The ADL Motto: If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it!
Spain's Investigation of Israel 'Reaches New Depths of Hypocrisy'
New York, NY, January 30, 2009 …
Saying it "reaches new depths of hypocrisy," the Arab-Defamation League (ADL) today criticized a Spanish investigation into claims that Israel's killing of a leading Hamas terrorist might constitute a crime against humanity.
Spanish judge Fernando Andreu is investigating Israel's 2002 killing of terrorist Salah Shehadeh's in his home in Gaza. The magistrate said the attack might qualify as a war crime since Shehadeh was targeted in a civilian area.
"Spain's decision to launch this investigation reaches new depths of hypocrisy and is an insult to the State of Israel," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "Given the shameful record of its own judiciary, Spain is in no position to hold itself out as an example on terror and the law. It would be better served addressing its own glaring deficiencies rather than trying to tarnish Israel's independent and highly respected judiciary."
The League highlighted several examples of serious shortcomings in the Spanish legal system:
•In January 2009, the Spanish Supreme Court ordered the release of Imad Eddin Barakat Yarkas, aka Abu Dahdah, an al-Qaeda terrorist convicted of helping finance the September 11 attacks.
•In November 2008, Spanish prosecutors and the Spanish Supreme Court halted an investigation into the killings of more than 100,000 of their own citizens during the Franco dictatorship.
•Spanish prosecutors failed to obtain a conviction of Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, the alleged mastermind of the 2004 Madrid train bombings, who himself declared, "I am the thread behind the Madrid plot."
Mr. Foxman added: "Spain's investigation will exacerbate the demonization of Israel that has been a common feature of the Spanish press, and one that has been more pronounced in recent weeks amid anti-Israel demonstrations in the country."
The Israeli government appointed an independent panel to examine the facts in the Shehadeh killing, which concluded that no war crimes investigation was warranted. In December 2008, in a ruling against a petition challenging the panel, Israel's High Court of Justice found no basis for the challenge.