The U.S. ambassador to Israel criticized a Palestinian trial for the suspected killers of three Americans, saying Monday it should not be held behind closed doors and the charges should be tougher. Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer also said Washington should have been told in advance of the Gaza trial that began last Saturday of the four accused of involvement in a roadside bomb attack that killed the U.S. security guards in October.
| The only reason it's beginning now is because we said we were going to cut off the dough we've been kicking in. Just ask Jibril. |
"We don’t believe that this is the way to proceed. We want to see an open trial," said Kurtzer, when asked about the hearing at a convention of American rabbis in Jerusalem. "We’re not even sure that the charge sheet ... reflects the gravity of the crime. The charge sheet seems to implicate these individuals for involuntary manslaughter instead of what we would call first-degree murder," Kurtzer said.
| "Well, how'd they know them bombs wuz gonna go off? Riddle me dat!" |
Strained relations between the United States and the Palestinians have been further tested since the attack. Washington has said not enough was being done to hunt the killers of the guards, who were escorting a convoy to interview Fulbright scholarship applicants in Gaza City. A top Palestinian official accused the United States of blackmail over the investigation last week.
| ... immediately before they decided to have the trial. Such as it is... |
Since the attack, the United States has stopped its officials from going to the Gaza Strip, a move that has hampered aid work. Kurtzer urged the Palestinians to reveal more details of the suspects, whose trial was adjourned Saturday to Feb. 29. Two have so far been identified as members of the Popular Resistance Committee, an armed group that has been involved in attacks on Israelis. It has denied involvement in the Oct. 15 bombing. Other suspects are a 22-year-old university student and a 23-year-old Palestinian. No charge sheet was made public during the trial and a military prosecutor said only that the four were involved in planting bombs to target Israeli troops that "might have led to the killing of the Americans".
| "See? See? I them Merkins hadn't been there, they wouldn'ta been boomed!" |
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