Free Riad! (5/13/02, 5/17/02, 5/21/02)
by Dean Hartwell
5/13
When a United States citizen took a trip to Singapore a number of years ago and
vandalized property there, the Singapore government said they would punish him
the same way they punished others who did the same thing, by caning him.
Then-President Clinton, through intermediaries, intervened to plead with
Singapore officials to lessen the punishment.
More recently, two U.S. women went to Afghanistan, ostensibly to perform
charity work. They were caught proselytizing their Christian faith to Afghans
in violation of the law there and jailed. The Bush Administration pressed their
captors ardently and successfully for their release.
Now a United States citizen, after a trip to Palestine, sits in an Israeli
prison without any formal charges. Yet the State Department and his
congressman, Christopher Cox, have largely remained silent, saying only that
they could not press for his release.
Who is the imprisoned man and why won’t we order Israel to release him?
He is Dr. Riad Abdelkarim. I met him years ago in grade school. He always
finished with the highest grades but never failed to help a classmate who
didn’t quite understand the assignment. A devout Muslim, he held strong
opinions about political matters like the Middle East, but refused to be baited
into fighting by insensitive classmates. That he would eventually become a
leader in his chosen field of medicine was well known to us at the time, as we
voted him “Most Likely to Succeed.”
As a doctor, he has frequently volunteered to help Palestinians with medical
needs. One of his brothers says that “Riad does not take vacations; he goes on medical
relief missions.” Patients and their families have praised him as a
“compassionate healer.”
As a frequent political columnist with strong convictions, he also visited
Jenin during his most recent trip and heard stories from people there that
conflicted with the official Israeli government version. He wrote back home of
his shame at being a United States citizen since we fund much of the Israeli
weaponry.
Upon his detention, Israel seized documents on his possession. Were these
documents what the Israeli government wanted? They will not say, nor will they
formally charge him with anything. Riad has protested his detention by going on
a hunger strike.
That brings us back to our citizens who went to Singapore and Afghanistan. They
forgot the golden rule of international travel, which is “when in Rome, do as
the Romans do.” Yet the United States was there to help them. Our nation must
act to release a citizen who follows the rules of Rome and home.
Update (5/17)
Israel apparently acknowledged its reason for detaining Riad, saying it was
"on suspicion of membership of a terror organization."
The timing of this detainment is what is suspect. It is true that the FBI
questioned Riad about his involvement with the Holy Land Foundation, an
organization whose assets the Bush Administration froze on suspicion of funding
Hamas, a known terrorist organization. But the FBI cleared Riad last year of
any wrongdoing.
Furthermore, Riad took a trip to Palestine in January of last year. Though it
likely knew of the Holy Land Foundation at the time, Israel did not detain him
then.
The leaders in the United States who fought so hard to get the two Christian
women home from Afghanistan have not been heard from. In their silence, I can't
help but think that if he were a Christian, Riad would be home by now.
Update (5/21/02)
Dr. Riad Abdelkarim is back home in the United States now. Israel did not
comment on its release of him.
Why did Israel detain him to begin with? We may never know, but Riad said it
best: "I always believe in the end truth prevails."