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| Source: Jordan Times |
About six weeks ago, we noticed a Jordanian news report about an official visit to the sumptuous palace of Jordan’s ruler by a senior US Congressman, Representative Adam Smith.
A Democrat, Smith represents Washington state’s 9th Congressional district. Before that he served in the Washington State Senate. He has been a member of the House Armed Services Committee since 1997 and is its current chairman.
The details of his formal visit to the royal palace appeared on the website of Jordan’s embassy in Washington DC. They also appeared on the website of Jordan’s Royal Hashemite Court and a little later in the government-controlled Jordan Times.
We noted and commented on the visit here.
Smith’s was one of three Congressional Delegation visits to the royal place in Amman that we know of between the first week of October and the first week of November. There may have been others that we didn’t spot. We’re new to the business of tracking the activities of US Congress people when they’re outside the US. The US new media seem to pay them little attention.
Why is this an issue for us?
If you know anything about our blog, you will be aware that Jordan is refusing to extradite the Islamist savage who bombed the Sbarro pizzeria in Jerusalem. And that this flies in the face of years of Jordan complying with the bilateral extradition treaty that has been in effect since 1995. Our 15 year old daughter Malki was one of the many children inside the pizzeria who were blown to pieces. Ahlam Tamimi, who fits our definition of a monster, has taken credit for years, on television, in the print media, on multiple social media platforms, for selecting the site (the large number of Jewish children was the key factor) and for personally bringing the bomb to the door of the pizzeria just before fleeing to save herself. She calls it “my operation” and has never denied the charges. She has publicly and repeatedly confessed.
Our fury at the brazenness of the Jordanians whose bad faith in this matter is, as we see it, beyond all doubt is matched by our disappointment at the repeated failure to act of a long and bipartisan string of US politicians and officials.
It’s highly unlikely that the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is ever going to voluntarily extradite this woman. She’s a hero for Jordanians. On the other hand, no one seriously doubts, given the history and the realpolitik, that the US can ensure Jordan hands her over to face trial in Washington. But it doesn’t happen.
Meanwhile we’re pained by how US/Jordan relations roll right along with most of the players choosing to ignore the elephant in the room.
On Friday November 8, 2019, Arnold Roth emailed this letter to Representative Adam Smith’s staff:
Caitlyn Cole
Office Manager
District Office of Rep Adam Smith
101 Evergreen Building
15 S. Grady Way
Renton, WA 98057Dear Ms Cole,
I am writing on a matter of justice in the personal and literal sense.
In 2017, the Department of Justice unveiled terrorism charges against a Jordanian woman, Ahlam Tamimi. She is the confessed murderer of my daughter Malki. My child was 15 and a US citizen when her life ended in a Jerusalem Sbarro pizzeria.
Jordan immediately rebuffed the US request to extradite her even though there has been a valid and active extradition treaty between the two countries since it was signed during the Clinton Administration’s days.
Jordan’s highest court ruled, just days after the US charges were announced against Tamimi, that the treaty is invalid and unconstitutional. Not only that, but it has always been invalid and unconstitutional siince the day it was signed.
An announcement made less than a week ago by the State Department [described at https://thisongoingwar.blogspot.com/2019/11/03-nov-19-in-washington-step-towards.html] makes plain that the US rejects Jordan’s interpretation.
In the meantime, Tamimi lives free in Jordan’s capital, not in hiding, a celebrity whose constant acts of incitement to further Islamist terror atrocities are amplified by her frequent and essentially unfettered access to Jordan’s media.
Mr Smith’s visit to Jordan, reported today in the Jordanian media (see http://jordantimes.com/news/local/king-receives-us-house-representatives-delegation), comes on the heels of one by Speaker Pelosi in October and one by Rep Jason Crow a few weeks before that.
It prompts me to ask these questions:
- Was Mr Smith briefed by the State Department or the US embassy in Amman prior to meeting the king and Jordan’s foreign minister?
- Did the briefing/s touch on US efforts to extradite Tamimi to Washington DC?
- Did Mr Smith urge his hosts to ensure compliance by Jordan with its treaty obligations to the US?
- Is Mr Smith willing to speak with me about this after he returns?
My questions are for the record, and I do plan to publicize them and whatever response your office shares with me.
Sincerely,
Arnold Roth
Separately but at about the same time, we reached out to a contact in the US State Department to find out about briefings given to Congress persons who come calling on Jordan’s king in his palace. What, in effect, we asked was whether Representative Smith told ahead of sitting down with the king about the Jordanian breach of its extradition treaty obligations with the US and of US efforts to extradite Ahlam Tamimi to Washington. The answer we got was cloudy and unhelpful.
Just after sending the letter, Arnold posted this tweet:
Mr @RepAdamSmith (D-WA09):Jordan’s news media say you are in Amman after meeting @KingAbdullahII and Jordan’s foreign minister. I have just emailed some questions to your district office. I would appreciate the courtesy of a reply.
Arnold Roth— Arnold Roth (@arnoldroth) November 8, 2019
An encouraging reply arrived by email later that day from Representative Smith’s staff:
Hi Arnold,Thank you for reaching out! I’m looping in Monica Matoush and Caleb Randall-Bodman from the HASC communications team who can help answer your questions. I’m also adding Chairman Smith’s Communications Director Justin Weiss for his awareness.
If there’s anything else I can assist with, please don’t hesitate to reach out.
Warmly,
Caitlyn Cole
District Scheduler/Office Manager
Congressman Adam Smith (WA-09)
And then another from Caleb Randall-Bodman of the same team:
Nov 8, 2019, 9:12 PM
to Frimet, Arnold, Monica, Caitlyn, Justin
Thanks Caitlyn,
Arnold – thanks for your questions. The Chairman is actually still in transit back from the trip. We’ll make a point to touch base with him about your questions when he is back home, and we will be in touch in the coming days.
Thanks,
Caleb
We waited four days for a proper response. Then Arnold emailed this:
November 12, 2019
Dear Mr Randall-Bodman,
I appreciate your acknowledging my email to Rep Smith.
As you may realize, my wife and I are campaigning to see delayed justice done in the case of our murdered daughter. The questions in my letter are framed as yes/no to encourage a timely response.
We would appreciate knowing if an answer is on the way.
Sincerely
Arnold Roth
Silence. Arnold waited two more days and then sent this:
Nov 14, 2019, 11:16 AM
to Caleb, Frimet, Monica, Caitlyn, Justin
Ladies and gentlemen,
If there is a reasonable justification for us to keep waiting for an answer to our straightforward questions, please let us know what it is.
But if we don’t hear it from you today, we plan to press forward on the assumption that we are once again being ignored.
The only reason we are dealing with Members of Congress is because our child’s murderer, an FBI Most Wanted fugitive terrorist, is living a dream life instead of being extradited to Washington.
We can deal with excuses and political differences. Being ignored is unacceptable.
Arnold Roth
Later the same day, this arrived from Monica Matoush on behalf of Representative Smith:
Nov 14, 2019, 5:03 PM
to Caleb, Caitlyn, Justin, Connor, Arnold, Frimet
Good Morning Mr. Roth,I apologize for the delay. Chairman Smith returned to DC just yesterday and was immersed in meetings, hampering my ability to engage with him on this sensitive subject.
In speaking with staff who accompanied him on the trip they were not in room, so they are unable to advise if the subject of Ms. Tamimi’s extradition was part of the discussion.
We will make a point today to discuss with Chairman Smith whether he had any prior knowledge to the specifics you’ve mentioned below, what information, if any, our State Dept provided him and what will be his follow on actions, now that he is tracking the issue.
I will get back to you as I have something more.
Best,
Monica Matoush
HASC Comm Director
Arnold waited four days. Then emailed this:
Nov 14, 2019, 5:50 PM
to Monica, Caleb, Frimet, Caitlyn, Justin, Connor
Thank you. Please refer to my four questions. Just four.
Then five days later, this:
Nov 19, 2019, 12:30 AM
to Monica, Caleb, Frimet, Caitlyn, Justin, Connor
Eleven days after my first message to his office, it seems safe to assume at this point that no response is going to come from Rep Smith.
Arnold Roth
Then after nearly three more weeks of no response, Arnold emailed this
Dec 9, 2019, 8:54 AM
to Monica, Caleb, Frimet, Caitlyn, Justin, Connor
Ladies and gentlemen,
A polite reminder to you that, as the parents of a US citizen who was a beautiful and caring 15 year old when she was killed in the bigotry-driven bombing of a pizzeria filled with children, we have tried to extract responses from a string of US political figures who have paid official visits to Jordan’s king during the past six weeks.
There are surprisingly many such Congressional representatives. What’s harder for us to understand is that not a single one of them has responded when we have reached out to their offices to ask if they know about King Abdullah II’s brazen disregard for his kingdom’s treaty obligations to the United States.
One of those, as you know, is the office and staff of Chairman Smith.
Our only leverage is the little we can achieve as ordinary parents, unaided by political alignment (of which we have none), reaching out to the media. But this does not mean we are powerless. If you take a look at our blog, you will see that we have managed to get the system to issue Federal charges and a $5M State Department reward offer and to have her added to the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists list.
We will keep doing all we can until we see Ahlam Tamimi extradited from Jordan to a Washington court-room, nothwithstanding the totally bilateral cold shoulder we keep encountering. And despite the nauseating protection the bomber gets from Jordan’s royal leader.
I am baffled by your indifference to all this.
Sincerely,
Arnold Roth
Jerusalem
Nothing. The following day, Arnold emailed this final note:
Arnold Roth
Tue, Dec 10, 8:26 PM (6 days ago)
to Monica, Caleb, Connor, Justin, Caitlyn
None of you has responded.
As of now, we regard ourselves as free to publicize what has passed between us and your office.
Sincerely,
Arnold Roth
This is not the only instance of our reaching out to elected officials or government appointees asking for basic clarifications connected to the dream life being lived in the Arab world by our daughter’s killer. And being rebuffed. The list is already long.
We documented some of it here: “14-Mar-19: Two years after Federal charges are unsealed, Ahlam Tamimi remains free. How is this happening?“
With few exceptions, mainstream editors and reporters in the news industry won’t touch this battle we as bereaved parents are waging to see our child’s killer stand trial in Washington on the US Federal charges she faces. But we plan to keep pressing on. For us, it’s a matter of justice.
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