Families of Slain Americans Upset by State Dept. Treatment

Jerusalem (CNSNews.com) – The families of two Americans recently murdered by Palestinians say their grief has been compounded by the treatment they received from U.S. diplomatic missions in Israel, according to sources in Jerusalem.

Two American citizens with dual Israeli nationality have been murdered in the past seven weeks, bringing to 18 the total number of Americans killed in Palestinian terrorist attacks since 1993, when the Israeli-Palestinian Oslo peace accords were signed at the White House.

Sarah Blaustein, 53, was one of two people killed on May 29 when the van in which she was traveling came under fire from Palestinian gunmen. Blaustein’s husband, son and two other people were injured in the attack.

Blaustein had just fulfilled her lifelong dream of living in the Biblical Promised Land last August when she and her husband moved to Efrat, a Jewish community of some 9,000 residents, in disputed territory 10 miles outside of Jerusalem. The road connecting the settlement to Jerusalem has repeatedly come under Palestinian gunfire attack.

Blaustein’s sister-in-law, Cheryl Unterberg, told a small gathering in Jerusalem earlier this week that the family was upset by the U.S. missions’ reaction to the family during their time of tragedy.

Unterberg said the family had asked Ambassador Martin Indyk to attend the funeral “to pay his respects,” but had been told that where they lived was within the jurisdiction of the U.S. Consulate-General in eastern Jerusalem.

Because Washington does not recognize Israel’s sovereignty over East Jerusalem or the West Bank, those areas fall outside the sphere of its embassy in Tel Aviv.

At the time the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv issued a statement condemning the murder and expressing regret for the ambassador’s inability to attend the funeral.

“Ambassador Indyk… expressed deep regret at his inability to attend [the] funeral for Sarah Blaustein,” a statement from the Embassy said. “The West Bank is the official responsibility of the Consulate-General in Jerusalem and Ambassador Indyk is not authorized to attend events there, including the funeral in Efrat.”

Nevertheless, the Consulate-General, whose area of jurisdiction includes the Palestinian Authority areas, also declined to attend the funeral or to pay a condolence call on the family.

“We’re not trying to make a [political] statement,” said Unterberg, who herself moved from the U.S. six years ago. “We’re only asking for a little show of humanity. But the Consulate-General could not show even that.”

According to Unterberg the Consul-General, Ronald Schlicher, made various excuses why he could not come, including the fact it was “too political,” he does not pay condolence calls, and he can’t visit Jewish settlements.

She noted that two weeks later, however, an official from the Consulate did visit a neighbor of hers in Efrat. But even then the staffer could not be persuaded to stop at their home and offer her condolences.

“This is how we’re treated by the American government,” she said.

Another American, 14-year-old Ya’acov Mandell was bludgeoned to death with rocks along with a friend on May 9. Indyk also condemned that murder but declined to pay his respects to the family, said David Bedein, a family friend and journalist.

A spokesman at the Consulate said on Monday that Schlicher had not attended the funerals or visited the families “for security reasons.” At the time of the murders, “U.S. officials were not allowed to go to the West Bank,” he said.

No rewards

The State Department has been accused of turning a blind eye to the killing of Americans when the murderers are of Palestinian origin.

Recently 26 Congressmen presented a letter to Secretary of State Colin Powell, urging the Bush administration to offer rewards for the Palestinian killers of U.S. citizens as it does for other murderers of Americans.

In the bipartisan letter, the Congressmen said they were “concerned that the U.S. government has not yet offered rewards for information leading to the capture of Palestinian terrorists who have killed or injured American citizens.

“This is of particular concern,” they said, “because we understand that such rewards are offered in many other cases in which terrorists have harmed Americans overseas.”

The lawmakers noted that the State Department web site, “singles out many individual cases, offers varying amounts of money for the different cases, and publicizes the awards in the local media of the country where the crime took place.”

The congressmen acknowledged that there were sensitive political and national security interests at stake. Nevertheless, they urged the administration to offer rewards based on the U.S. commitment “to ensuring justice and fighting terrorism.”

This ran on the CNS wire on July 2, 2001