August 21, 1996

Dear Congresswoman Kaptur:

     THANK YOU for your valuable assistance in my pursuit of
justice! It's wonderfully refreshing to see some public servants
truly are helping out their fellow Americans.

     It's obvious from Mr. Abington Jr.'s letter to you that he
has strongly held political views that prefer the continued
occupation of JUDAISM'S MOST HOLY SITE - the Temple Mount - by
militant Moslems. Such radical views enable the Moslem extremists
to continue to pose a threat to religious Jews and Christians who
merely hope to pray on the site of both Solomon's and Herod's
Temples, as well as the Holy Place where Jesus and His disciples
both taught and prayed.

     However historically or Biblically inaccurate Mr. Abington,
Jr.'s views are, I believe he is entitled to them. I do not
believe his personal views ought to interfere with his public
duty. It appears he has DELIBERATELY IGNORED every relevant FACT
that PROVED my arrest amounted to political and religious
PERSECUTION.

     As honestly reported in The Jerusalem Post article he
referred to, I wasn't interrogated for 6 1/2 hours by 6 different
SECRET SERVICEMEN about the TEMPLE MOUNT because of an "expired
visa"! I charged Ms. Leech with complicity in their unjust
actions against me for going along with the lie that my visa was
expired and for turning a blind eye to their undemocratic ways.
I'd given her a letter for Mr. Abington, Jr. to PROTEST MY
POLITICAL ABUSE AND RELIGIOUS MISTREATMENT. Since he never
bothered to respond, I'm not sure he even received it.

     It was difficult to deal with Ms. Leech from the start,
since she was quite antagonistic, contending that Israel wanted
to deport me because "you wanted to blow up the mosque." When I
protested that simply was NOT TRUE, she angrily ordered her
assistant, "Go see what he's charged with!" He came back and
said, "Visa violation." So she KNEW the real reason I was in jail
was for being a member of the Temple Mount Faithful, but later
went along with their LIE about my visa. I explained to
indifferent ears that I had the proper paper from the Ministry of
the Interior showing I'd applied for citizenship.

     Mr. Abington, Jr. falsely accused me of being proud about my
imprisonment. I'm not proud of it or ashamed, but I do believe in
making the most out of a bad situation and turning lemons into
lemonade. Why shouldn't I use my horrible experience to
underscore and further the JUST CAUSE of the Temple Mount
Faithful? How could anyone fail to understand this? In fact, a
Gallup poll in February found 58.5% of those Israelis polled
FAVORED the ideas of our Movement and legal campaign. After all,
it's the TEMPLE Mount, not the mosque mount!

     Is it too much for an INNOCENT AMERICAN to expect his
government to stand up for him? All I've requested from the
beginning is for the Consul General to STRONGLY PROTEST my unjust
imprisonment and deportation. They know what I say is the truth,
but because of their hostile views, they're playing deaf, dumb
and blind to the fact that I was a POLITICAL AND RELIGIOUS
PRISONER. Frankly, they're upset that I refused to go like a lamb
to slaughter, but roared like a lion instead - exposing Peres'
corruption and their complicity.

     I will continue to seek justice until it is found. The
Consul General must issue a formal protest on my behalf. Some
Americans are still willing to fight for our rights!

Sincerely,

David Ben-Ariel
1408 Kelsey Ave.
Toledo, Ohio 43605