Americans Killed by Israel

I wrote this article back in 2004 to document the 40 Americans (up to that time) whom have been killed in cold blood by Israel, a few not even receiving mention in the US Media.  Thought I'd post it again given the events with the Freedom Flotilla and the 43 anniversary of the USS Liberty Attack.

Laura

http://www.couplescompany.com/features/politics/2004/DeathofAmerican.htm

COMMENTARY

OPEN SEASON: DISPOSABLE AMERICANS DEATH OF AN AMERICAN  FATHER & SON By Laura Dawn Lewis W hen Americans travel or live abroad we feel pretty safe, especially when visiting the countries of our allies and friends. After all, as citizens of the most powerful country in the world, most governments take extraordinary measures to avoid disrupting their relationship with us.  Killing one of our citizens with its military sullies diplomatic relations resulting in international condemnation, sanctions or worse.  Recently one country emerged where killing an American civilian or our military personnel receives vague notice, a cursory condemnation and usually no investigation. In fact, our government goes to extraordinary lengths to protect this country when it kills American citizens.  Its reputation supercedes American lives. Pictured: Center: Dr. Khaled Salah killed 07/06/04; The Survivors of the USS Liberty, 34 killed 06/08/67, Rachel Corrie killed March 16, 2003 and Brain Avery permanently injured April 5, 2003.  All are American Citizens.  All were killed or maimed by the Israeli Military and Israel has never been held responsible for the death of any American killed by its forces.  Rather the American government and media protect it, placing Americans within its occupation and land at risk.  Israel is the only country Americans never prosecute for killing Americans.   PRINT The printed version contains the full text of several articles cited in this story.  To print just this article  print pages 1-9 only The country of course, Israel. When confronted with the hypocrisy of America's treatment of all other nations by one set of rules and Israel's exemption of such, our government and media immediately cite our "special relationship". Special is right, the United States now represents the epitome of a battered wife. Lie, cheat, steal or kill, we forgive, forget and beg for more. The rest of the world refers to us as p***y whipped, with reason. This emergence of American citizens as ducks in an Israeli shooting gallery involves more than the most recent murders and extends to American soil with origins dating to 1967.  Through decades of US government acquiescence and media self-censorship a pattern emerged, supplanting the value of an American life and labeling us as disposable citizens to protect Israel's reputation. Both the US Government and the US media share responsibility for the disposable nature of American lives. MURDER MISSED BY OUR MEDIA Two weeks ago an American father and son were murdered in their home at 3 AM in front of the mother and two siblings in the West Bank by Israeli Defense Forces, (IDF).  You're right. You didn't hear about it; they were not terrorists, agitators or militia.  They were simply an American family trying to improve life under the world's most brutal ongoing occupation. The reason for the media blackout will become apparent later in this article.  We became aware of it July 8th when the following e-mail from a source in Palestine dropped into our inbox: "In a press conference for the sorrowing mother and her daughterand son, the mother said that when she called the American embassy, they told her that her family's name is not listed in their files as residents in the West Bank. The woman then told them that could not be true because during the Gulf War, the embassy called them and offered help in leaving the territories, or providing masks against gas, in case they do not want to leave the West Bank. The woman said 'How come we were American citizens then, and we are not American citizens now?'"     STATISTICS AMERICANS ARE UNAWARE OF  as of July 22, 2004 The U.S. gives$15,139,178 per day to the Israeli government and military and $568,744 per day to Palestinian NGO's. Israel has been targeted by at least 65 UN resolutions (over 85 since Israel's inception) and the Palestinians have been targeted by none 972 Israelis and 3,097 Palestinians have been killed since September 29, 2000. 6,499 Israelis and26,819 Palestinianshave been injured since September 29, 2000. The Israeli unemployment rate is10.4%, while the Palestinian unemployment is estimated at 37-67%. 111 Israeli childrenhave been killed by Palestinians and 590 Palestinian children have been killed by Israelis since September 29, 2000. 1 Israeli home has been destroyed by Palestinians and 2,202 Palestinian homeshave been completely destroyed (14,436 partially destroyed)since September 29, 2000. 60+ new Jewish-only settlements have been built on confiscated Palestinian land between March 2001 and July 11, 2003. There have been 0 cases of Palestiniansconfiscating Israeli land and building settlements. Special thanks to IF AMERICANS KNEWfor Compiling these Stats and offsite resources.   Dr. Salah and his son were murdered July 6, 2004. This e-mail represented our first indication Americans had been murdered in Palestine. The 'not listed' issue is irrelevant and scary. If the US Embassy somehow lost track of US Citizens in a war zone kind of makes you wonder how many of us they lose track of regularly. Rather incompetent of our country, don't you think?  However, the Salahs identified themselves as American citizens beforebeing shot and with a son studying in America, the excuse shows its transparency. Further investigation led to scant details. Over the following days we scanned the US media trying to find a mention. We found nothing.  As usual, the foreign press covered the story.  The American press ignored it. Murdered Americans are news everywhere but America. The writer of the above e-mail is the neighbor of the slain American citizens living in the Occupied Territory, Dr. Khaled Salah, 54 and his son Mohammed Salah, 16.  Dr. Salah and his wife Salam are the parents of four:  Diana, 23, Mohammed and Ali, 11 and their oldest son currently attends college in Boston, working on his degree in electrical engineering. An American citizen, Dr. Salah received his PhD from UC Davis. Choosing to return to Palestine where he could do the most good, Dr. Salah established the Department of Electrical Engineering at An-Najah University in Nablus.  The University put out the following statement, "An-Najah National University condemns the killing of its Professor, Prof. Khalid Salah, of the Faculty of Engineering, early this morning. He was 54 years old. His sixteen-year old son, Muhammad, was also killed. Prof. Khalid Salah was killed in cold blood by the Israeli Occupation Forces in his flat where he lived with his family. Both were left bleeding for four hours until they died. Medical teams were not allowed to offer their urgent first aid to them. Prof. Khalid Salah was born in 1950 and started his work at the university in 1979. Prof. Khalid Salah was an American citizen. He was awarded his PhD in the Electrical Engineering from California University (Davis) in 1985. He received his MSc in Electronic Engineering from Wales in the United Kingdom in 1980." Two weeks after the incident, this gut-wrenching article detailing the murder of Dr. Salah and his son appeared Ha'aretz Daily, the Israeli newspaper:   "They heard the windows shattering, the water streaming from pipes that had burst and the perfumes flowing out of bottles that broke one after the other, their scents wafting through the apartment. From above they heard the sound of a helicopter. The battle for the house was at its height. "We phoned and phoned but everyone was helpless. It was war, and my feeling was that none of us would survive it." It went on that way for an hour and a quarter, until 3 A.M.   When quiet fell, Salam shouted, "Please, please, we are a family of peace. My name is Salam, shalom." The quiet continued for a bit, and then the shooting resumed. Immediately afterward, the Israeli force ordered everyone to leave the building, because it was going to be blown up. The order was given through a loudspeaker, in Arabic. "Anyone who doesn't come out will have the building blown up with him inside," the soldiers threatened.   (This threat is serious.  Dozens of Palestinian civilians have been crushed to death or blown up in their homes by the IDF, usually because they are elderly, handicap or deaf and cannot move fast enough to escape. On July 12, 2004 Ibrahim Halfalla, a wheelchair-bound father of seven, was crushed to death under the rubble of his house. It happened when the IDF demolished his house in Khan Yunis in the middle of the night. The soldiers did not check to find out whether someone was at home - and the bulldozer buried the man alive. That same week, published photos taken at the Hawara checkpoint showed a soldier handcuffing a Palestinian and then beating him in front of his wife and two children. Their only crime was wanting to get home.--Ha'aretz Daily 07/30/2004 The majority of the raids like this the Salahs fell victim to happen at night. The presence of human life is inconsequential and homes are destroyed as a measure of imparting terror on the population, not as defense.  Gush Shalom, an Israeli peace group, Amnesty International, the United Nations and the Red Crescent Society regularly document these atrocities.  The US Media rarely reports them and the US Government ignores them, even when Americans are killed.) Khaled got up first. "We're all right, everyone is all right," he whispered. He walked toward the corridor and turned on a light. Salam told the children to wait until he could see what was happening. But the shooting started again and Khaled hurried back to the living room. When the shooting died down he again made his way toward the front door and tried to open it. However, the door had been bent out of shape by the gunfire and the key didn't work. Unable to open the door, and taking seriously the soldiers' threat to blow up the house with them inside, Khaled went to the bedroom, opened the window, raised his hands and shouted to the soldiers, in English, "Sir, sir, we need help. Please come and open the door. I am a professor. We are people of peace. WE HAVE AMERICAN PASSPORTS." There was no response. Khaled tried again, this time in Arabic: "Help, help, we need help." A split second later, Salam heard three shots. Khaled fell silent. She would never hear his voice again. Inside the room, the terrifying red laser ray pranced across the walls. Salam crawled over to her husband and found him lying on the floor, between the bed and the window. At first she saw no blood, but he was no longer breathing. Then she saw the hole in his neck. "Diana, Diana," she screamed, "They have killed your father."   Read the full article: DEATH IN A CEMETERY,    07/23/2004, Ha'aretz Daily, Israel A PATTERN OF TERROR AGAINST AMERICANS The Salahs are not the first American citizens targeted by Israeli terror. A year ago IDF soldiers barged into the home of another American family living in Palestine.  At gunpoint they forced the fourteen-year-old boy to dress in suicide bomber clothing for a "terrorist" propaganda picture.  In this case, the terrified young boy began screaming he is an American citizen and produced his passport.  Confused, after some time the IDF soldiers simply left.  Unfortunately for Dr. Salah and Mohammed, the Israelis have learned Americans do not care if Israelis kill American citizens. This time an American passport could not save two of our citizens. This time, being an American did not matter and that fact alone should alarm every American here and abroad.  In Israel or under its occupation, we are disposable citizens.  Our country abandons us by ignoring our deaths. ISRAEL FASHIONS A BOMBER OF ITS OWN  May 8, 2003, Palestinian Report Ahmad tells of how, under gunpoint, the Israeli soldiers forced him to play the role of a Palestinian suicide bomber. "They ordered me to sit on a chair behind a table," the boy recounts. "All the soldiers stood around me. One of them hung a Palestinian flag behind me and another came in with a gun. A third brought in a hand grenade." Ahmad says the soldiers then emptied the bullets from the rifle's magazine and placed it before him on the table. They then made the boy hold a copy of the Qur'an in his left hand. ISRAEL 'FABRICATED' CHILD-BOMBER STORY  March 26, 2004; Aljazeera  The Israeli newspaper Yedeot Ahranot reported on Thursday that Abdu told Shin Beth interrogators that an anonymous person had promised him 100 shekels if he blew himself up in the midst of Israeli soldiers. Americans should also note in addition to dressing fourteen-year-old boys up as terrorists for propaganda and American television distribution, in June 2004 a Mossad cell was busted in Gaza masquerading and operating as Al Qaeda terrorists in an attempt to bring America into the Israel/Palestinian conflict as more than underwriters and UN saviors.  Mossad and the Israeli army have a long history of false flag operations posing as Arabs, beginning with the bombing of King David Hotel by Menachem Begin and his Irgun terrorists July 22, 1946 which killed 91, including 17 Jewish citizens. PA UNCOVERS ISRAELIS POSING AS AL-QAEDA AGENTS  Gaza security chief announces arrest of three Palestinians used by Israeli intelligence as al-Qaeda operatives. THE ROAD TO DISPOSABLE AMERICANS When did American lives in Israel become disposable? For every action, a suitable reaction exists thou at times, the lack of reaction becomes the coffin's nail. The diminishing of American life finds its origin in 1967 but reached fruition with the murder of American Rachel Corrie and shooting of Brian Avery in Spring 2003. The current administration by virtue of apathy refuses to hold the Israeli government responsible for the deaths of Americans under its control, in essence marking us "throw-away citizens".  Its actions in 2003 sealed our fate. What looked to be a public relations nightmare for Israel, killing twenty-three year old blond hair blue-eyed college student Rachel Corrie by crushing her under a giant D-9 bulldozer as she attempted to prevent the destruction of another Palestinian's home, turned into a declaration of open season on Americans living and working in the Occupied Territories.  Rather than show its outrage, the US Media and our government vilified Rachel and made her death the butt of late night jokes.  This sent a message to Israel, "Americans do not care if you kill our citizens". Worse, the US continues to reward Israel with more money, more weapons and the continuation of covering up its crimes via veto after veto. A Christian Palestinian and US citizen friend of mine commented after seeing the smear campaign and lack of accountability over Rachel's murder, "If America doesn't hold Israel accountable for killing someone like Rachel with her blue eyes, blond hair and youth, and a female no less.  Arab Americans like me don't have a chance." The murders of Dr. Salah and his son Mohammed, Arab Americans make the above statement chillingly real.  Apathy and blind support have a price: American blood, our blood via the devaluation of American life through the actions of our own government.  If Israel kills, we are not protected. SACRIFICIAL SOLDIERS America's lack of protection for our own when Israel murders extends to our military. We wave our flags and chant; "We support our Troops". The hypocrisy of this statement will become apparent. Sailing in international waters, the lightly armed intelligence ship USS Liberty, on June 8, 1967 found itself on the wrong end of Israeli torpedo boats and napalm, bomb and bullet spraying Israeli jets, only they didn't know they were Israeli jets. Israel used unmarked planes, (something in violation of the rules of war and a definite indication of pre-meditation). Thirty-four sailors died and 171 received injuries during the (70) seventy-minute, assault.  Seven minutes is a mistake.  Seventy is purposeful.  Does America protect its heroes? Not if Israel is involved.  America protects Israel. The average American does not even know about the USS Liberty.  From the beginning, our government sacrificed our sailors. Robert McNamara the Secretary of Defense in 1967 canceled the rescue squad mid air, leaving the Liberty crew to die.  Miraculously, the ship with a torpedo hole in its side and most of its crew incapacitated managed to get away and reach Malta. The US media went into blackout after a few days to prevent embarrassment to Israel. Gag orders were placed on the crew. Though the USS Liberty remains the most decorated ship in US History, for thirty-eight years congress refuses to investigate; to this day our government and media treat the survivors and their families with contempt, a way of saying 'How dare you survive to remind us'.  This treatment of our sailors alone should disgust any American. Medals were awarded in secret, again as not to embarrass Israel. Meanwhile the sailors were vilified and referred to as anti-Semitic for not letting this rest, including several Jewish sailors. When a top Hollywood actor approached Hollywood studios in the early 1980's about a movie documenting the amazing escape and pure heroics of the Liberty crew told in the book by bridge crew member Jim Ennes in "Assault on the Liberty: The True Story of the Israeli Attack on an American Intelligence Ship", he was told, "Mention this again and you'll never work in Hollywood again" by studio heads. This incident is confirmed at the source but a non-disclosure prevents revealing the actor's name.  Hollywood shares some blame with the media and US Government in creating disposable Americans. Recently other actors including Sean Penn, Richard Gere and Mel Gibson endured vilification for going against Israeli reputation, defending their non-Jewish faiths or speaking out.  If we really support our troops, we must demand our government start by supporting the survivors and families of the USS Liberty.  Absent this support, Americans do not support our troops. We support propaganda. DOUBLE STANDARDS Contrast the above behavior with the US response to three Americans killed in Gaza Palestine October 14, 2003.  Within twenty-four hours President Bush condemned the attack on the security personnel hired by the US government, dispatching an FBI team to investigate.  Reuters ran multiple stories.  The Associated Press ran multiple stories.  The New York Times and Jerusalem Post ran stories.  The Washington Post ran stories[1].  Multiple stories for Americans killed by Palestinians.  Where are the stories about Dr. Salah and Mohammed?  Because Israelis killed them, does that make them any less American? GAZA BOMB KILLS 3 AMERICANS:  EMBASSY ADVISES ALL U.S. CITIZENS TO LEAVE GAZA Thursday, October 16, 2003 Posted: 1:46 AM EDT (0546 GMT) GAZA CITY (CNN) -- A roadside bomb went off beneath a convoy carrying U.S. diplomats Wednesday in Gaza, killing three American members of a security detail and injuring another, U.S. officials said.  President Bush blamed Palestinian officials, saying they "should have acted long ago to fight terror in all its forms." Bush repeated calls to give a Palestinian prime minister control of all Palestinian security forces, and he blamed Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat for continuing to block reforms. Three differences exist between the three Americans killed in Gaza and Rachel, the USS Liberty and the Salahs: The method of killing, who killed them and how the US responded.  THE METHOD: The three killed in October fell victim to a remote bomb, impersonal with no individual attached.  Rachel, the Salahs and the USS Liberty all saw the faces of those killing them with bullets and bulldozers.  The attacks were personal by recognizable and specific IDF soldiers.  The three security agents contracted by the US Embassy through DynCorp fell victim to a roadside bomb in an active war zone. The responsible party remains unknown though speculation abounds this is yet another false flag operation; it would not be the first time Mossad has killed its own or Americans to gain support.  The 1983 bombing of the Marine barracks in Lebanon, documented in Victor Ostrovsky, a former Mossad agent's book "By Way of Deception " need not have happened.  The Mossad knew intimate details prior to the attack and chose not to tell American intelligence the full story, providing vague information. The reasoning: killing of our soldiers would bring Americans to Israel's aid in Lebanon.  Two hundred and forty-one Americans died. Even when Ostrovsky's book published in 1990, the US Government failed to object to the lie of omission killing so many.  Israel of course responded by banning the book. THE KILLERS: The three Americans killed in Gaza are suspected to be victims of Palestinian resistance.  Rachel, the Salahs and the USS Liberty are known victims of the Israeli military. Unlike the Israelis who circle the wagons and spit forth excuses when they kill an American, the Palestinians immediately began rounding up suspects. Concurrently Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Palestinian Authority denounced the attack. Killing an American serves no purpose to Palestinians.  They have nothing to gain and everything to lose. Contrast this with Israel's reaction to the USS Liberty, the Salahs and Rachel Corrie. Israel simply issued its reflexive vacant apology, plunged into denial mode, labeled anyone questioning "anti-Semitic" and promising to "investigate"…their standard non-response, though in each case, specific soldiers were responsible for the deaths and have yet to be held accountable.  A promise to investigate by Israel illustrates an empty promise. Even when Israel does investigate and prosecute, as in the case of the Deir Yassin massacre April 9, 1948, the responsible Israeli personal were fined a penny for killing over 100 men, women and children reminding us of the "justice" once afforded African Americans killed in this country by Caucasian members of the Klu Klux Klan. Given their track record with holding Israeli citizens responsible for crimes against others, why would the US Government ever take their word without an investigation?  We won't take Britain's, France's or Germany's, and these countries have proven themselves to be equitable.  Israel's history proves the opposite. THE COVERAGE & PRICE: Full bore press and multiple articles covered the roadside bombing of the three in Gaza.  The USS Liberty survivors and their families were given gag orders.  The press vilified Rachel Corrie and the Salahs aren't even mentioned. As Americans, reason dictates our government and media would stand up for us…or at the least gives us the facts and truth. When Palestinians were suspected of murdering Americans, we had a team on the ground in twenty-four hours. When Israel is suspected, nothing.  Does this dichotomy and unrealistic deflection of culpability concern anyone besides me?  Rachel's murder occurred in March 2003 by Israeli Defense Forces. She died flattened under a D-9 Caterpillar Bulldozer crushing her twice beneath its weight.  The Israeli Air Force and Israeli Navy attacked the USS Liberty June 8th, 1967 for seventy minutes and have been trying to deny, bury and misdirecting ever since.  The Salahs were killed July 6, 2004 by Israeli Defense Forces, awakened in the middle of the night and forced at gunpoint to leave their home with children present.  Americans do not even know about this, but we know about every single one of the 111 Israeli children killed by Palestinians since September 2000.  Of course few Americans know about the 590 Palestinian children killed by Israel during the same period.  The USS Liberty, the Salahs and Rachel Corrie are American citizens. In each case due to Israeli involvement their deaths go without US investigation or prosecution setting a dangerous precedent for all Americans.  The USS Liberty received a cursory inquiry, which Captain Ward Boston the legal counsel on the commission and Admiral Thomas Moore debunked shortly before his death in February this year.  In June 2004 the Israelis put forth a "transcript" of the pilots attempting to solidify their position.  Unfortunately for Israel, the transcript proved their insistence of faulty identification regarding the USS Liberty was a lie.  Transcripts from non-Israeli sources debunked the rest. Thirty-eight years later, not a single US investigative team traveled to Israel and interviewed a single Israeli soldier regarding the USS Liberty Attack.  A year-and-a-half after Rachel's death, the United States refuses to investigated even after the murder of Tom Hurndallfrom Manchester England was proven murder under pressure from the British government and Hurndall family.  Corrie and Hurndall died in similar circumstances as international peace workers.  But the three Americans suspected killed by the Palestinians got their inquiry within twenty-four hours.  England protects its citizens and holds Israel accountable.  In June of this year IDF forces shot at three more British subjects, part of an identified UN team; fortunately this time, no one died and investigations began immediately. Why are the rules different when Israel murders Americans? HUNTING AMERICANS IN AMERICA In January 2003, the SYDNEY SUNDAY TIMES and several other international papers ran an article detailing how the American, British and Australian governments granted Mossad, the Israeli version of the CIA full rights to act as judge, jury and executioner on US, Australian and British soil against any American, Australian or British citizens Mossad deems a threat to Israel.  All it takes to be a threat to Israel is public or private opposition to fascism.  If you oppose fascism, you oppose its current manifestation Zionism.  If you oppose Zionism you are an enemy of Israel. In any other world, opposing fascism represents a person of conscience.  In this, it marks you. To date, according to Jewish Peace Groups we've interviewed in the US, these attacks have focused on American Jews predominantly in the South Florida region.  Not only is this a direct violation of each victim's civil rights and several amendments, no foreign government should ever be allowed to hunt down Americans on our soil. These Jewish Americans remain loyal to this country and are our citizens. Our government fails to protect our Jewish citizens from a foreign power; our government sacrifices them to remain in the graces of a foreign power!  The ADL does not protect them either and often assists in collecting and spying on Jewish and other Americans fighting Israeli fascism.  A common misconception, the ADL protects Zionism, not persons of the Jewish faith.  Several people, Jewish and non-Jewish have won defamation lawsuits against this Trojan Horse for its illegalspying, harassment and malicious targeting of American citizens. ISRAEL UNLEASHES ITS DEATH SQUADS 19jan03: Sydney Sunday Times ISRAELI death squads have been authorised to enter "friendly" countries and assassinate opponents in a move that raises the prospect of political killings in Australia. The move was revealed by former Mossad agents in a series of interviews with US news agency United Press International. It was later confirmed by US intelligence officials. They said the policy raised the potential for killings in countries with close ties to Israel, including the US, Britain and Australia. FULL ARTICLE JEWISH GROUP THREATENS TO KILL EDITOR OF COLLEGE NEWSPAPER  by M&M 11:24am Sat May 3 '03 (Modified on 12:17pm Sat May 3 '03) SANTA ROSA, Calif. - The offices of Santa Rosa Junior College's student newspaper were locked temporarily following death threats against the editor for a piece she published criticizing Israel. The piece in the biweekly Oak Leaf appeared six weeks ago. Since then, 19-year-old editor Kristinae Toomians has been the target of death threats from area Jewish extremists. CAUSE AND EFFECT: WE GET WHAT WE SOW Being an American citizen used to mean something. Dr. Salah and his son Mohammed would not be dead today if Americans defended our own.  With accountability, the price to Israel for summarily murdering any American in terms of public relations, international condemnation and a cessation of aid would be too high. An American passport protected the fourteen-year-old boy from becoming an Israeli propaganda stunt last year; it failed to protected Dr. Salah and his son as Israel now realizes after killing Rachel, targeting Americans gains a simple slap on the wrist with no further consequence.  The United Kingdom stood up for the Hurndalls and received justice, demonstrating the value of a British life. When we don't hold others accountable, we create conditions that kill and for that as a nation we have only ourselves to blame. How many more American citizens must die before we start acting in our best interests and demand the same of our politicians and our media? We've sacrificed Rachel.  We've nearly sacrificed Brian.  We've sacrificed the 34 sailors of the USS Liberty and now we've sacrificed Dr. Salah and Mohammed. What is it going to take for Americans to begin protecting our own? How many dead Americans are enough?