Arnold Roth – the father of 15-year-old Malki Roth who was murdered in a 2001 terror attack – has told Sky News host Rowan Dean he is “nauseated” by the BBC giving the woman responsible for the death of Malki and 14 others a platform to gain sympathy.
Ahlam Tamimi supplied a case of explosives to a suicide bomber who detonated it and himself in a Sbarro pizzeria in August, 2001, murdering 15 people, including eight children. Tamimi was later asked about the attack, appearing gleeful when she was told eight children had been killed. She was caught and handed 16 life sentences, but released after only 10 years as part of a prisoner exchange.
In a bid to generate sympathy for Tamimi – who was appealing for assistance to reunite with her husband – the BBC pushed out a program about Tamimi and her plea. “I’m appalled at the way the BBC has approached this,” Mr Roth said. “I am scouring for any critical comment of either Tamimi or the BBC for this in the Arabic speaking world … and haven’t found any yet. “I could talk for literally hours from this point going forward about the nonsense that is not only put out by the Jordanians but swallowed up by almost every journalistic organisation in the world.”
Mr Roth said the United States was seeking to extradite Tamimi and try her in a federal court for charges of terrorism leading to the deaths of the 15 people and a woman who has been in a Ahlamvegetative state since the attack.
Listen to the episode of the Outsiders with Rowan Dean.