U.S. Marine Andrew Tahmooressi has been imprisoned in Mexico since the 1st of April and has endured threats and abuse, but the State Department shows no interest in using our enormous leverage over our neighbor to the South, but of course they’ll take any second to criticize Israel:
State Dept: "profoundly troubled" by reports US teen Tariq Khdeur was severely beaten while in custody of Israeli police
— Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) July 5, 2014
Israeli officials have taken an American teenager into custody, a State Department spokeswoman confirmed in a statement calling for a “credible” investigation into whether he was beaten by police.
“We can confirm that Tariq Khdeir, an American citizen, is being held by Israeli authorities in Jerusalem,” spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. “We are profoundly troubled by reports that he was severely beaten while in police custody and strongly condemn any excessive use of force. We are calling for a speedy, transparent and credible investigation and full accountability for any excessive use of force.”
WTSP, a local Tampa media outlet, explains that the high school student was in Israel “attending a demonstration following the death of his cousin, Mohammed Abu Khdeir,” a 16-year-old who “was killed by a suspected Israeli extremist in a revenge attack following the deaths of three Israeli teens who were abducted in the West Bank last month.”
While the beating of an American teen by Israeli law enforcement is certainly an issue that should be investigated, it is deplorable that they do so very little for Tahmooressi after so long, but jump at the chance to criticize Israel.
Israel’s Justice Ministry has announced an investigation into the beating. No such luck for Andrew Tahmooressi.