23-Nov-19: We have some unanswered and troubling questions about honor, justice and decency

From left: WINEP Executive Director Robert Satloff, Chairman of the WINEP
Board of Trustees James Schreiber, Jordan's king, someone else

No one from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy - not their board members, not the executives who run it, not the communications professionals who work hard to keep it in the news - bothered to respond to us or any of our emails, tweets or opinion pieces (one on the home page of the Times of Israel, one on our blog) in relation to their giving an award called "Scholar-Statesman" to Jordan's ruler this past Thursday night.

We think that's extraordinary. Not in a good way.

Our concern focuses on how Jordan, an absolute monarchy, defeats justice by brazenly shielding a mass murderer who happens also to be the killer of our teenage daughter Malki. Malki was a US citizen whose life ended in a massive conflagration before she reached her sixteenth birthday.

In the wake of the glittering event at which the award was presented, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan's embassy in Washington, where Ambassador Dina Kawar blocks us on Twitter, has just published the kind of self-serving report we have learned to expect, emphasizing and re-emphasizing King Abdullah II's wisdom, wise policies and how he "confronts" extremism.

22 November 2019 (Archived)
KING RECEIVES 2019 SCHOLAR-STATESMAN AWARD
His Majesty King Abdullah, in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah, received the 2019 Scholar-Statesman Award on Thursday evening.
The award, presented to King Abdullah by the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP), has been awarded to His Majesty in appreciation for his wise policies and efforts towards peace, stability, harmony, and tolerance in the Middle East.
The award was presented to His Majesty by WINEP Chairman of the Board of Trustees James Schreiber, during a dinner held to mark the occasion.
The award celebrates distinguished leaders who, through their public service and achievements, underscore the importance of research and deep knowledge of history in effective and wise policies to promote peace and security in the Middle East.
In remarks at the ceremony, WINEP Executive Director Robert Satloff noted that when His Majesty talks, people listen, be they leaders around world or the millions of his people, who count on him to provide wisdom and guidance, vision and balance, leadership and security.
For his part, WINEP Chairman of the Board of Trustees James Schreiber addressed the King saying, “you have led your country with strength, compassion, moderation and wisdom.”
He added, “you have been a committed warrior for peace, and a determined leader in the battle to confront extremism. In your faith, and in all faiths, you have been a true partner of our country, the United States.”
During the ceremony, a tribute video was screened, highlighting His Majesty’s achievements and efforts to pursue peace in the region and to promote dialogue and interfaith harmony, as well as his role as the Hashemite Custodian of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.
After receiving the award, His Majesty sat for a conversation with WINEP Executive Director Satloff, during which His Majesty spoke of the latest developments in the Middle East, the threat of terrorism and extremism, and efforts to pursue peace in the region.
Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Adviser to His Majesty for Communication and Coordination Bisher Khasawneh, Jordan’s Permanent Representative to the UN Sima Bahous, and Jordan’s Ambassador in Washington, D.C., Dina Kawar attended the award dinner.

Plenty of "wisdom" here. But no mention at all of 

• Jordan's egregious and continuing breach of the active and binding 1995 Extradition Treaty made by the awardee's father, King Hussein, and the Clinton Administration
• The State Department confirming just three weeks ago [see "03-Nov-19: In Washington, a step towards bringing the Sbarro bomber to justice"] that although Jordan continues "to cite a court ruling that its constitution forbids the extradition of Jordanian nationals... the United States regards the extradition treaty as valid."
• The fact that Ahlam Tamimi, a Jordanian national, is wanted on US Federal terrorism charges arising from a bombing attack in Jerusalem to which she has openly and repeatedly confessed and that took the lives of 16 innocent people, half of them children, one of them our fifteen-year old daughter Malki. She is one of just 28 terrorists classified as being the FBI Most Wanted Terrorists.
• Jordan's blunt refusal to hand her over to the US Justice Department, a disgraceful stance that has been barely reported in the mainstream news media in the US but which was explicitly confirmed earlier this month by Jordan's foreign minister ["13-Nov-19: Thank you, Mr Foreign Minister"] who was present at the Washington prize-granting event.

The most recent of our tweets asks a question, still unanswered, that we intend to pursue:

The @WashInstitute people give us the silent treatment. If you're one of their donors (and even if not) please ask @AmbDennisRoss, @DavidMakovsky, @RobSatloff if they knew @KingAbdullahII shields an @FBIMostWanted terrorist (our child's killer) when they decided to honor him. https://t.co/TMEQxnWVQA

— Arnold Roth (@arnoldroth) November 22, 2019

Finally a reminder that the Washington Institute's mission is "to advance a balanced and realistic understanding of American interests in the Middle East and to promote the policies that secure them."

Please recall that three of the lives stolen in the Tamimi atrocity were those of citizens of the United States. Does anyone doubt that this counts as an American interest in the Middle East?

We're baffled and pained by every aspect of how the Washington Institute for Near East Policy has conducted itself in this exceedingly shabby affair. We're especially troubled by how its leadership disdains us and our questions and acts as if we, our questions and our murdered child simply don't exist or aren't worth the trouble of acknowledging.