The Obama Administration has responded critically to the decision from an Israeli court to give an Israeli border police officer just community service for his entirely unjustified attack on an American teenager. Tariq Khdeir, 15, a Palestinian-American, was beaten by the officer, whose name has been withheld by the courts to avoid any further repercussions for him or his family. The beating was filmed after the officer caught the teenager near a riot in East Jerusalem in July 2014. Despite this evidence (and no evidence of just cause) the Israeli court gave the officer just 45 days of community service and a suspended prison term of four months.
Here is the video showing the officer stomping on the teenager and hitting him despite his being on the ground and apparently immobilized. Indeed, he appears unconscious as they carry him to the road but he is again attacked by the officer:
State prosecutors requested a seven-month jail term for the beating after international outrage over the video.
The Court however noted the officer’s remorse and his service to the state security forces as mitigating circumstances.
Tariq, who was 15 at the time, was spending the summer with relatives in East Jerusalem when violence broke out over the gruesome killing of his cousin Muhammad Abu Khdeir, 16, by Jewish extremists. The killers reportedly acted to avenge the kidnapping and killing of three Israeli youths by Palestinian militants in the West Bank. Police said that Tariq was masked and holding a wooden slingshot when the officer chased him.
The State Department has sharply criticized the Israeli handling of the case in the following statement from Spokesperson John Kirby:
We were disappointed to learn that the Israeli police officer who severely beat American teenager Tariq Abu Khdeir in July of 2014 was spared prison time by an Israeli court yesterday. Given the clear evidence captured on videotape of the excessive use of force, it is difficult to see how this sentence would promote full accountability for the actions of the police officer in this case. We understand there is a possibility for the Israeli state prosecutor to appeal the decision, and we’re going to continue to follow that closely, as you might expect.
I’ll just state again, the safety, security, and protection of American citizens overseas is of paramount importance for this Administration, and we have demonstrated repeatedly – we’ve demonstrated that repeatedly in cases all over the globe.
Here is a statement from the family of Tariq Abu Khdeir:
“To hear that the officer responsible for the inhumane beating of our young son, Tariq, was only sentenced to one-and-a-half months of community service is a shameful slap on the wrist and sends the wrong message that Israel tolerates the violent, extrajudicial beating of children. We continue to demand that justice be served, for the officers that participated in his cruel beating to be held accountable in a transparent manner, and for assurances that such treatment of Palestinian minors by Israeli forces will end.”
I cannot imagine how a court could justify community service in the face of this videotape evidence. Even if the teenager was guilty of some crime (for which he was not charged), the beating was clearly excessive and unjustified. Community service is hardly a commensurate punishment for the beating received by this American teenager.
What do you think?
Texas student arrested over clock seeks millions from city, schools
Thomson Reuters LISA MARIA GARZA Nov 23rd 2015 3:14PM
US ‘Clock Boy’ Meets President Obama
The family of a Texas teenager, arrested for bringing a homemade clock to school that was mistaken for a bomb, demanded $15 million in damages and an apology from the city of Irving and its schools to avoid a lawsuit, lawyers said on Monday.
The lawyers represent the family of Ahmed Mohamed, 14, a Muslim student who dabbles in robotics and attended a Dallas-area high school. His arrest in September sparked controversy, with many saying he was taken into custody because of his religion.
SEE ALSO: Boy withdraws from school that suspended him over clock
In separate letters to the city of Irving, located west of Dallas, and the Irving Independent School District, lawyers said the ninth grader was wrongfully arrested, illegally detained and questioned without his parents.
The Mohamed family is asking for $10 million from the city and $5 million from the school district or they will file civil lawsuits within 60 days, the letter said.
Ahmed Mohamed, 14, gestures as he arrives to his family’s home in Irving, Texas, Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015. Ahmed was arrested Monday at his school after a teacher thought a homemade clock he built was a bomb. He remains suspended and said he will not return to classes at MacArthur High School. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
“Understandably, Mr. Mohamed was furious at the treatment of his son – and at the rancid, openly discriminatory intent that motivated it,” attorneys said in one of the letters.
City and school district officials were not immediately available for comment.
The boy’s family said in October that they would be moving to Qatar and he had accepted an offer from the Qatar Foundation to study at its Young Innovators Program. The announcement came a few hours after he was at the White House for an astronomy night hosted by President Barack Obama.
Ahmed won support from Obama and other major U.S. figures, including Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, who said “having the skill and ambition to build something cool should lead to applause, not arrest.”
The family, now living in Doha, has also traveled the globe to meet foreign dignitaries.
Sudanese state radio reported that his father took him to meet Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir. The Sudanese leader is accused by the International Criminal Court of masterminding genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes during Sudan’s Darfur conflict.
Despite several television appearances and worldwide travel, the Mohamed family insists the attention actually ruined their lives and eventually drove them out of the country, lawyers said.
https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/s720x720/12241722_10153323690062689_8754694549557547054_n.jpg?oh=62dd27560aec5b6653bcf83f5e72aca9&oe=56E293DB
Three American Citizens Killed By Muslim Terrorists In Israel In Last Six Weeks; Obama Says Nothing
by Ben Shapiro21 Nov 20153,754
Barack Obama and his administration do not care about Jews.
It doesn’t matter whether the Jews are European or Israeli or American. Jews can be conveniently excised from the category “Westerner,” Obama has found – and he’s been eagerly putting that newfound knowledge to use.
The latest victim of the Obama administration’s egregious Jew-hatred is 18-year-old American citizen Ezra Schwartz. Schwartz, from Sharon, Massachusetts, was visiting Israel; while there, he was delivering care packages to Israeli troops when his car (pictured) got caught in a traffic jam. That’s when a Palestinian terrorist opened fire with an automatic weapon before ramming another car with his own. Schwartz was killed.
The Obama State Department has yet to issue a statement specifically on Schwartz’s death. Instead, they issued their general statement essentially condemning both sides. “We condemn these terrorist attacks against innocent civilians in the strongest possible terms,” said State Department spokesman Edgar Vasquez. “As we’ve made clear, we remain deeply concerned about the situation, and continue to urge all sides to take affirmative steps to restore calm and prevent actions that would further escalate tensions.”
The Obama administration’s unwillingness to mention Schwartz’s citizenship follows hard on the heels of the Obama administration’s complete silence on the terrorist murder of dual Israeli-American citizen Richard Lakin, a peace activist from Newton, Massachusetts. He was shot in the head, stabbed in the face, and then stabbed in the head by two Muslims aboard a bus. He died in late October.
On October 6, the State Department confirmed that Palestinian Hamas terrorists murdered American citizen Eitam Henkin, along with his wife, in front of their children. This merited no special attention from the Obama administration.
Then, of course, there was the terrorist attack on Jerusalem synagogue Torah Kehilat Yaakov on November 2014, in which three American citizens were murdered while praying. No biggie, however – aside from confirming the citizenships of the victims, the State Department had nothing really to say.
All of this fits a pattern. When Jews are killed in Israel, they have it coming, since Israel is part of a “cycle of violence” according to the Obama administration. The story is slightly different in Europe, where Jews are accorded “random” status according to the Obama administration. When the Charlie Hebdo offices were attacked by Muslim terrorists last year, the Obama administration rightly took umbrage at the targeting of Westerners over their exercise of free speech. When those same terrorists attacked a Jewish deli just hours later, Obama labeled the attacks “random.” When Muslim terrorists murdered 129 people in Paris last Friday, Obama called it an attack on humanity’s core values. When Muslims stabbed a Jewish teacher in Marseilles days later, that merited no comment. After all, why should the Obama administration comment on the vast wave of anti-Jewish Muslim crime in Europe? It certainly doesn’t spring from religious discrimination. Only Christians and Jews are capable of religious discrimination.
In the real world, Jews are always the tip of the spear when it comes to barbarians attacking the West. But when you don’t consider the West worth defending, it’s no surprise you’re generally blithe about the murder of Jews, American or not.
President Obama Criticized for Silence Following Death of U.S. Citizen in Palestinian Terrorist Attack
Nov. 22, 2015 11:10am Sharona Schwartz
President Barack Obama was criticized by supporters of Israel Sunday for three days of silence following the slaying of an American student by a Palestinian gunman on Thursday.
While the State Department — albeit one day after the attack — and the U.S. ambassador to Israel condemned the attack, a petition was started on the White House website calling on President Obama to “publicly acknowledge the senseless killing of Ezra Schwartz,” the Massachusetts Jewish teenager gunned down while spending a year in Israel before starting college next fall.
“We respectfully request that President Obama publicly acknowledge the senseless killing of Ezra Schwartz, condemn the attack and rebuke the Palestinian Authority for claiming that the third victim of this attack, an Israeli Arab, was killed by Israeli forces, when not a single shot was fired by Israeli military or law enforcement and the terrorist was taken into custody unharmed,” the petition read in part.
The pro-Israel organization Stand With Us asked if Schwartz’s family would be invited to the White House given that a Palestinian-American teenager injured after being beaten by an Israeli policeman received such an invitation.
It posted this graphic on social media:
Source: Facebook/StandWithUs
Source: Facebook/StandWithUs
At his Friday briefing, a day after the Massachusetts teen was killed, State Department Spokesman John Kirby acknowledged the student was “murdered in a terrorist attack on Thursday while in Israel to pursue his studies,” noting that five U.S. citizens were also wounded in the attacks.
“We continue to condemn in the strongest possible terms these outrageous terrorist attacks,” Kirby added.
Following the attack on Thursday, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro, referring to a speech he gave a day earlier, tweeted, “As I said yesterday, terror is terror, and we condemn it forcefully. Even more true after the outrageous attacks.”
“As Shabbat begins, we mourn with the family and friends of Ezra Schwartz z”l, an American citizen murdered yesterday in a terrorist attack,” Shapiro posted on Facebook and Twitter Friday, using the Hebrew acronym z”l for the expression “May his memory be a blessing.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with them, and with the families of the other victims of yesterday’s attacks. May God bring them comfort,” the U.S. envoy added.
The petition posted on the White House website calling for a statement directly from Obama has obtained more than 10,000 signatures so far.
CNN reported earlier this year that White House National Security Council staffers “took the unusual step of meeting in the West Wing” with Palestinian-American Tariq Abu Khdeir — referenced by Stand With Us — who was beaten by an Israeli policeman last year after police said he took part in a riot in East Jerusalem while masked and using a slingshot to throw rocks. His family denied he was involved in violence.
The Florida teenager was visiting family in Jerusalem last year when his cousin was burned to death by Jewish extremists which was said to be in retaliation for the kidnapping and killing of three Jewish teens by Hamas militants.
Hundreds of people gathered at Ben-Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv Saturday night to pay their respects to Schwartz as his body was brought for his final journey back to the U.S. for burial Sunday.
Three Palestinians carried out attacks on Sunday against Israelis, including a fatal stabbing of a woman at the same intersection where the Massachusetts student was killed Thursday. The Times of Israel reported that she was 21-years-old.
These were just the latest of the nearly daily stabbing, shooting and car-ramming attacks perpetrated by Palestinian assailants since September.
The rise of fascism can only be defeated by the unrelenting fight to protect individual rights. This kid should have received a handsome amount of restitution from this border patrol officer.
Can you imagine what he will have to do for his community service; maybe show up, but he will not have to do a thing.
Dust Bunny Queen
1, November 23, 2015 at 12:21 pm
Not Howard Dean…..he has terrible teeth. I like the other two though. ;-D
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Right choice, DBQ, I’d go for mad scientist myself …just so I can build a virus that turns people (Paul) into members of CAIR!
Po, I post only as myself on this blog. I no longer use a pseudonym.
Bam bam is someone else.
“There was NEVER any report that Tariq was either masked or holding a slingshot.”
Wrong.
“And even IF he did, it would be perfectly normal as Palestinians are…” murderous barbarians.
For community service he should be made to clean all the outhouses in East Jerusalem.
Not Howard Dean…..he has terrible teeth. I like the other two though. ;-D
Dust Bunny Queen
1, November 23, 2015 at 11:31 am
That’s right any of us could secretly be someone else. Bwahaaahaaaaa.
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DBQ, according to that Bwahaaahaaaaa,, you are an evil scientist…or a mad mastermind…or Howard Dean…your pick 🙂
OBL justified his 1996 Declaration of War against the West (posted on the net) with three primary crimes/offenses committed by the West against Islam:
1. Western military occupation of Mecca, the holiest of all holy ground in Islam, in Saudi Arabia (ruled by the Al Saud crime family syndicate….it’s no small fact that posters here, some per Edward Snowden leaks who are likely paid CIA operatives supporting war causes and the MIC in social forums just like this one, to decry all sorts of Islamic jihad against the West, while the most evil military dictatorship on earth regularly beheads and cuts of hands of its own citizens, and also finances “Madrasas” where the Al Saud family teach Islam that the USA causes all the misery in the world ever experienced by Muslims, where Muslim children learn to chant “Death to America.”)
2. The West’s infinite love affair and military support of Israel, limiting Islam’s ability to fight Israel and find another home land for its so-called “Jewish” state and its Islamic-hating occupants. (I’m not picking sides, but rather condemning the USA for contradicting George Washington’s advice that “all foreign entanglements are temporary.”)
3. The West’s infinite military support of the most evil dictatorships on planet Earth, who just happen to exploit, murder, and maim Muslims as a matter of permanent policy, such as the above-mentioned Al Saud family (euphemistically called a “Kingdom,” as if it was Camelot and King Arthur’s Round Table surrounding Mecca.)
Felonies committed regularly by the President and Congress: The USA signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which forbids signatories from diplomatic relations with any nuclear armed non-signatory nation, whose list includes Israel, India, and Pakistan. Per the US Constitution, all signed Treaties have the full force of the Constitution. Till revoked, the Treaty equals the US Constitution and is part of it. This means that all diplomatic relations between Israel and the USA are felonious acts committed on a regular basis.
Joseph Jones – I do not understand this love affair with a single quote from George Washington. There is no reason to believe he is omniscient.
That’s right any of us could secretly be someone else. Bwahaaahaaaaa.
It is a conspiracy!!!
Po in his tin foil hat.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zPoEF9riJyY/UY8sqxLGunI/AAAAAAAAAec/JrlLc-qwCMs/s1600/tin-foil-hat-3.jpg
Velo and DBQ are lying, that simple. There was NEVER any report that Tariq was either masked or holding a slingshot
Then……. so is JT lying? Since the quote I picked up was from the above article. Did you read it? Are you calling Johnathan Turley a liar?
Really? IF so, just say it.
Children vs the most powerful army int he Middle East?
Right. Children have never been used as suicide bombers or weapons. Evah!!!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_suicide_bombers_in_the_Israeli%E2%80%93Palestinian_conflict
However, the point isn’t whether you like Israel, Palestinians or any other side. The point is a stupid young person purposely going into a WAR zone and getting himself involved in a riot and putting himself into danger. He is stupid. And I have NO sympathy for him.
Paul, and you know how?
are you either?
or both?
*…by the British…
Where is Karen?
po – I am neither. I am Spartacus.
Velo and DBQ are lying, that simple. There was NEVER any report that Tariq was either masked or holding a slingshot.
And even IF he did, it would be perfectly normal as Palestinians are under occupation and oppression by the IDF and the settlers. Those who claim the IDF justified are the same ones who claim that the government is oppressing them in this country.
Are yous saying that the patriots were terrorists and deserved beating and murder but the British. Israel at war? Slingshots vs M16’s, rocks vs tanks? Children vs the most powerful army int he Middle East?
po – didn’t David bring down Goliath with a slingshot? Boy, you are on the losing end today.
Paul, thank you for making my point :), as usual!
This is akin to Goliath coming back for round two armed with guns, tanks, missiles and fighter jets…plus the iron dome… while David waited with his slingshot!
And now that Goliath is making the penalty for throwing stones a death sentence, David really is in trouble!
We do not know all the facts. But. An overbeating of a teen is a bit much. But. Maybe if he had a mask on and a slingshot then not too much.
Tariq was masked and holding a wooden slingshot when the officer chased him
Tariq just learned a valuable lesson and didn’t get killed in the process.
Life is not a video game. It isn’t Mortal Combat where you get to reset or go back to a previous “save” when your character crashes and burns. While Fallout4 might be a fun game to play, you really really don’t want to live there in real life.
Many of these teens in the west who get ‘radicalized’ and fall into some sort of romantic visualization about being a combat hero or other fantasy, when faced with the reality want to come screaming home to mommy and daddy….IF they can.
http://www.itv.com/news/2014-10-12/teenage-girl-jihadis-want-to-come-home-after-joining-islamic-state/
Good luck. Think carefully before making your decisions and remember that life is not a game. You don’t get any do overs.
Israel is at WAR. If you purposely go into a war zone and ally yourself with the enemy of that country you have put yourself needlessly into a situation where you can be hurt or even killed. If you purposely go into a WAR zone and get accidentally hurt or mistaken for an enemy, what did you think was going to happen? Did you think you were protected by some invisible force shield granted to you by being and American citizen? Think again.
It is immaterial whether WE or anyone else in this country feel positive or negative about either side. The reality is you stupidly and with no purpose put yourself into that situation in a foreign country that is at WAR. Take the consequences like a man or as a functioning adult and stop whining and expecting that you should not have any consequences.
I have the same thoughts about people purposely going into dangerous inner city neighborhoods at night and get mugged. Young women getting blackout drunk and partying with total strangers who get raped. You did it to yourself.
I have no sympathy.
Here’s a fat lip: