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Dawabsha family, july 31 2015 burned by settlers |
9 sept 2015
By Khalid Amayreh in Occupied Palestine
Reham Dawabsheh, 27, has finally succumbed to the critical wounds she sustained when Jewish settlers torched her home at the village of Duma south of Nablus in the West Bank about five weeks ago.
Initially, her toddler, 18-month- old Ali, was burned to death. Two weeks ago, her husband Saad died of injuries sustained in the same incident. Reham, a school teacher, was laid to rest next to her husband and child at her home village Monday 7/9/2015.
Now, her only remaining child is fighting for his life. His overall conditions have been described as "stable and improving."
The nefarious crime was carried out by ostensibly Messianic Jewish settlers seeking to establish a pure Talmudic Jewish state, which the terrorists believe would expedite and accelerate the appearance of the Redeemer or Jewish Messiah who would usher the age of salvation for Jews and enable them to build a worldwide empire.
The Israeli government did denounce the crime. But many observers, Jewish and Arab alike, believe that condemnations of the crime by the Israeli government were largely disingenuous and only intended to contain the public relations damage generated by the hair-raising crime.
Binyamin Netanyahu himself vowed to catch and punish the perpetrators. However, as of today, more than five weeks after the incident at Duma, no terrorist has been apprehended.
It is widely believed that the problem is unlikely to be related to a dearth of intelligence information that would lead to the arrest of the killers, but rather has everything to do with the reluctance of the Israeli security authorities to pursue the criminal terrorists.
One Israeli commentator alluded to this suspicious reluctance, saying "a venomous snake doesn't bite its tail."
The virtual annihilation of the Dawabsheh family is perfectly compatible with strategic Zionist goals, namely getting rid of the Palestinians by all means necessary.
Israel has failed to achieve this goal as Palestinian demographic growth seems to have thwarted nearly all Zionist designs to empty Palestine of its native people.
Indeed, Israel is now openly admitting that there are already more Palestinians than Jews in mandatory Palestine, e.g. between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean.
Hence, it is highly likely that Israel is now trying to unleash its ultimate weapon against Palestinian existence, namely organized or unorganized terror.
Israeli officials believe that the Jewish state would be able to exonerate itself of this widespread terror, however genocidal it might be, by arguing that "civil wars happen and often lead to undesirable but inevitable results."
To conclude, the willful failure of the Zionist state to catch the genocidal terrorists who carried out a holocaust against the Dawabsheh family shows that Israel is only trying to deceive the world public opinion.
It also suggests that the attempted annihilation of the Dawabsheh family was by no means an isolated act of genocidal terror by some religious fanatics and that the next genocidal act is only a matter of time.
Reham Dawabsheh, 27, has finally succumbed to the critical wounds she sustained when Jewish settlers torched her home at the village of Duma south of Nablus in the West Bank about five weeks ago.
Initially, her toddler, 18-month- old Ali, was burned to death. Two weeks ago, her husband Saad died of injuries sustained in the same incident. Reham, a school teacher, was laid to rest next to her husband and child at her home village Monday 7/9/2015.
Now, her only remaining child is fighting for his life. His overall conditions have been described as "stable and improving."
The nefarious crime was carried out by ostensibly Messianic Jewish settlers seeking to establish a pure Talmudic Jewish state, which the terrorists believe would expedite and accelerate the appearance of the Redeemer or Jewish Messiah who would usher the age of salvation for Jews and enable them to build a worldwide empire.
The Israeli government did denounce the crime. But many observers, Jewish and Arab alike, believe that condemnations of the crime by the Israeli government were largely disingenuous and only intended to contain the public relations damage generated by the hair-raising crime.
Binyamin Netanyahu himself vowed to catch and punish the perpetrators. However, as of today, more than five weeks after the incident at Duma, no terrorist has been apprehended.
It is widely believed that the problem is unlikely to be related to a dearth of intelligence information that would lead to the arrest of the killers, but rather has everything to do with the reluctance of the Israeli security authorities to pursue the criminal terrorists.
One Israeli commentator alluded to this suspicious reluctance, saying "a venomous snake doesn't bite its tail."
The virtual annihilation of the Dawabsheh family is perfectly compatible with strategic Zionist goals, namely getting rid of the Palestinians by all means necessary.
Israel has failed to achieve this goal as Palestinian demographic growth seems to have thwarted nearly all Zionist designs to empty Palestine of its native people.
Indeed, Israel is now openly admitting that there are already more Palestinians than Jews in mandatory Palestine, e.g. between the River Jordan and the Mediterranean.
Hence, it is highly likely that Israel is now trying to unleash its ultimate weapon against Palestinian existence, namely organized or unorganized terror.
Israeli officials believe that the Jewish state would be able to exonerate itself of this widespread terror, however genocidal it might be, by arguing that "civil wars happen and often lead to undesirable but inevitable results."
To conclude, the willful failure of the Zionist state to catch the genocidal terrorists who carried out a holocaust against the Dawabsheh family shows that Israel is only trying to deceive the world public opinion.
It also suggests that the attempted annihilation of the Dawabsheh family was by no means an isolated act of genocidal terror by some religious fanatics and that the next genocidal act is only a matter of time.
Palestinian Students Visting The Burnt Dawasbha Family Home
Palestinian medical sources have reported that three residents were injured, on Tuesday evening, after Israeli extremists hurled stones on their car, while driving back home in Jenin after paying their respect at the mourning home of the Dawabsha family in Nablus.
The sources said the wounded Palestinians have been identified as Burhan 'Amsha al-Atrash, Taiseer Rashid al-Atrash, and Mohammad Hussein al-Atrash.
The three are family members of Mohammad Bassam al-Atrash, 26, who was killed by Israeli army fire, on the Za’tara roadblock south of Nablus, last month.
The wounded Palestinians were moved to the Jenin Governmental Hospital suffering moderate-but-stable wounds.
On Tuesday morning, a Palestinian teenager was attacked by a number of Israeli extremists, while heading to his work in West Jerusalem, and suffered various cuts and bruises.
On Monday at night, a group of Israeli extremists hurled stones on a Palestinian home in Deir Estia town, west of the central West Bank city of Salfit, causing property damage and anxiety attacks among the children.
Palestinian medical sources have reported that three residents were injured, on Tuesday evening, after Israeli extremists hurled stones on their car, while driving back home in Jenin after paying their respect at the mourning home of the Dawabsha family in Nablus.
The sources said the wounded Palestinians have been identified as Burhan 'Amsha al-Atrash, Taiseer Rashid al-Atrash, and Mohammad Hussein al-Atrash.
The three are family members of Mohammad Bassam al-Atrash, 26, who was killed by Israeli army fire, on the Za’tara roadblock south of Nablus, last month.
The wounded Palestinians were moved to the Jenin Governmental Hospital suffering moderate-but-stable wounds.
On Tuesday morning, a Palestinian teenager was attacked by a number of Israeli extremists, while heading to his work in West Jerusalem, and suffered various cuts and bruises.
On Monday at night, a group of Israeli extremists hurled stones on a Palestinian home in Deir Estia town, west of the central West Bank city of Salfit, causing property damage and anxiety attacks among the children.
8 sept 2015
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On an exposed hill outside of Qusra, a small Palestinian village in the West Bank, a dozen volunteers huddle around a fire, passing around hot coffee and tea. Their homes are a short walk away, but the men will not leave this hill until dawn. From here, they can see their village and its surroundings. It is the best place to spot an attack.
And the most recent attacks, carried out by suspected Jewish extremists, have come in the middle of the night. Armed with flashlights and sticks, men in small teams patrol the roads and the outskirts of town, looking for people or vehicles they don't recognize. If they spot something suspicious, they will alert the town through the mosque speakers. |
"We coordinate together when we see suspicious people walking around or a suspicious car driving in the village, so we can wake up the people," says Abdulhakim Wade, one of the men who volunteers as a lookout.
They have reason to worry. In late July, just a short drive away, suspected Jewish extremists firebombed a Palestinian home in Duma, killing an 18-month-old toddler. Both his parents later died from their injuries, and their 4-year-old son remains in critical condition at the hospital.
'Price tag' attacks
It was part of a series of attacks on Palestinians and Christians, often in response to what Jewish extremists view as events that go against Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
They are called "price tag" attacks, because the attackers spray paint the words "price tag" or "revenge" in Hebrew at the site of the attack.
Just days before the firebombing, the Israeli government bulldozed an illegal building in the Jewish settlement of Bet El, not far from Duma.
Yaakov Perry, a lawmaker and the former head of the Israel Security Agency, says it is difficult for the country's security establishment to stop "price tag" attacks.
He wants the government to treat "price tag" attacks as terrorism.
"Then the whole system -- gathering the intelligence, interrogating them, spotting them, and the punishment -- would be much more effective," he argues.
While the Israeli government has not defined "price tag" attacks as terror, it did crack down on Jewish extremists, many of whom are from West Bank settlements, after the firebombing. In an extraordinary step, authorities arrested and held several Jewish extremists without charge, a move regularly used against Palestinians, but very rarely against Israelis.
And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the attack on Duma an "act of terrorism."
The Revolt
One of those detainees is Meir Ettinger, the grandson of Meir Kahane, a Brooklyn rabbi who moved to Israel and founded the ultra-right-wing Kach party.
The party was banned as a terrorist organization after one of its followers, Baruch Goldstein, killed 29 Muslim worshippers and wounded 150 more in Hebron in 1994.
Ettinger, 23, wrote a manifesto called "The Revolt," in which he called for overthrowing the Israeli government and replacing it with Jewish law, called halakhah.
"The state of Israel has many weak points, topics which you walk on the edge of a tight rope in order not to cause a disturbance. What we will do is simply ignite all those barrels of explosives, all the questions and the contradictions between Judaism and democracy, between Judaism and secularism, and not be afraid of the results," wrote Ettinger.
Israel's Defense Minister, Moshe Ya'alon, signed an order holding Ettinger on administrative detention, without charge or trial, for six months.
'If he is a terrorist, indict him'
But bringing Ettinger and other Jewish extremists to trial has not been easy.
"The system has no evidence that Meir Ettinger preached to use violence for the revolt," says Itzhak Bam, an attorney representing one of the men detained with Ettinger. "And therefore, no law prohibits Meir Ettinger's activities."
Bam often works for Honenu, an Israeli organization that has provided legal aid to those accused of Jewish extremist attacks. Bam is currently representing Mordechai Meyer, an extremist held on administrative detention, like Ettinger.
"They are either unable or unwilling to prove all those arguments in the court. They say, 'Well, he is a terrorist.' OK, if he is a terrorist, indict him. They are unwilling or unable to indict. They don't want to argue the case in the open court. They don't want to allow him all the defenses Israeli citizens have in criminal procedures," Bam charges.
'Kingdom of Evil'
In June, Jewish extremists torched the Benedictine Church of Multiplication in Northern Israel, near the site where the New Testament says Jesus walked on water.
The Israel Security Agency charged a number of extremists over the arson, including Moshe Orbach. The ISA says Orbach, 24, wrote a manual called "Kingdom of Evil" in which he explained how to create a firebomb and the difference between setting a home on fire and setting a mosque on fire. "Bring a lot of petrol," he wrote.
But for authorities, stopping the attacks is a challenge. The extremists are loosely organized, according to Perry, and there may be no more than a few dozen of them. They work in small teams and are only vaguely connected, making it hard to gather intelligence about all of the extremists at once.
"You cannot define it as an organization," Perry says, "and that's one of the main difficulties of the Israeli defense system, the Israeli security system, to catch them."
Prime Minister Netanyahu has vowed to catch the people responsible for these latest attacks, but his promises ring hollow in villages like Qusra, where the villages say another attack is more likely than another arrest.
They have reason to worry. In late July, just a short drive away, suspected Jewish extremists firebombed a Palestinian home in Duma, killing an 18-month-old toddler. Both his parents later died from their injuries, and their 4-year-old son remains in critical condition at the hospital.
'Price tag' attacks
It was part of a series of attacks on Palestinians and Christians, often in response to what Jewish extremists view as events that go against Jewish settlers in the West Bank.
They are called "price tag" attacks, because the attackers spray paint the words "price tag" or "revenge" in Hebrew at the site of the attack.
Just days before the firebombing, the Israeli government bulldozed an illegal building in the Jewish settlement of Bet El, not far from Duma.
Yaakov Perry, a lawmaker and the former head of the Israel Security Agency, says it is difficult for the country's security establishment to stop "price tag" attacks.
He wants the government to treat "price tag" attacks as terrorism.
"Then the whole system -- gathering the intelligence, interrogating them, spotting them, and the punishment -- would be much more effective," he argues.
While the Israeli government has not defined "price tag" attacks as terror, it did crack down on Jewish extremists, many of whom are from West Bank settlements, after the firebombing. In an extraordinary step, authorities arrested and held several Jewish extremists without charge, a move regularly used against Palestinians, but very rarely against Israelis.
And Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the attack on Duma an "act of terrorism."
The Revolt
One of those detainees is Meir Ettinger, the grandson of Meir Kahane, a Brooklyn rabbi who moved to Israel and founded the ultra-right-wing Kach party.
The party was banned as a terrorist organization after one of its followers, Baruch Goldstein, killed 29 Muslim worshippers and wounded 150 more in Hebron in 1994.
Ettinger, 23, wrote a manifesto called "The Revolt," in which he called for overthrowing the Israeli government and replacing it with Jewish law, called halakhah.
"The state of Israel has many weak points, topics which you walk on the edge of a tight rope in order not to cause a disturbance. What we will do is simply ignite all those barrels of explosives, all the questions and the contradictions between Judaism and democracy, between Judaism and secularism, and not be afraid of the results," wrote Ettinger.
Israel's Defense Minister, Moshe Ya'alon, signed an order holding Ettinger on administrative detention, without charge or trial, for six months.
'If he is a terrorist, indict him'
But bringing Ettinger and other Jewish extremists to trial has not been easy.
"The system has no evidence that Meir Ettinger preached to use violence for the revolt," says Itzhak Bam, an attorney representing one of the men detained with Ettinger. "And therefore, no law prohibits Meir Ettinger's activities."
Bam often works for Honenu, an Israeli organization that has provided legal aid to those accused of Jewish extremist attacks. Bam is currently representing Mordechai Meyer, an extremist held on administrative detention, like Ettinger.
"They are either unable or unwilling to prove all those arguments in the court. They say, 'Well, he is a terrorist.' OK, if he is a terrorist, indict him. They are unwilling or unable to indict. They don't want to argue the case in the open court. They don't want to allow him all the defenses Israeli citizens have in criminal procedures," Bam charges.
'Kingdom of Evil'
In June, Jewish extremists torched the Benedictine Church of Multiplication in Northern Israel, near the site where the New Testament says Jesus walked on water.
The Israel Security Agency charged a number of extremists over the arson, including Moshe Orbach. The ISA says Orbach, 24, wrote a manual called "Kingdom of Evil" in which he explained how to create a firebomb and the difference between setting a home on fire and setting a mosque on fire. "Bring a lot of petrol," he wrote.
But for authorities, stopping the attacks is a challenge. The extremists are loosely organized, according to Perry, and there may be no more than a few dozen of them. They work in small teams and are only vaguely connected, making it hard to gather intelligence about all of the extremists at once.
"You cannot define it as an organization," Perry says, "and that's one of the main difficulties of the Israeli defense system, the Israeli security system, to catch them."
Prime Minister Netanyahu has vowed to catch the people responsible for these latest attacks, but his promises ring hollow in villages like Qusra, where the villages say another attack is more likely than another arrest.
Clashes erupted in occupied East Jerusalem, overnight Monday, following the death of Riham Dawabsha, the mother of an 18-month-old toddler who was burned alive in an arson attack carried out by Israeli settlers in July.
The East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Wadi al-Joz, Silwan and al-Tour witnessed clashes, as Palestinians also marked a year since the death of Muhammad Sunuqrut, a teenager who was killed by Israeli police in Wadi al-Joz last year.
Witnesses told Ma'an News Agency that Israeli forces deployed across Wadi al-Joz, around noon on Monday and during the night, reportedly raided Sunuqrut's family home.
Soldiers were said to have fired a stun grenade, while locals responded by throwing stones and fireworks.
Separately, in the neighborhood of Silwan, clashes erupted in the Beir Ayoub area. A local monitoring group, the Wadi Hilweh Information Center, said that Israeli forces fired stun grenades indiscriminately, injuring two Palestinians.
The information center added that Israeli forces violently assaulted three Palestinian children on their way home in Silwan. The children were identified as Ahmad Shwiki, 15, Muhammad Kaqour, 14, and Muhammad Awwad, 14.
Clashes also erupted in the al-Tour neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Palestinian youth reportedly directed fireworks at the illegal Jewish outpost of Beit Orot.
An Israeli police spokesperson could not be reached for comment.
Riham Dawabsha succumbed to her wounds late Sunday, more than five weeks after she suffered third degree burns across 90 percent of her body during a settler attack on her family home in the northern West Bank.
Her 18-month old son, Ali, was killed in the attack, while her husband, Saad, succumbed to his wounds a little over a week later. She is survived only by her four-year-old son, Ahmad, who remains in hospital.
Hamas led Palestinian factions in a call for action in the wake of her death, calling on military wings to "strongly respond to Israel's reckless attitude toward the Palestinians."
PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat also called for Israel to be "stopped and held accountable," warning that if it is not, "Riham will not be the last victim of Israeli terror."
Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem were also marking the death of Muhammad Sunuqrat last year. The Palestinian teen died on Sept. 7, 2014, a week after he was shot by Israeli police in Wadi al-Joz.
His father told Ma'an that his son was walking to the mosque when he was shot, saying it was an unprovoked attack.
The East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Wadi al-Joz, Silwan and al-Tour witnessed clashes, as Palestinians also marked a year since the death of Muhammad Sunuqrut, a teenager who was killed by Israeli police in Wadi al-Joz last year.
Witnesses told Ma'an News Agency that Israeli forces deployed across Wadi al-Joz, around noon on Monday and during the night, reportedly raided Sunuqrut's family home.
Soldiers were said to have fired a stun grenade, while locals responded by throwing stones and fireworks.
Separately, in the neighborhood of Silwan, clashes erupted in the Beir Ayoub area. A local monitoring group, the Wadi Hilweh Information Center, said that Israeli forces fired stun grenades indiscriminately, injuring two Palestinians.
The information center added that Israeli forces violently assaulted three Palestinian children on their way home in Silwan. The children were identified as Ahmad Shwiki, 15, Muhammad Kaqour, 14, and Muhammad Awwad, 14.
Clashes also erupted in the al-Tour neighborhood of East Jerusalem. Palestinian youth reportedly directed fireworks at the illegal Jewish outpost of Beit Orot.
An Israeli police spokesperson could not be reached for comment.
Riham Dawabsha succumbed to her wounds late Sunday, more than five weeks after she suffered third degree burns across 90 percent of her body during a settler attack on her family home in the northern West Bank.
Her 18-month old son, Ali, was killed in the attack, while her husband, Saad, succumbed to his wounds a little over a week later. She is survived only by her four-year-old son, Ahmad, who remains in hospital.
Hamas led Palestinian factions in a call for action in the wake of her death, calling on military wings to "strongly respond to Israel's reckless attitude toward the Palestinians."
PLO Secretary-General Saeb Erekat also called for Israel to be "stopped and held accountable," warning that if it is not, "Riham will not be the last victim of Israeli terror."
Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem were also marking the death of Muhammad Sunuqrat last year. The Palestinian teen died on Sept. 7, 2014, a week after he was shot by Israeli police in Wadi al-Joz.
His father told Ma'an that his son was walking to the mosque when he was shot, saying it was an unprovoked attack.
A day after her death in an Israeli hospital from wounds sustained when Israeli settlers firebombed her family home just over a month ago, Reham Dawabsha's funeral was held in her village south of Nablus, in the northern part of the West Bank on Monday.
Reham Dawabsha was 27, having just marked her birthday on September 5th, hours before she died.
Her baby, Ali Saad Dawabsha, was burnt to death during the Israeli terrorist attack by right-wing Israeli settlers on July 30th. Reham's husband, Saad, and 4-year old son, Ahmad, were also severely burned all over their bodies.
Her husband succumbed to his wounds on August 8th, the couple's wedding anniversary. Now 4-year old Ahmad is the only member of the family left alive. He remains in critical condition in an Israeli hospital, having suffered from third degree burns on 60% of his body.
Thousands of Palestinians gathered at the entrance to Douma village, south of the city of Nablus, on Monday, to mourn for Reham Dawabsha.
According to reporter Alison Deger from Mondoweiss, on Saturday, while receiving treatment at Tel Hashomer hospital, the largest medical facility in the Middle East, an infection in grafted skin spread throughout Riham’s body. Her organs began shutting down, according to her brother-in-law Nasser Dawabshe. Hospital staff then notified Riham’s family of her deteriorating condition, and assisted in arranging travel permits for the West Bank relatives into Israel.
But by the time they arrived, it was too late. Reham had succumbed to her wounds, joining her baby and husband in death.
At the funeral on Monday, many students from the school where Reham worked as a math teacher marched in the funeral procession, along with her fellow teachers and staff.
Numerous Palestinian public officials made statements, including legislators, cabinet members and the Governor of the Nablus District, Akram al-Rujoub.
In addition, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Mr. Nickolay Mladenov, issued a statement on the death of Reham Dawabsha, saying, “I am deeply saddened by the death of Reham Dawabsha on the eve of her 27th birthday...Reham is the third victim of the 31 July terrorist attack in Douma village which killed her husband and infant son, and wounded her four-year old son Ahmed.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and especially with little Ahmed, now orphaned due to this heinous act. I reiterate and strengthen my earlier call for justice. Acknowledging the wide condemnations issued at the time of the incident by Israeli and Palestinian leaders, I am nevertheless concerned by the lack of progress in identifying and prosecuting the perpetrators of this outrage.
"The tragedy of the Dawabsha family serves as a shocking example of the destructive nature of extremism. It is incumbent upon political, religious and community leaders to speak out and to act decisively against those who incite and perpetrate hatred on all sides."
Israeli authorities say they have been "unable to solve" the murder of the three members of the Dawabsha family by right-wing Israeli extremists, despite the fact that Palestinian residents of the village saw four men run from the house after setting it on fire, and returning to the nearby illegal Israeli settlement.
No one has been charged with the crime - several right-wing extremist leaders were brought in for questioning, but were released soon after. None were from the nearby illegal Israeli settlement where the eyewitnesses saw the men run to after perpetrating the attack.
Reham Dawabsha was 27, having just marked her birthday on September 5th, hours before she died.
Her baby, Ali Saad Dawabsha, was burnt to death during the Israeli terrorist attack by right-wing Israeli settlers on July 30th. Reham's husband, Saad, and 4-year old son, Ahmad, were also severely burned all over their bodies.
Her husband succumbed to his wounds on August 8th, the couple's wedding anniversary. Now 4-year old Ahmad is the only member of the family left alive. He remains in critical condition in an Israeli hospital, having suffered from third degree burns on 60% of his body.
Thousands of Palestinians gathered at the entrance to Douma village, south of the city of Nablus, on Monday, to mourn for Reham Dawabsha.
According to reporter Alison Deger from Mondoweiss, on Saturday, while receiving treatment at Tel Hashomer hospital, the largest medical facility in the Middle East, an infection in grafted skin spread throughout Riham’s body. Her organs began shutting down, according to her brother-in-law Nasser Dawabshe. Hospital staff then notified Riham’s family of her deteriorating condition, and assisted in arranging travel permits for the West Bank relatives into Israel.
But by the time they arrived, it was too late. Reham had succumbed to her wounds, joining her baby and husband in death.
At the funeral on Monday, many students from the school where Reham worked as a math teacher marched in the funeral procession, along with her fellow teachers and staff.
Numerous Palestinian public officials made statements, including legislators, cabinet members and the Governor of the Nablus District, Akram al-Rujoub.
In addition, the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Mr. Nickolay Mladenov, issued a statement on the death of Reham Dawabsha, saying, “I am deeply saddened by the death of Reham Dawabsha on the eve of her 27th birthday...Reham is the third victim of the 31 July terrorist attack in Douma village which killed her husband and infant son, and wounded her four-year old son Ahmed.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and especially with little Ahmed, now orphaned due to this heinous act. I reiterate and strengthen my earlier call for justice. Acknowledging the wide condemnations issued at the time of the incident by Israeli and Palestinian leaders, I am nevertheless concerned by the lack of progress in identifying and prosecuting the perpetrators of this outrage.
"The tragedy of the Dawabsha family serves as a shocking example of the destructive nature of extremism. It is incumbent upon political, religious and community leaders to speak out and to act decisively against those who incite and perpetrate hatred on all sides."
Israeli authorities say they have been "unable to solve" the murder of the three members of the Dawabsha family by right-wing Israeli extremists, despite the fact that Palestinian residents of the village saw four men run from the house after setting it on fire, and returning to the nearby illegal Israeli settlement.
No one has been charged with the crime - several right-wing extremist leaders were brought in for questioning, but were released soon after. None were from the nearby illegal Israeli settlement where the eyewitnesses saw the men run to after perpetrating the attack.
By Hossam Shaker
Ali Dawabsheh is a name that will go down in history. He is the Palestinian child who was burned to death by an extremist Israeli gang in an appalling crime committed on 31 July, 2015 in the village of Duma, located near Nablus in the West Bank.
Behind this heinous attack are Israeli gangs that target the residents of Palestinian villages under the pretexts of "paying the price" for anti-settlement action taken by the Israeli government. Over the last few years, these gangs committed dozens of sabotage attacks, arson attacks, and terrorising campaigns, in addition to desecrating mosques, churches, and graves. There is no doubt that setting fire to the home of a Palestinian family while they slept is a very dangerous development in this criminal approach; a development that cost baby Ali his life and very nearly that of his parents and older brother. This crime was committed exactly a year after the horrendous act committed against the child Mohammed Abu Khdeir, who was burned alive by an extremist Israeli gang in a forest in Jerusalem. This suggests that a new approach is now being taken by the armed Israeli settler gangs.
The international community condemned both incidents, but a new development is the fact that Benjamin Netanyahu's government described the burning of Ali Dawabsheh as a "terrorist act". Although this is an interesting discursive development, it raises deep questions regarding the Israeli government's moral commitment to the safety of children and babies.
We agree with the Israeli government that burning to death a Palestinian baby (or indeed any baby) in this manner is a "terrorist act", but we would also suggest that the same description is used to label a similar act in which dozens of babies and children were burned but that differed slightly in terms of the nature of the act and the identity of the murderers. Modern weapons and ammunition were used instead of matchsticks, and the act was committed as a mass burning in the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2014 on the orders of senior officials in the Israeli army rather than the reckless act of individual perpetrators.
Let us imagine the message that comes to mind from Israel's scolding of those who committed this latest crime: "Do not burn babies and children; this is not your job. It is the job of our army and forces who will carry out their duty relentlessly. It is the duty of our institutions who uses tonnes of explosives rather than primitive matchsticks."
This is almost what the official Israeli logic looks like. It is as if the problem with these reckless gangs is that they have overstepped the boundaries set for them – simply physically abusing Palestinians and cutting down their trees. What these gangs did this time was act similarly to the Israeli army when it killed Palestinian children. Perhaps they should have joined the army in order to execute the task with the required military precision under the control and instruction of senior officials.
Unlike its position after the crime in Duma, the Israeli government does not usually condemn the attacks carried out by settler groups on a daily basis in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. This is due to the fact that they are implicitly allowed to carry out "calculated" attacks on the Palestinian villages surrounding the settlements. This allows them to torture the residents of these villages in broad daylight and before the eyes of the Israeli army, including setting fire to fields and fruit trees and seizing more agricultural land in order to expand their settlements.
However, the reckless individuals in the "price tag" gangs and other similar gangs went too far in the cold-blooded murder of baby Ali. This greatly affects Israel's image in the world, a world that cannot imagine Israel burning a child to death.
Documents have confirmed that the Israeli military attack resulted in burning a huge number of Palestinian children until their bodies were charred. There are numerous photos documenting these truly shocking cases. The difference between the two cases is that the Israeli army possesses a specialised media and public relations team that speaks to the world in nearly 28 languages and has an amazing ability to justify all of its actions. This privilege is not afforded to the "price tag" gangs who commit their crimes without caring about the world's view of these atrocities.
Israel's official condemnation of the murder of Ali Dawabsheh is empty and meaningless as long as the killing of other Palestinian children by the Israeli army is justified. It is an attempt to eschew responsibility and place the blame on a number of individuals rather than on the state that sets the script for such violence in the first place. This condemnation does not include the Israeli government's support for the armed settlers and their extremist groups that move about the West Bank under the protection of the Israeli army and storm Palestinian villages, carrying out acts of intimidation and destruction before the eyes of the Israeli soldiers. This has continued even after the heinous crime against Ali was committed in Duma.
One cannot deny the facts. Such facts include that the party held responsible for these acts should be the successive Israeli governments, including its authorities, army, and intelligence services. This is due to the fact that they created the settlement situation, supported and armed the extremist settlers, and allowed them to attack Palestinian villages and homes as well as terrorise Palestinian families and children.
Can anyone believe that the Israeli institutions, army, and intelligence services are unable to prosecute those committing these attacks, which have continued to escalate over the past few years? The truth of the matter is that official Israeli restrictions and the army and intelligence persecutions are focused almost exclusively on Palestinians. Meanwhile, the Israeli institutions are preoccupied with drafting new laws that would impose harsher punishments on those throwing stones at Israeli military targets. This is one of the faces of Apartheid.
The truth behind all that is happening is that the emerging violent and extremist Israeli gangs are a natural product of the culture of occupation, racial superiority, settlement policies, and the disregard for Palestinian rights – and even the denial of the existence of the Palestinian people – that pervades in Israel. The "price tag" crimes have increased in light of the current Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, which is a more extreme than the previous government. Some of this government's officials have never hesitated to glorify blind violence against the Palestinians.
Those committing these crimes grew up in the settlement environment and they absorbed the ideology of racism and hatred in their schools, curriculums, and Israeli media outlets. They learned how to handle weapons and shoot people without a guilty conscience. This suggests that the Israeli authorities protect and support these gangs that continue to commit these attacks and threaten the security of Palestinian citizens in their own villages and neighbourhoods
The catastrophe of Ali's death did not just fall from the sky unbidden. It highlighted the reality of the Israeli occupation that voices incitement and hatred against Palestinians as well as dehumanises them and promotes "death to Arabs".
Ali Dawabsheh is a name that will go down in history. He is the Palestinian child who was burned to death by an extremist Israeli gang in an appalling crime committed on 31 July, 2015 in the village of Duma, located near Nablus in the West Bank.
Behind this heinous attack are Israeli gangs that target the residents of Palestinian villages under the pretexts of "paying the price" for anti-settlement action taken by the Israeli government. Over the last few years, these gangs committed dozens of sabotage attacks, arson attacks, and terrorising campaigns, in addition to desecrating mosques, churches, and graves. There is no doubt that setting fire to the home of a Palestinian family while they slept is a very dangerous development in this criminal approach; a development that cost baby Ali his life and very nearly that of his parents and older brother. This crime was committed exactly a year after the horrendous act committed against the child Mohammed Abu Khdeir, who was burned alive by an extremist Israeli gang in a forest in Jerusalem. This suggests that a new approach is now being taken by the armed Israeli settler gangs.
The international community condemned both incidents, but a new development is the fact that Benjamin Netanyahu's government described the burning of Ali Dawabsheh as a "terrorist act". Although this is an interesting discursive development, it raises deep questions regarding the Israeli government's moral commitment to the safety of children and babies.
We agree with the Israeli government that burning to death a Palestinian baby (or indeed any baby) in this manner is a "terrorist act", but we would also suggest that the same description is used to label a similar act in which dozens of babies and children were burned but that differed slightly in terms of the nature of the act and the identity of the murderers. Modern weapons and ammunition were used instead of matchsticks, and the act was committed as a mass burning in the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2014 on the orders of senior officials in the Israeli army rather than the reckless act of individual perpetrators.
Let us imagine the message that comes to mind from Israel's scolding of those who committed this latest crime: "Do not burn babies and children; this is not your job. It is the job of our army and forces who will carry out their duty relentlessly. It is the duty of our institutions who uses tonnes of explosives rather than primitive matchsticks."
This is almost what the official Israeli logic looks like. It is as if the problem with these reckless gangs is that they have overstepped the boundaries set for them – simply physically abusing Palestinians and cutting down their trees. What these gangs did this time was act similarly to the Israeli army when it killed Palestinian children. Perhaps they should have joined the army in order to execute the task with the required military precision under the control and instruction of senior officials.
Unlike its position after the crime in Duma, the Israeli government does not usually condemn the attacks carried out by settler groups on a daily basis in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. This is due to the fact that they are implicitly allowed to carry out "calculated" attacks on the Palestinian villages surrounding the settlements. This allows them to torture the residents of these villages in broad daylight and before the eyes of the Israeli army, including setting fire to fields and fruit trees and seizing more agricultural land in order to expand their settlements.
However, the reckless individuals in the "price tag" gangs and other similar gangs went too far in the cold-blooded murder of baby Ali. This greatly affects Israel's image in the world, a world that cannot imagine Israel burning a child to death.
Documents have confirmed that the Israeli military attack resulted in burning a huge number of Palestinian children until their bodies were charred. There are numerous photos documenting these truly shocking cases. The difference between the two cases is that the Israeli army possesses a specialised media and public relations team that speaks to the world in nearly 28 languages and has an amazing ability to justify all of its actions. This privilege is not afforded to the "price tag" gangs who commit their crimes without caring about the world's view of these atrocities.
Israel's official condemnation of the murder of Ali Dawabsheh is empty and meaningless as long as the killing of other Palestinian children by the Israeli army is justified. It is an attempt to eschew responsibility and place the blame on a number of individuals rather than on the state that sets the script for such violence in the first place. This condemnation does not include the Israeli government's support for the armed settlers and their extremist groups that move about the West Bank under the protection of the Israeli army and storm Palestinian villages, carrying out acts of intimidation and destruction before the eyes of the Israeli soldiers. This has continued even after the heinous crime against Ali was committed in Duma.
One cannot deny the facts. Such facts include that the party held responsible for these acts should be the successive Israeli governments, including its authorities, army, and intelligence services. This is due to the fact that they created the settlement situation, supported and armed the extremist settlers, and allowed them to attack Palestinian villages and homes as well as terrorise Palestinian families and children.
Can anyone believe that the Israeli institutions, army, and intelligence services are unable to prosecute those committing these attacks, which have continued to escalate over the past few years? The truth of the matter is that official Israeli restrictions and the army and intelligence persecutions are focused almost exclusively on Palestinians. Meanwhile, the Israeli institutions are preoccupied with drafting new laws that would impose harsher punishments on those throwing stones at Israeli military targets. This is one of the faces of Apartheid.
The truth behind all that is happening is that the emerging violent and extremist Israeli gangs are a natural product of the culture of occupation, racial superiority, settlement policies, and the disregard for Palestinian rights – and even the denial of the existence of the Palestinian people – that pervades in Israel. The "price tag" crimes have increased in light of the current Israeli government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu, which is a more extreme than the previous government. Some of this government's officials have never hesitated to glorify blind violence against the Palestinians.
Those committing these crimes grew up in the settlement environment and they absorbed the ideology of racism and hatred in their schools, curriculums, and Israeli media outlets. They learned how to handle weapons and shoot people without a guilty conscience. This suggests that the Israeli authorities protect and support these gangs that continue to commit these attacks and threaten the security of Palestinian citizens in their own villages and neighbourhoods
The catastrophe of Ali's death did not just fall from the sky unbidden. It highlighted the reality of the Israeli occupation that voices incitement and hatred against Palestinians as well as dehumanises them and promotes "death to Arabs".
