An open letter to:

Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Ban Ki-moon

Secretary of State of the United States , Mrs. Hillary Clinton

US Ambassador to Israel, Mr. Daniel Shapiro

President of the European Council of the EU, Mr. Herman Van Rompuy

Director General of the International Red Cross, Mr. Yves Daccord

President of Israel, Mr. Shimon Peres

Prime Minister of Israel, Mr. Binyamin Netanyahu

According to various news agencies, Mr. Muhammad Abu Shahala, a former intelligence agent for the Palestinian Authority, has been sentenced to death, following a hurried trial. His crime: selling property to Jews in Hebron.

Mr. Abu Shahala reportedly confessed, following torture sessions at the hands of his captors. The death sentence can be executed only following concurrence by Mahmoud Abbas, aka Abu Mazen, President of the PA. After he signs the death warrant, Abu Shahala may be killed.

It is appalling to think that property sales should be defined as a capital crime punishable by death. The very fact that such a law exists within the framework of the PA legal system points to a barbaric and perverse type of justice, reminiscent of practices implemented during the dark ages.

It is incumbent upon the entire international community, which views the Palestinian Authority as viable Middle East peace partner, to publicly reject such acts of legal murder, when the crime is the sale of property to Jews.

What would be the reaction to a law in the United States, England, France, or Switzerland, forbidding property sales to Jews?

Actually, less than one hundred years ago, such acts were legislated and practiced. They were known as the Nuremberg laws. On October 3, 1938 Nazi Germany, under the leadership of Adolf Hitler, implemented the Decree of the Confiscation of Jewish Property, regulating the transfer of assets from Jewish to non-Jewish Germans. On December 11, 1938 another law was passed: the regulation for the elimination of Jews from the Economic life of Germany. Among other sections was a clause forbidding Jews from offering merchandise for sale.

Is the Palestinian Authority a reincarnation of the Third Reich?

We appeal to all international leaders to demand the annulment of the death warrant and pending execution of Muhammad Abu Shahala, to be followed by his immediate release from imprisonment, for he has committed no crime.

David Wilder Noam Arnon
The Jewish Community of Hebron (© 2012 JewishPress. 04/16/12)