Israeli Attorney Darshan-Leitner's
Letter To U.S. Attorney General Ashcroft
May 8, 2002
Attorney General John Ashcroft
United States Department of Justice
Washington, D.C.
Via Fax: 202-307-6777
Re: Information Concerning Murderers
of U.S. Citizen Avi Boaz
(Background: After Boaz's murder
the New York Times ran an article about him. An American citizen with duel
Israeli citizenship, Avi Boaz was well-known and loved by a number of Palestinians
in Beit Jala. He used to visit them regularly and in the past had helped
out some financially. He was invited to their wedding and celebrations,
and vice-a-versa. One day he was driving with a Palestinian friend when
their car was commendered. The Palestinian was beaten and thrown out of
the car. Then Boaz was driven a short distance to an empty field and machine
gunned to death as he sat helplessly in his car.)
Dear Attorney General Ashcroft,
This is now the third time I am
writing to you concerning the location of the murderers of United States
citizen Avi Boaz. My two earlier letters of April 10th and May 2nd, did
not receive any response from your office. As I wrote to you previously,
(letters attached hereto) I am seriously concerned that the murderers of
Avi Boaz, who have currently taken refuge in the Church of the Nativity
may not be brought to justice. The pair, Ibrahim Musa Salem Abyat and Ismail
Musa Muhammed Hamdan, killed Boaz on January 15, 2002 in the West Bank
village of Beit Sahour. Boaz, as I noted before, was 72 years old.
To my dismay the deal that has now
been announced concerning the Bethlehem Church standoff will permit both
Abyat and Hamdan to escape to Italy and evade criminal prosecution. Even
more shocking is that the United States State Department and Secretary
Powell are deeply involved in these negotiations. It is unbelievable that
following the tragedy of September 11th and in light of the Bush Administration's
war on terror, that the United States government would assist the terrorist
killers of a United States citizen to escape justice.
Moreover, it is inconceivable that
both the office of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice would
allow this to happen without even raising a protest. As you are well informed
the United States has jurisdiction to prosecute violent crimes against
American citizens anywhere in the world. Pursuant to 18 USC section 2332:
"Whoever kills a national of the
United States, while such national is outside the United States, shall
- if the killing is murder - be fined under this title, punished by death
or imprisonment for any term of years of for life, or both. . . " It clearly
was the Congress' intent that crimes committed against Americans anywhere
in the world would be vigorously prosecuted by your office.
As such, the United States must
minimally, undertake some effort to convince the Israelis to arrest and
prosecute Abyat and Hamdan. To merely allow the killers of an elderly and
defenseless American citizen to go free, with the Department of Justice's
blessing, is contrary to everything the Bush Administration has publicly
insisted it is trying to accomplish in its war on terror.
Attorney General Ashcroft, as the
chief law enforcement official of the United States, you must recognize
that governments, security services, police forces and courts worldwide
look to your leadership for the proper response to those that traget innocent
civilians. The brutal murder of 72 year old Avi Boaz cannot go unpunished.
I respectfully appeal to you to undertake steps to ensure that Abyat and
Hamdan are taken into custody either by the Israeli military forces or
the United States. It must be understood that the decision to allow them
to escape will come back to haunt the American government. There are no
quick fixes or short-cuts when it comes to Palestinian terrorist. Moreover,
the Department of Justice will not be able to claim it did not know.
After Abyat and Hamdan escape abroad,
will the Department of Justice be satisfied to cynically announce a reward
for the killers of Avi Boaz and place his photo on the government's terrorist
reward website?
In 1985, the United States allowed
PLO terrorist Abu Abbas to escape to Italy. Abu Abbas, it is recalled,
was the mastermind of the Achille Lauro hi-jacking and the murderer of
Leon Klinghoeffer. Today, Abu Abbas freely sits in Bagdad and plots new
terrorist attacks that are carried out inside of Israel. The simple lesson
is that there can be no deals, compromises or "real politics" when it comes
to Palestinian terrorism. 18 USC section 2332 which extends American jurisdiction
over crimes against U.S. citizens worldwide is a direct result of Congress'
frustration that it had been impotent in the past to act against killers
such as Abu Abbas, Abyat and Hamdan. Fortunately, there exists today a
legal framework to bring Boaz's killers to justice.
Both the United States and Israel
have the jurisdiction to arrest and prosecute Abyat and Hamdan. I await
your reply. Very truly yours, Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, Adv.
Cc: Senator Leahy Senator Biden
Senator Dashle Senator Clinton
Senator Lott Senator Hatch
Senator Biden Senator Specter
Senator Feinstein Senator Harkin
Senator Schumer Senator Kerry
