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Dawabsha family, july 31 2015 burned by settlers |
3 dec 2015
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The Palestinian Health Ministry has confirmed that the Tel HaShomer Israeli Hospital sent them a bill, demanding the Palestinians to pay the expenses of the treatment of Ahmad Dawabsha, the only survivor of his family after Israeli terrorists firebombed their home five months ago, killing his mother, father and his 18-month-old brother.
The Ministry denied statements by the head of the Israeli “Civil Administration Office” in the occupied West Bank, Yuav Mordechai, who claimed that Israel would be paying all the medical expenses. On October 25, the Tal HaShomer Hospital Administration demanded the Palestinian Health Ministry pay the expenses, which initially amounted to 259.643 New Israeli Shekels (NIS), in addition to the costs of a special mask for the child; the Palestinian Authority paid for the mask. |
On October 6, the hospital demanded a payment of 216.754 NIS, for the treatment costs of the child’s mother, Reham Dawabsha, who died on August 7, due to severe burns covering 90% of her body.
The Health Ministry said that it is ready to provide medical treatment to Ahmad, in the best hospitals in the world, and that it is closely following his treatment, based on direct orders from President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Dr. Rami Hamdallah.
The surviving child has undergone many surgeries, and is still receiving treatment, always accompanied by his grandfather, and is reportedly starting to remember the horrific night, while constantly asking about his mother and father, and “why haven’t they come to see him yet.”
Ahmad still needs extensive treatment and rehabilitation from his burns, and the trauma he suffered as a result of the terrorist attack.
Palestinians have still been waiting for action to be taken against the individuals responsible for the attack. A number of Jewish extremists were detained, but, nearly all of them were later released and none were convicted.
Israeli news site Ynet, on Sunday, reported that Israel had made a breakthrough in "one of the most serious acts of Jewish terrorism to take place in recent years," but the details remained under gag order and the site could not confirm that it was referring to the Douma attack.
The Health Ministry said that it is ready to provide medical treatment to Ahmad, in the best hospitals in the world, and that it is closely following his treatment, based on direct orders from President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Dr. Rami Hamdallah.
The surviving child has undergone many surgeries, and is still receiving treatment, always accompanied by his grandfather, and is reportedly starting to remember the horrific night, while constantly asking about his mother and father, and “why haven’t they come to see him yet.”
Ahmad still needs extensive treatment and rehabilitation from his burns, and the trauma he suffered as a result of the terrorist attack.
Palestinians have still been waiting for action to be taken against the individuals responsible for the attack. A number of Jewish extremists were detained, but, nearly all of them were later released and none were convicted.
Israeli news site Ynet, on Sunday, reported that Israel had made a breakthrough in "one of the most serious acts of Jewish terrorism to take place in recent years," but the details remained under gag order and the site could not confirm that it was referring to the Douma attack.
1 dec 2015
Not much can be said regarding the major development in the recent case involving Jewish terrorism, but the evidence gathered was sufficient to issue a gag order over details of the case.
A serious development has been reported the large scale investigation of one of the most serious acts of Jewish terrorism to take place in recent years.
There are only two things that can be said about the development: It has led the Shin Bet, security establishment, and police to an optimistic outlook regarding solving the crime, and the likelihood of submitting an indictment to prosecute those responsible.
The second is that police have filed for and received a gag order to cover all details of the investigation. As such there is not much that can be said of the development at this point.
A relative of the family hurt by the Jewish terror acts told Ynet he received no updates from Israeli authorities about a development in the investigation.
"When it's Jewish terrorists, the defense establishment works slowly," the relative said angrily. "But when it's Palestinian terrorists, they capture them within two days and bring them to justice. I want to believe the defense establishment brings to justice the criminals who ruined my life and that of my family's."
'I don't cooperate with those fighting against Jews'
The development is even more significant due to the fact that few acts of Jewish terrorism are ever solved, in light of increased efforts by the security establishment to attain sufficient evidence to built indictments against individuals for attacks against Palestinians.
There is difficulty in bringing Jewish perpetrators of terror attacks against Palestinians to justice, as attested to by comments made by a Jewish teenager who was arrested in the past on suspicion of involvement in such an attack.
"I don't cooperate with people who fight against the Jewish people and the land of Israel, people who are the representatives of the foreign rule in our country," the teenager said at the time.
He was arrested with six others on suspicion they set fire to Arab homes in the West Bank. "During questioning, the interrogator tried to trick me by telling me my friends had already talked. But I didn't cooperate with the interrogators," he said.
"We are slaves only to God. No one can scare us - not the Shin Bet, nor any other institution in Israel. We'll continue to work for the formation of a Jewish state and the construction of the Temple," the teenage, who is now 17, said at the time.
Attorney Ariel Atari, who represents Jewish terror suspects, expressed doubt any indictments will come out of this development, saying police in the past claimed to have sufficient evidence in cases, but it later transpired that was not the case.
Atari said he advises his clients "to either remain silent during questioning, or tell the truth, based on the case. I explain to them that insisting on their rights is essential to help the truth come to light and to prevent situations in which suspects give false versions of incidents that never happened."
Meanwhile, over 4,000 Israelis signed a petition calling to prosecute the murderers of the Dawabsheh family.
"Defense Minister Ya'alon said several times that the defense establishment knows the identity of the murderers - but for different reasons they were not prosecuted," the petition says. "We cannot stand by while the killers of an Arab family live among us and are not made to face justice. This is a discrimination between one kind of blood and another, it is a message that the killing of innocent Arabs is allowed."
Channel 10: Killers of Dawabsheh family might have been detained
Israel's channel 10 said that a new dramatic development came to the surface regarding the investigations on the deadly arson attack by Jewish settlers on a Palestinian family in a West Bank village a few months ago.
According to the channel, the Israeli security apparatuses recently voiced optimism about unraveling the mastery behind the murder of al-Dawabsheh family in cooperation with the army and the attorney general.
The channel pointed to the possibility that the killers of al-Dawabsheh family have been arrested, but there is still a news blackout imposed by the security authorities on the progress of investigations.
However, Palestinian activists believe that the talk about capturing the killers of the Palestinian family was intended to absorb the anger of the Palestinian street after an Israeli court on Monday exonerated the mastermind behind the murder of 16-year-old Mohamed Abu Khudair, who was burned alive by settlers about one and a half years ago in Jerusalem.
In July 2015, a gang of extremist Jewish settlers set fire to a Palestinian house in Duma village near Nablus, which led to the immediate death of an 18-month-old baby from al-Dawabsheh family and serious injuries to his parents and four-year-old brother.
Several days later, his parents, Saad and Reham al-Dawabsheh, were proclaimed dead one after the other in Israeli hospitals.
A serious development has been reported the large scale investigation of one of the most serious acts of Jewish terrorism to take place in recent years.
There are only two things that can be said about the development: It has led the Shin Bet, security establishment, and police to an optimistic outlook regarding solving the crime, and the likelihood of submitting an indictment to prosecute those responsible.
The second is that police have filed for and received a gag order to cover all details of the investigation. As such there is not much that can be said of the development at this point.
A relative of the family hurt by the Jewish terror acts told Ynet he received no updates from Israeli authorities about a development in the investigation.
"When it's Jewish terrorists, the defense establishment works slowly," the relative said angrily. "But when it's Palestinian terrorists, they capture them within two days and bring them to justice. I want to believe the defense establishment brings to justice the criminals who ruined my life and that of my family's."
'I don't cooperate with those fighting against Jews'
The development is even more significant due to the fact that few acts of Jewish terrorism are ever solved, in light of increased efforts by the security establishment to attain sufficient evidence to built indictments against individuals for attacks against Palestinians.
There is difficulty in bringing Jewish perpetrators of terror attacks against Palestinians to justice, as attested to by comments made by a Jewish teenager who was arrested in the past on suspicion of involvement in such an attack.
"I don't cooperate with people who fight against the Jewish people and the land of Israel, people who are the representatives of the foreign rule in our country," the teenager said at the time.
He was arrested with six others on suspicion they set fire to Arab homes in the West Bank. "During questioning, the interrogator tried to trick me by telling me my friends had already talked. But I didn't cooperate with the interrogators," he said.
"We are slaves only to God. No one can scare us - not the Shin Bet, nor any other institution in Israel. We'll continue to work for the formation of a Jewish state and the construction of the Temple," the teenage, who is now 17, said at the time.
Attorney Ariel Atari, who represents Jewish terror suspects, expressed doubt any indictments will come out of this development, saying police in the past claimed to have sufficient evidence in cases, but it later transpired that was not the case.
Atari said he advises his clients "to either remain silent during questioning, or tell the truth, based on the case. I explain to them that insisting on their rights is essential to help the truth come to light and to prevent situations in which suspects give false versions of incidents that never happened."
Meanwhile, over 4,000 Israelis signed a petition calling to prosecute the murderers of the Dawabsheh family.
"Defense Minister Ya'alon said several times that the defense establishment knows the identity of the murderers - but for different reasons they were not prosecuted," the petition says. "We cannot stand by while the killers of an Arab family live among us and are not made to face justice. This is a discrimination between one kind of blood and another, it is a message that the killing of innocent Arabs is allowed."
Channel 10: Killers of Dawabsheh family might have been detained
Israel's channel 10 said that a new dramatic development came to the surface regarding the investigations on the deadly arson attack by Jewish settlers on a Palestinian family in a West Bank village a few months ago.
According to the channel, the Israeli security apparatuses recently voiced optimism about unraveling the mastery behind the murder of al-Dawabsheh family in cooperation with the army and the attorney general.
The channel pointed to the possibility that the killers of al-Dawabsheh family have been arrested, but there is still a news blackout imposed by the security authorities on the progress of investigations.
However, Palestinian activists believe that the talk about capturing the killers of the Palestinian family was intended to absorb the anger of the Palestinian street after an Israeli court on Monday exonerated the mastermind behind the murder of 16-year-old Mohamed Abu Khudair, who was burned alive by settlers about one and a half years ago in Jerusalem.
In July 2015, a gang of extremist Jewish settlers set fire to a Palestinian house in Duma village near Nablus, which led to the immediate death of an 18-month-old baby from al-Dawabsheh family and serious injuries to his parents and four-year-old brother.
Several days later, his parents, Saad and Reham al-Dawabsheh, were proclaimed dead one after the other in Israeli hospitals.
10 nov 2015
After 101 days, Israeli law-enforcement officials still don’t have enough evidence to indict the Israeli extremists who firebombed a Palestinian home, killing three members of the same family, Israeli war minister Moshe Ya’alon claimed Monday.
Last month, Ya’alon announced the Shin Bet security service and Israel Police knew which right-wing extremist group carried out the July attack on the Dawabsha family in the village of Duma, but didn’t have enough evidence about the identities of the perpetrators to convict.
The arson attack killed 18-month-old Ali Dawabsha and mortally injured his parents, who died in the following weeks.
The deaths prompted outrage among the Palestinians and across the international community. Ali’s four-year-old brother survived the attack, which was widely attributed to Israeli extremists.
Critics have taken Israeli officials to task for failing to produce an indictment in the case thus far, pointing to it as proof of a double standard.
Ya’alon claimed the military has resorted to jailing suspects without charge — under a practice known as administrative detention — in lieu of solid evidence against them.
“Once we discovered which group was responsible for the incident, and we realized that we were unable to bring them to justice, we opted for house arrests and administrative detentions,” he alleged, using Israel’s technical term for imprisonments without trial or formal charges.
“I hope that soon we will solve [the case] completely,” Ya’alon added.
“The group responsible is made up of Jewish fanatics who want a religious kingdom and regime based on Jewish law,” Ya’alon further told reporters.
Last month, Ya’alon announced the Shin Bet security service and Israel Police knew which right-wing extremist group carried out the July attack on the Dawabsha family in the village of Duma, but didn’t have enough evidence about the identities of the perpetrators to convict.
The arson attack killed 18-month-old Ali Dawabsha and mortally injured his parents, who died in the following weeks.
The deaths prompted outrage among the Palestinians and across the international community. Ali’s four-year-old brother survived the attack, which was widely attributed to Israeli extremists.
Critics have taken Israeli officials to task for failing to produce an indictment in the case thus far, pointing to it as proof of a double standard.
Ya’alon claimed the military has resorted to jailing suspects without charge — under a practice known as administrative detention — in lieu of solid evidence against them.
“Once we discovered which group was responsible for the incident, and we realized that we were unable to bring them to justice, we opted for house arrests and administrative detentions,” he alleged, using Israel’s technical term for imprisonments without trial or formal charges.
“I hope that soon we will solve [the case] completely,” Ya’alon added.
“The group responsible is made up of Jewish fanatics who want a religious kingdom and regime based on Jewish law,” Ya’alon further told reporters.
14 sept 2015
By Jamal Kanj
Five years ago at a stop during my book signing tour in San Diego, I met an adorable toddler named Farah.
She was being treated in the US for severe burns she received at the age of two.
Farah was one of thousands of civilians who were either injured or killed when Israel rained white phosphorus bombs on Gaza in 2008-2009.
The phosphorus that burned through Farah’s angelic flesh was American made and paid for by US taxpayers. Ironically, so was Farah’s treatment.
Last Sunday, mother of two Reham Dewabsha died from burn injuries.
On July 31, Reham, her 18-month-old son Ali, his four-year-old brother Ahmed and their father cuddled on a floor mattress in their small room.
Outside, the stars were glistering in the clear sky of a warm summer night in the village of Duma, Palestine.
Ahmed complained it was hot. Saad, his 32-year-old father, decided to open the window to let in the cool breeze from the fields of their peaceful village.
Ali spread his tiny legs and was first to fall asleep, followed by Ahmed.
Reham kissed her babies goodnight and covered them to keep the mosquitoes away before she and Saad dozed after a hard day working on the farm.
In the middle of that Friday night, Reham was startled from her sleep by Ali’s loud wail. Her vision was blinded by the bright blaze engulfing her baby’s small body. She jumped over Ahmed to reach Ali when another firebomb landed between them, setting Reham, Saad and Ahmed on fire.
Ali, the 18-month-old baby, was burned to death. Saad succumbed to his fate a week later. Reham joined them after more than a month in coma. Four-year-old Ahmed is still fighting for his life.
The perpetrators celebrated their feat by spraying their signature and symbol of pride, the Star of David, on nearby walls. Israeli police arrested known extremists from a nearby illegal Jewish-only colony. Most were released later and no-one was charged.
This is in a country that brags about its superior security service.
Had this been the plight of an illegal Jewish settler family, no doubt their faces would have been paraded on TV screens and newspapers.
Their names would be engraved on our brains and we would be reminded of the Holocaust. But in this case, I dare say, most haven’t heard of Reham or her family.
Meanwhile, Israeli-subsidised Jewish settler Moshe Orbach wrote “Kingdom of Evil”, an instruction manual on how to set fire to mosques, churches and Palestinian homes.
I always wondered about Jewish terrorists’ fascination with burning.
Last year, they kidnapped Mohamed Abu Khdeir, a 16-year-old Palestinian teenager from the streets of Jerusalem, and took him to a nearby forest area. Mohamed was forced to swallow petrol before they burned him alive.
This is not just an Israeli fringe.
Since July, the Israeli army and its terrorist settlers murdered more than 10 Palestinians, ordered the building of thousands of Jewish-only homes in illegal colonies and marked 14,000 Palestinian homes for demolishing.
Matan Vilnai, a high-level Israeli government official once threatened Palestinians in Gaza with “shoah”, a Hebrew term equivalent to Holocaust.
Former Israeli Sephardic Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu pontificated that Judaism doesn’t prohibit “the indiscriminate killing of civilians”.
The world can’t continue to turn a blind eye to Israel’s ethnic cleansing and its direct responsibility for crimes committed by its subsidised terrorist settler population.
While Holocaust deniers are jailed in Europe, in Israel Jewish proponents of “new shoah” – and those who burned Ali, Reham, Saad and Ahmed – roam free.
Incinerating humans whether in a gas chamber, military attack, by injecting petrol into the mouth or throwing a torch through a window all have one thing in common: burning is how racists manifest hate.
– Jamal Kanj writes weekly newspaper column and publishes on several websites on Arab world issues. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
Five years ago at a stop during my book signing tour in San Diego, I met an adorable toddler named Farah.
She was being treated in the US for severe burns she received at the age of two.
Farah was one of thousands of civilians who were either injured or killed when Israel rained white phosphorus bombs on Gaza in 2008-2009.
The phosphorus that burned through Farah’s angelic flesh was American made and paid for by US taxpayers. Ironically, so was Farah’s treatment.
Last Sunday, mother of two Reham Dewabsha died from burn injuries.
On July 31, Reham, her 18-month-old son Ali, his four-year-old brother Ahmed and their father cuddled on a floor mattress in their small room.
Outside, the stars were glistering in the clear sky of a warm summer night in the village of Duma, Palestine.
Ahmed complained it was hot. Saad, his 32-year-old father, decided to open the window to let in the cool breeze from the fields of their peaceful village.
Ali spread his tiny legs and was first to fall asleep, followed by Ahmed.
Reham kissed her babies goodnight and covered them to keep the mosquitoes away before she and Saad dozed after a hard day working on the farm.
In the middle of that Friday night, Reham was startled from her sleep by Ali’s loud wail. Her vision was blinded by the bright blaze engulfing her baby’s small body. She jumped over Ahmed to reach Ali when another firebomb landed between them, setting Reham, Saad and Ahmed on fire.
Ali, the 18-month-old baby, was burned to death. Saad succumbed to his fate a week later. Reham joined them after more than a month in coma. Four-year-old Ahmed is still fighting for his life.
The perpetrators celebrated their feat by spraying their signature and symbol of pride, the Star of David, on nearby walls. Israeli police arrested known extremists from a nearby illegal Jewish-only colony. Most were released later and no-one was charged.
This is in a country that brags about its superior security service.
Had this been the plight of an illegal Jewish settler family, no doubt their faces would have been paraded on TV screens and newspapers.
Their names would be engraved on our brains and we would be reminded of the Holocaust. But in this case, I dare say, most haven’t heard of Reham or her family.
Meanwhile, Israeli-subsidised Jewish settler Moshe Orbach wrote “Kingdom of Evil”, an instruction manual on how to set fire to mosques, churches and Palestinian homes.
I always wondered about Jewish terrorists’ fascination with burning.
Last year, they kidnapped Mohamed Abu Khdeir, a 16-year-old Palestinian teenager from the streets of Jerusalem, and took him to a nearby forest area. Mohamed was forced to swallow petrol before they burned him alive.
This is not just an Israeli fringe.
Since July, the Israeli army and its terrorist settlers murdered more than 10 Palestinians, ordered the building of thousands of Jewish-only homes in illegal colonies and marked 14,000 Palestinian homes for demolishing.
Matan Vilnai, a high-level Israeli government official once threatened Palestinians in Gaza with “shoah”, a Hebrew term equivalent to Holocaust.
Former Israeli Sephardic Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu pontificated that Judaism doesn’t prohibit “the indiscriminate killing of civilians”.
The world can’t continue to turn a blind eye to Israel’s ethnic cleansing and its direct responsibility for crimes committed by its subsidised terrorist settler population.
While Holocaust deniers are jailed in Europe, in Israel Jewish proponents of “new shoah” – and those who burned Ali, Reham, Saad and Ahmed – roam free.
Incinerating humans whether in a gas chamber, military attack, by injecting petrol into the mouth or throwing a torch through a window all have one thing in common: burning is how racists manifest hate.
– Jamal Kanj writes weekly newspaper column and publishes on several websites on Arab world issues. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
12 sept 2015
By Khalid Amayreh in Occupied Jerusalem
Israeli “Defense” Minister Moshe Yaalon has admitted that his country's domestic security apparatus knows the identities and whereabouts of the Jewish terrorists who a few weeks ago burned a Palestinian family to death at a village in the northern West Bank.
The still-unidentified terrorists set the Dawabsheh family home, at the village of Doma, south of the City of Nablus, on fire, burning to death three members of the Palestinian family, the father, Saad, aged 34, the mother Reham, aged 27, and their 18-month-old toddler Ali.
The fourth and last member of the family, a male child, is fighting for his life in hospital. His conditions have been described as stable.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Yaalon said the Israeli security authorities were reluctant to arrest the suspected murderers in order to protect the identity of their sources.
Yaalon refused to say why he thought the protection of the "security sources identity" was more important than arresting the murderers of three innocent human beings and the attempted murder of a fourth.
Yaalon's remarks drew furious reactions from Palestinians as well as some Israeli commentators.
Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, a renowned advocate of human rights, described Yaalon's remarks "as very strange coming from a strange minister."
"These are strange statements coming from a strange minister," Levy said in a telephone interview with this reporter Saturday.
Levy described Yaalon’s remarks as “beyond Chutzpah."
"I don't think he would behave this way if the suspects were Palestinians. He would move to get them arrested immediately."
Levy described the murderers as "mentally sick people who have served time in mental hospitals, adding that it was very dangerous to keep these people at large.
"They could embark at a new crime at any moment."
Another Israeli commentator, Danny Rubenstein, rejected Yaalon's rationale for not arresting the suspected murderers of the Dawabsheh family.
"These are unacceptable excuses. This justification constitutes a real insult to the most elementary principles of justice."
Rubenstein, who was speaking on the Aljazeera English channel, said the suspected killers would have to be arrested and prosecuted in order to prevent the recurrence of the heinous crime.
Palestinian condemnations
Palestinian spokespersons strongly condemned Yaalon's remarks as "a clarion proof of the Israeli government's complicity in terrorist crimes committed by Jewish terrorists against our people."
"What Yaalon is effectively saying is that Jewish terrorists are having an open license to murder Palestinians and burning them to death," said Ahmed Tamimi, a Hamas spokesman in al-Khalil (Hebron).
"I have no doubt that the Israeli army and intelligence connived and colluded with the murderous terrorists in carrying out the horrible crime"
Tamimi described Yaalon's rationale for not arresting the suspected murderers as "a cheap excuse."
"Just imagine how Yaalon would have behaved if Palestinians were the perpetrators and Jews were the victims. Would he have waited any time before arresting the suspects?"
Tamimi said Yaalon was behaving quite characteristically, given his "criminal record" as Chief of Staff for the Israeli army.
"Yaalon believes deep in his heart that a Palestinian is guilty and ought to be killed even if proven innocent, and that a Jewish murderer is innocent even if proven guilty."
Muhammad Yousef, a Palestinian professor of science from Bethlehem, described Ya'alon's statements as "an excuse that is uglier than a sin."
"Imagine how Israeli and Zionist circles would react if a European minister of interior justified the failure to arrest a terrorist suspected of murdering a Jew on the ground that arresting the suspect would have exposed the identity of a police agent and compromised vital security information.
"I imagine Jewish circles everywhere would have left no stone unturned in order to demonize and vilify the European minister. Israel would also ask the government of that minister to immediately fire him for his anti-Semitic discourse."
Earlier, PLO spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi strongly denounced Yaalon's remarks, saying the remarks amounted to encouraging Jewish terrorists to carry out hideous crimes and atrocities against innocent and unprotected Palestinians.
The settlers who perpetrated the shocking crime are believed to be messianic Jews affiliated with an underground terrorist group that is devoted to driving non-Jews away from Israel-Palestine in order to establish a Talmudic Jewish kingdom ruled by Jewish religious rule, known as Halacha.
Some messianic Jews believe that the "age of redemption" and appearance of the Redeemer, or Jewish Messiah, must be preceded by worldwide tribulations and bloody violence in which numerous people would lose their lives.
Messianic Jews also believe that non-Jews living under Jewish law ought to be treated as "water carriers" or "wood hewers."
In the past, leaders of the settler movement, known as Gush Emunim (Bloc of the Faithful) wrote that non-Jews living in a “truly Jewish state ruled by Halacha” would have to be enslaved, expelled or physically exterminated.
Israeli “Defense” Minister Moshe Yaalon has admitted that his country's domestic security apparatus knows the identities and whereabouts of the Jewish terrorists who a few weeks ago burned a Palestinian family to death at a village in the northern West Bank.
The still-unidentified terrorists set the Dawabsheh family home, at the village of Doma, south of the City of Nablus, on fire, burning to death three members of the Palestinian family, the father, Saad, aged 34, the mother Reham, aged 27, and their 18-month-old toddler Ali.
The fourth and last member of the family, a male child, is fighting for his life in hospital. His conditions have been described as stable.
According to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Yaalon said the Israeli security authorities were reluctant to arrest the suspected murderers in order to protect the identity of their sources.
Yaalon refused to say why he thought the protection of the "security sources identity" was more important than arresting the murderers of three innocent human beings and the attempted murder of a fourth.
Yaalon's remarks drew furious reactions from Palestinians as well as some Israeli commentators.
Israeli journalist Gideon Levy, a renowned advocate of human rights, described Yaalon's remarks "as very strange coming from a strange minister."
"These are strange statements coming from a strange minister," Levy said in a telephone interview with this reporter Saturday.
Levy described Yaalon’s remarks as “beyond Chutzpah."
"I don't think he would behave this way if the suspects were Palestinians. He would move to get them arrested immediately."
Levy described the murderers as "mentally sick people who have served time in mental hospitals, adding that it was very dangerous to keep these people at large.
"They could embark at a new crime at any moment."
Another Israeli commentator, Danny Rubenstein, rejected Yaalon's rationale for not arresting the suspected murderers of the Dawabsheh family.
"These are unacceptable excuses. This justification constitutes a real insult to the most elementary principles of justice."
Rubenstein, who was speaking on the Aljazeera English channel, said the suspected killers would have to be arrested and prosecuted in order to prevent the recurrence of the heinous crime.
Palestinian condemnations
Palestinian spokespersons strongly condemned Yaalon's remarks as "a clarion proof of the Israeli government's complicity in terrorist crimes committed by Jewish terrorists against our people."
"What Yaalon is effectively saying is that Jewish terrorists are having an open license to murder Palestinians and burning them to death," said Ahmed Tamimi, a Hamas spokesman in al-Khalil (Hebron).
"I have no doubt that the Israeli army and intelligence connived and colluded with the murderous terrorists in carrying out the horrible crime"
Tamimi described Yaalon's rationale for not arresting the suspected murderers as "a cheap excuse."
"Just imagine how Yaalon would have behaved if Palestinians were the perpetrators and Jews were the victims. Would he have waited any time before arresting the suspects?"
Tamimi said Yaalon was behaving quite characteristically, given his "criminal record" as Chief of Staff for the Israeli army.
"Yaalon believes deep in his heart that a Palestinian is guilty and ought to be killed even if proven innocent, and that a Jewish murderer is innocent even if proven guilty."
Muhammad Yousef, a Palestinian professor of science from Bethlehem, described Ya'alon's statements as "an excuse that is uglier than a sin."
"Imagine how Israeli and Zionist circles would react if a European minister of interior justified the failure to arrest a terrorist suspected of murdering a Jew on the ground that arresting the suspect would have exposed the identity of a police agent and compromised vital security information.
"I imagine Jewish circles everywhere would have left no stone unturned in order to demonize and vilify the European minister. Israel would also ask the government of that minister to immediately fire him for his anti-Semitic discourse."
Earlier, PLO spokeswoman Hanan Ashrawi strongly denounced Yaalon's remarks, saying the remarks amounted to encouraging Jewish terrorists to carry out hideous crimes and atrocities against innocent and unprotected Palestinians.
The settlers who perpetrated the shocking crime are believed to be messianic Jews affiliated with an underground terrorist group that is devoted to driving non-Jews away from Israel-Palestine in order to establish a Talmudic Jewish kingdom ruled by Jewish religious rule, known as Halacha.
Some messianic Jews believe that the "age of redemption" and appearance of the Redeemer, or Jewish Messiah, must be preceded by worldwide tribulations and bloody violence in which numerous people would lose their lives.
Messianic Jews also believe that non-Jews living under Jewish law ought to be treated as "water carriers" or "wood hewers."
In the past, leaders of the settler movement, known as Gush Emunim (Bloc of the Faithful) wrote that non-Jews living in a “truly Jewish state ruled by Halacha” would have to be enslaved, expelled or physically exterminated.
10 sept 2015
The Defense Minister confirmed the statement on two different occasions, stating that no arrests had been made in order to avoid exposing intelligence sources in court.
Security forces know who was behind the deadly arson attack in Duma last month, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon confirmed during a meeting of the Likud youth branch Tuesday.
Ya'alon was asked whether security forces had apprehended those responsible for the Jewish terrorist attack which killed three members of the Dawabsheh family, to which he answered, "We know who is responsible, but we will not expose those findings in order to protect our intelligence sources."
Ya'alon arrived at the ceremony, a festive event welcoming the New Year with the Likud youth, and referred to the incident which shocked the whole country.
"We are facing difficulties in establishing solid evidence," Ya'alon said to the attendees. "Right now we are not prosecuting those responsible in order to not expose our intelligence sources in court."
Ya'alon reaffirmed his comments during a Thursday a briefing at the Kirya military base, which centered on the lack of progress made in the Shin Bet investigation. He compared the current situation faced by the defense establishment to attempts at solving the investigations of two terrorist attacks in the early 1990s, which were thought to have been carried out by terrorists from the Popular Front during his time as commander of the Judea and Samarea division.
"We didn’t have enough evidence at that point to charge them, even though we know that they had carried out the attacks," he said. "So we arrested 59 members of the Popular Front who lived in the Ramallah area, and placed them in an extended six month administrative detention, and they were released after two years," he added.
"The attacks stopped immediately after the arrests, but resumed soon after their release. We won't stop our efforts to gather the evidence which will lead to indictments of those responsible for the Duma attack," Ya'alon concluded. Naser Dawabsheh, a member of the family, responded to the statement saying, "Ya'alon's statement is not justified, Israel must immediately expose the murderers. They burned the whole society and not just Duma."
Dawabsheh continued to say, "I know the attack was a major incident for Israel, and that Israel wants to arrest them in order to show the world that it is a country which chases and apprehends murderers." But he also added that, "Even if they will be arrested, what will happen then? The court will just say they are crazy, and they will live out their lives in some hotel like the murderers of Mohamed Abu- Khdeir."
Member of Knesset Aida Toma-Suleiman (Joint Arab List) reacted to Ya'alon's comments saying, "The Minister of Defense, who left the Dawabsheh family to die, continues his flagrant scornful attitude by saying that they will not prosecute the criminal murderers - in order to not expose their sources."
The Joint List MK continued to say, "Would it even be possible to think that the defense establishment would act the same way if a Jewish family was murdered. Ya'alon's remarks confirm the forgiving attitude within the system towards settler terrorism, which allows for the next murder." The Dawabsheh family home was set alight on July 31st. An initial investigation revealed that masked men threw Molotov cocktails into two homes, and spray painted "Long live the messiah king," and "revenge" in Hebrew on the walls.
The Dawabsheh family was staying in one of the homes, while the other was vacant. The family woke up as a result of the fire, and tried to escape the flames with two of their children, four-year-old Ahmed and eighteen-month-old Ali. The family managed to escape, however infant Ali died as a result of his burns. Saed Dawabsheh, Ali's father, succumbed to his injures a week later. Ali's mother, Reham fought for her life for over a month, but she too succumbed to her wounds on Sunday. The condition of the family's eldest son, Ahmed, has improved slightly in recent weeks, but he continues to be treated in the intensive care unit at Beer Sheva's Soroka hospital.
Reham's funeral took place in Duma, with 2000 people in attendance. Marchers at her funeral procession could be heard chanting, "Oh, Hamas, oh, al Qassam, attack them, the blood of the martyrs is calling you," while others yelled "Stop the criminals and murderers."
Hussien, Reham's father, protested the lack of arrests made in the case. According to him. "There is no such thing as not finding them. It's not my job; it’s the Shin bet's. A whole family died here." According to the Dawabsheh family, they have yet to be updated on the progress of the situation in light of multiple requests to the relevant officials.
Security forces know who was behind the deadly arson attack in Duma last month, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon confirmed during a meeting of the Likud youth branch Tuesday.
Ya'alon was asked whether security forces had apprehended those responsible for the Jewish terrorist attack which killed three members of the Dawabsheh family, to which he answered, "We know who is responsible, but we will not expose those findings in order to protect our intelligence sources."
Ya'alon arrived at the ceremony, a festive event welcoming the New Year with the Likud youth, and referred to the incident which shocked the whole country.
"We are facing difficulties in establishing solid evidence," Ya'alon said to the attendees. "Right now we are not prosecuting those responsible in order to not expose our intelligence sources in court."
Ya'alon reaffirmed his comments during a Thursday a briefing at the Kirya military base, which centered on the lack of progress made in the Shin Bet investigation. He compared the current situation faced by the defense establishment to attempts at solving the investigations of two terrorist attacks in the early 1990s, which were thought to have been carried out by terrorists from the Popular Front during his time as commander of the Judea and Samarea division.
"We didn’t have enough evidence at that point to charge them, even though we know that they had carried out the attacks," he said. "So we arrested 59 members of the Popular Front who lived in the Ramallah area, and placed them in an extended six month administrative detention, and they were released after two years," he added.
"The attacks stopped immediately after the arrests, but resumed soon after their release. We won't stop our efforts to gather the evidence which will lead to indictments of those responsible for the Duma attack," Ya'alon concluded. Naser Dawabsheh, a member of the family, responded to the statement saying, "Ya'alon's statement is not justified, Israel must immediately expose the murderers. They burned the whole society and not just Duma."
Dawabsheh continued to say, "I know the attack was a major incident for Israel, and that Israel wants to arrest them in order to show the world that it is a country which chases and apprehends murderers." But he also added that, "Even if they will be arrested, what will happen then? The court will just say they are crazy, and they will live out their lives in some hotel like the murderers of Mohamed Abu- Khdeir."
Member of Knesset Aida Toma-Suleiman (Joint Arab List) reacted to Ya'alon's comments saying, "The Minister of Defense, who left the Dawabsheh family to die, continues his flagrant scornful attitude by saying that they will not prosecute the criminal murderers - in order to not expose their sources."
The Joint List MK continued to say, "Would it even be possible to think that the defense establishment would act the same way if a Jewish family was murdered. Ya'alon's remarks confirm the forgiving attitude within the system towards settler terrorism, which allows for the next murder." The Dawabsheh family home was set alight on July 31st. An initial investigation revealed that masked men threw Molotov cocktails into two homes, and spray painted "Long live the messiah king," and "revenge" in Hebrew on the walls.
The Dawabsheh family was staying in one of the homes, while the other was vacant. The family woke up as a result of the fire, and tried to escape the flames with two of their children, four-year-old Ahmed and eighteen-month-old Ali. The family managed to escape, however infant Ali died as a result of his burns. Saed Dawabsheh, Ali's father, succumbed to his injures a week later. Ali's mother, Reham fought for her life for over a month, but she too succumbed to her wounds on Sunday. The condition of the family's eldest son, Ahmed, has improved slightly in recent weeks, but he continues to be treated in the intensive care unit at Beer Sheva's Soroka hospital.
Reham's funeral took place in Duma, with 2000 people in attendance. Marchers at her funeral procession could be heard chanting, "Oh, Hamas, oh, al Qassam, attack them, the blood of the martyrs is calling you," while others yelled "Stop the criminals and murderers."
Hussien, Reham's father, protested the lack of arrests made in the case. According to him. "There is no such thing as not finding them. It's not my job; it’s the Shin bet's. A whole family died here." According to the Dawabsheh family, they have yet to be updated on the progress of the situation in light of multiple requests to the relevant officials.
