The parents of an Israeli-American girl killed in a Jerusalem attack by a Palestinian suicide bomber two decades ago has requested a meeting with US President Joe Biden when he visits Israel later this week. Arnold and Frimet Roth, the parents of Malki, who was killed in 2001 at the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem, want Biden to pressure Jordan to extradite Ahlam Tamimi, who assisted the suicide bomber, to the US to go on trial for her crime. Tamimi was released from an Israeli prison in 2011 in a prisoner swap with Hamas and was sent to Jordan, where she is completely free and continues to exult over the attack in media interviews. Malki was 15 when she was killed.
“We are bereaved parents as you are, sir. We have a burning sense that injustice in the wake of our child’s murder is winning. We ask that you address this as only the leader of the United States can,” the Roths wrote in their letter to Biden, the Associated Press reported. “We want you to look us in the eyes, Mr. President, and tell us how Jordan’s king can be a praiseworthy ally,” the letter also said.
The United States has charged Tamimi with conspiring to use a weapon of mass destruction against American nationals. She currently appears on the FBI’s list of Most Wanted Terrorists. The US and Jordan signed an extradition treaty in 1995.
The family of killed Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, who was shot dead during an Israeli raid in Jenin in the West Bank, sent a letter to President Biden on Friday calling for a meeting while he visits Israel and the Palestinian territories to “hear directly from us about our concerns and demands for justice.” The letter accuses President Biden of attempting to “whitewash Shireen’s killing and perpetuate impunity” for Israeli forces that have been blamed for firing the deadly shot.
The Abu Akleh family wrote in their letter that: “In the days and weeks since an Israeli soldier killed Shireen, not only have we not been adequately consulted, informed, and supported by U.S. government officials, but your administration’s actions exhibit an apparent intent to undermine our efforts toward justice and accountability for Shireen’s death.”