Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
Friedman Demands PA Release American Charged With Selling Land to Jews
Error: Contact form not found.
by JNS.org
US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman. Photo: Reuters / Ammar Awad / File.
JNS.org – US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman took to Twitter on Wednesday to call for the immediate release of a Palestinian American who was imprisoned by the Palestinian Authority for engaging in a real estate transaction in eastern Jerusalem with Jews.
The abduction of 55-year-old Issam Akel took place approximately two months ago, and his family urgently contacted the United States for help in securing his safe release.
“The Pal. Authority has been holding U.S. citizen Isaam Akel in prison for ~2 months,” wrote Friedman on Twitter. “His suspected ‘crime’? Selling land to a Jew. Akel’s incarceration is antithetical to the values of the U.S. & to all who advocate the cause of peaceful coexistence. We demand his immediate release.”
Akel, a resident of Bethlehem with American citizenship, had worked for the PA Ministry for Local Government, but is accused by the PA of helping sell an Arab-owned house in the Old City of Jerusalem to a Jewish organization.
Selling land to Jews is illegal in the Palestinian Authority, and is punishable by the death penalty.
Last week, Palestinian Islamic representatives in eastern Jerusalem reaffirmed a fatwa (religious decree) prohibiting Palestinians from selling houses or land to Israeli Jews.
