Washington – A State Department spokeswoman accused Israel of targeting the family of murdered Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir in recent arrests.
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Following the teen’s abduction and murder in a Jerusalem forest on July 2 by three Israelis, Israeli police arrested his cousin Tariq Abu Khdeir, an American citizen, at a protest on July 5. Tariq Abu Khdeir, who has since returned to the United States, says police beat him while he was held. On July 28, Israel arrested another American cousin, also named Mohammed Abu Khdeir.
A US consular official visited Mohammed Abu Khdeir in prison on August 14. State Department Deputy Spokeswoman Marie Harf criticized Israel Wednesday for not notifying the US of his arrest, according to Agence France-Presse, and expressed concern that Israel had arrested members of the family.
“We are concerned that the US consulate general in Jerusalem was not notified of his arrest by the government of Israel,” she said. “We are also concerned about the fact that members of the Khdeir family appeared to be singled out for arrest by the Israeli authorities.”
Content is provided courtesy of the Jerusalem Post
If true, this is a Bad Thing. Not notifying the United States of the arrest of a US citizen is violation of the normal way of doing things.
Next we will hear that they are worried the family members might be beheaded on camera. Sorry, wrong religion. That is what the Islamics do, Obama’s crowd.
IF it is proper protocol to alert a consulate/embassy when a citizen is arrested, and IF Israel failed to do so then that is legitimate criticism, though why the State Department would announce this is ridiculous. Do they have a press conference every time a citizen is arrested anywhere else in the world?
The second point is outrageous. It is meddling in a foreign country’s internal affairs. The State Department is concerned with a NON American citizen who was arrested in a foreign country at a protest, and the US somehow knows that he was targeted? At a minimum its not their business. I have a friend who received a speeding ticket yesterday in the Catskills. He is obviously orthodox. I would like the Isreali Foreign Ministry to hold a press conference stating that it appears as if he was targeted for being Jewish.
And these are our friends. Ah, but no worries. The president said that he has Israel’s back.
And the Us are accused of targeting Michael Brown!
We know whose side the State Department is on. We also know who their boss is. He thinks sympathizing is a foreign policy. I think the song was called “Sympathy for the Devil”.
What did they do (or even say!) for US citizen Naftali Frenkel HY”D? NOTHING. Dead Jews don’t count – neither do living ones.
Pretty stupid, America.
One of the three teenagers abducted and murdered in cold blood was a US citizen. Reaction from US was pretty MUTE!
A US citizen was beheaded in cold blood, a few days ago. Reaction from US, a little noise.
Seems to me, you have far bigger fish to fry than an oversight of notification to the US embassy.