WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Shurat HaDin Law Center, Israel’s leading non-governmental organization (NGO), which is representing one of the victims injured by Palestinian terrorist Ahlam Aref Ahmad Al-Tamimi in the 2001 bombing of the Sbarro Pizzeria in Jerusalem, provided a statement exclusively to Breitbart News condemning Jordan for providing a safe haven for “a vicious and unrepentant terrorist with the blood of Jewish children on her hands.”
Chana Nachenberg was among those injured in Al-Tamimi’s terrorist attack and she remains in a coma in Israel to this day. Two Americans and several children were also murdered in the suicide bombing.
Shurat HaDin’s president Nitsana Darshan-Leitner writes:
We are shocked that Jordan, which calls itself a close American ally, has so flippantly rejected the US’s extradition request for al-Tamimi. Accordingly, the US needs to place massive pressure on the Hashemite Kingdom to turn her over for trial. It makes no sense that Jordan relies so heavily on American military support for its survival and at the same time would refuse the request and provide this mass murderer safe haven. Al-Tamimi is a vicious and unrepentant terrorist with the blood of Jewish children on her hands and she should not be allowed to find shelter and a soapbox in the capital of an American ally. The world Jewish community must join in the fight and demand that she be brought to justice. We don’t need any more symbolic acts, instead we must insist that those who carried out the suicide bombings which devastated Israel during the tragic years of the intifada be hunted down. Jordan needs to decide now whether it is a country that respects the rule of law or just another terror-infested Middle East regime that talks about fighting these criminals while really providing them support and resources.
When al-Tamimi was sentenced she vowed that she would soon be released from an Israeli prison and that Jews everywhere would be erased from the earth. Apparently, the first part of her prediction has come to pass. Let’s pray that the US can devise a way to arrest her and prosecute her for her crimes.
The government of Jordan has refused the United States’ request to extradite al-Tamimi.
Al-Tamimi, also known as “Khalti” and “Halati,” has been living and working as a TV host in the Hashemite Kingdom. She was convicted by Israel and received multiple life sentences but was released to Jordan as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange in 2011. Shalit, who was kidnapped and illegally held as a prisoner by the terrorist organization Hamas, was released in exchange for 1,027 Palestinians, including al-Tamimi.
On March 14, President Trump’s Justice Department unsealed a 2013 criminal complaint and arrest warrant for al-Tamimi in connection with her role in the infamous August 9, 2001 Sbarro restaurant suicide attack. She drove Izz al-Din Shuheil al-Masri, the suicide bomber, to the restaurant during peak hours and left him there to detonate a homemade explosive that was filled with nails, nuts and bolts.
Al-Tamimi is considered a symbol of the Palestinians fight against the Jewish state, much like fellow convicted Palestinian terrorist Rasmea Odeh.
Seven children and a pregnant woman were among the fatalities. Hamas claimed credit for the attack.
The two American citizens were Malka Roth, 15, and Judith L. Greenbaum, 31, who was pregnant. David Danzig, Matthew P. Gordon, Joanne (Chana) Nachenberg, and Sara Shifra Nachenberg were among the Americans severely wounded in al-Tamimi’s terrorist attack.
In an interview with Al Jazeera’s Ali Younes from Jordan earlier this month, al-Tamimi said she “was really shocked at the American behavior” when asked why she thought the U.S. government decided to go after her after all these years. She reportedly added, “The U.S. government, who is always trying to solve the problems of the world, especially in the Middle East, has decided to go after one woman for no obvious reasons.”
According to the DOJ, Jordan’s court has ruled that “their constitution forbids the extradition of Jordanian nationals.” However, the DOJ has stated that it will “continue to work with its foreign partners to obtain custody of Al-Tamimi so she can be held accountable for her role in the terrorist bombing.” The FBI has also placed al-Tamimi on its list of Most Wanted Terrorists.
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