Palestinian Jailed For Selling Land To Jews Transferred To U.S.
Image by Getty Images
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A Palestinian-American man sentenced by a Palestinian Authority court to life in prison for selling land in eastern Jerusalem to a Jewish Israeli was transferred to the United States.
Issam Akel, of Bethlehem, was handed over to American authorities in the aftermath of a secret deal signed between the P.A. and U.S. officials, Israel’s Kan national broadcaster reported Thursday evening.
Akel, who had worked for the Palestinian Authority, is accused of being a middleman between the Palestinian owner of the home located in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City and the Jewish organization that purchased it.
He lived in the United States for 12 years. As an eastern Jerusalem resident, Akel also holds a blue Israeli identification card. His four siblings and their families continue to reside in the United States.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
