice either when they met with Abdullah this past week. Since videos of those conversations weren't released, we have no way of knowing whether they were also as sycophantic as Zakaria toward a ruler, don't forget, who is recipient of US$1.6 billion in aid annually.

This king-worship - a monarch who remains in power by the grace of US benefaction - is as baffling as it is infuriating.

Strange (and lethal) bed-fellows

Our child's murderer, Ahlam Tamimi, has a friend in Hamas poster-boy Mahmoud al-Zahar.

He has just today warned on Instagram that if Jordan acceeds to Washington's extradition demand under their 1995 treaty, this will "make it difficult to do a future prisoner exchange deal".

Al Zahar is clearly jittery over the new legislation which the US Congress passed in December 2019 and which jeapordizes Jordan's annual cash gift package from the Americans. [See "How Jordan’s refusal to extradite a convicted terrorist could imperil $1.5 billion in US aid", Bryant Harris in Al-Monitor, March 14, 2020]. 

The law empowers the US to withold financial aid allotted to any country which refuses to extradite a fugitive indicted by the US judiciary. Jordan has steadfastly harbored mass murderer Tamimi in defiance of such a demand since 2013. 

The embodiment of evil, she will undoubtedly bask in the glow of al Zahar's supportive threat.

I know of another person who will sit up and take notice of it.  Someone who is drawn to terrorist releases like a moth to flames. None other than our very own prime minister. 

In 2011, Binyamin Netanyahu released 1,027 such prisoners, among them Tamimi herself. In 2013, he released some more. And it's reported he is now itching to add a few hundred more to his tally. [here]. 

How will he cope if his swap-buddies, Hamas, refuse to play ball with him this time? How will he bolster his support base without it?

Well, he might be forced to heed the warnings he disseminated in his 1995 book: that refusing to release terrorists from prison was "among the most important policies that must be adopted in the face of terrorism."

He added: "The release of convicted terrorists before they have served their full sentences seems like an easy and tempting way of defusing blackmailed situations in which innocent people may lose their lives, but its utility is momentary at best..." 

These days, Netanyahu prefers momentary fixes over those ideals. His bed-fellows at Hamas hanker for them too.

Speaker Pelosi, please rectify this travesty of justice

Our heartache deepened as yet another US Congressional delegation flew to Amman, Jordan, this weekend to meet with and praise the terror-abetting King Abdullah II ["19-Oct-19: House Speaker Pelosi led an official visit today to the chief protector of our child's killer"]

Notwithstanding the demands of the impeachment inquiries, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi found the time to present the Jordanian dictator with the same adulation she lavished on him in March 2019 and then again in April 2019 in Washington DC.

US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Jordan's King Abdullah
make their way to a podium to deliver statements ahead of a meeting at the US Capitol in Washington, DC on March 13, 2019 (Photo: MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images [Source]

US leaders on both sides of the aisle persist in ignoring the fact that the object of their friendship steadfastly rejects the US Department of Justice's demand for the extradition of mass murderer, Ahlam Tamimi.

The blood of our daughter, Malki, a US citizen, and of the other 15 victims of Tamimi's terror bombing - of whom two more were Americans - cries out for justice.

The Jordan Times ["King meets with US Congress delegation"] reported Saturday night that yesterday's meeting

"also covered regional and international efforts to counter terrorism within a comprehensive approach. For their part, the US lawmakers commended Jordan’s efforts, led by His Majesty, in pursuit of peace and stability in the region, praising the King’s wisdom."

US media have remained mum about the encounter.

However we can probably trust the accuracy of the Jordanian report given that Ms. Pelosi is on record as stating at their March 2019 meeting:

"It is really a great honor, officially, personally, in every way, to welcome back to the Capitol His Majesty, King Abdullah II. With his leadership, America has a true partner: a partner for peace, a partner for progress."

And she is again on record as telling the King in April 2019:

"I had the privilege as my first act as Speaker - on my first invitation - to extend to a Head of State, to extend to His Majesty to be the first person to address a joint session of Congress when I became Speaker. So I think that says to you how important the relationship between our two countries is - between Jordan and the United States - how important the friendship is - that Members of Congress feel toward His Majesty - and how much we value his words of wisdom."

Is that any way to address a man who welcomed a confessed terrorist murderer with open arms and has, since 2011, given her a platform on TV and social media to incite millions of fans to commit fresh murders?

Instead of flattering him, Ms. Pelosi, use your clout to insist he abide by the extradition treaty his father signed and ratified in 1995.

Tamimi has evaded the rule of law for long enough. You, as a lawmaker, can rectify this travesty of justice.