Prominent Americans call on the Biden administration to act after gunmen shoot up the home of a Palestinian-American anti-corruption fighter.
By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel
A former U.S. official called on the Biden administration to protect a prominent Palestinian-American anti-corruption activist who is being threatened by the Palestinian Authority.
Fadi Elsalameen, who works to expose corruption among Palestinian officials, tweeted that he had received a notice from the the Al-Aqsa Brigades terror group, which is affiliated with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party, the main body of the Palestine Liberation Organization.
“President Abbas’s Al-Aqsa brigades issued today an explicit death threat against me for visiting my home town of Samoua in the Hebron Hills. I have no security and this threat from President Abbas and his security forces cannot be left unanswered,” Elsalameen posted, along with a copy of the letter on official Palestinian letterhead.
Elsalameen arrived from the States for a family visit when he got the death threat, but that’s nothing new to him or his family. Several years ago, unidentified gunmen shot up his house in Samou while family members were inside, although there were no injuries at the time.
A dual citizen who also holds American citizenship, Elsalameen has built a reputation as an advocate for peace and good Palestinian governance. He grew up in the Seeds for Peace organization and was invited to the U.S. in 2005 by then-President Bill Clinton. He is known to be a thorn in the side of the corrupt Palestinian Authority headed by Abbas.
Aaron David Miller, a former senior advisor at the State Department and peace negotiator, called on President Joe Biden to take action.
“I’ve know Fadi for years,” Miller tweeted. “He’s stood and fought for peace his whole life. The PA or whoever is targeting him ought to stand down. And the Biden administration should intercede with [the] PA to protect a US citizen.”
“This is incredibly disturbing. Fadi Elsalameen is a Facebook star in highlighting corruption among Palestine’s leaders,” tweeted Steve Clemons, a senior political and foreign policy commentator for The Hill.
“As the Seeds of Peace alum visits family, al-Aqsa brigades publicly threatening to murder him. Abbas can stop this,” Clemons said, citing Secretary of State Antony Blinken, senior Biden official Wendy Sherman and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in his tweet.
“Fadi is an anti-corruption activist. Powerful men don’t like those who call out their corruption. Fadi, stay safe,” tweeted Gissou Nia, a human rights lawyer and Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council.
The threat against his life clearly didn’t slow Elsalameen down at all. After receiving the death threat, he posted on his Facebook page about fake news the PA is spreading to Palestinians to make their corrupt government look more rosy.
“Palestine official TV, spreading misinformation regarding a UN happiness index report. Where Palestine TV claims Palestine is ranked 22th in the world, among the happiest peoples,” Elsalameen posted. “But the report published by the United Nations on its website shows that Palestine is ranked 125th globally, and is considered one of the least happy people globally! What is the point of spreading misinformation like this?”
For the record, Israel improved on its ranking and is considered to be the 12th happiest country on the planet. Finland is the happiest, while the Jewish State is ranked happier than Canada (14th), Britain (17th) and the United States (19th).
And the two happiest Arab countries out of the 149 countries listed? Bahrain (22nd) and the UAE (25th), both of which recently signed peace treaties with Israel.