As pretext to defend PA salaries to terrorists and “Martyrs’” families, Palestinian political party falsely claims Israel rewards family of mass murderer Goldstein for murdering 29 Muslims
Headline: “The [Palestinian National] Initiative calls to refuse to stop paying the allowances of the prisoners and the families of the Martyrs”
“The Palestinian National Initiative movement (i.e., a Palestinian political party, not a member of the PLO) called to reject and block the Israeli-American pressures to stop paying the allowances (mukhassasat) of the families of the Palestinian prisoners and Martyrs (Shahids).
The movement said today [May 14, 2017] in a statement… that this contradicts the national values and elementary human rights, and harms the principle of honoring the sacrifice of the male and female fighters of the Palestinian people, who sacrificed their freedom or their sons’ lives for their people’s freedom, and struggled while implementing the decisions of their national movement…
The [Palestinian National] Initiative statement wondered: ‘Did the government of Israel stop paying the allowances of the families of terrorists such as Baruch Goldstein, who committed the massacre at the Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron, or the allowances of the families of those who committed the crimes of burning young [Muhammad] Abu Khdeir and the Dawabsheh family (sic., allowances were not given for the act of committing a crime in any of the cases mentioned -Ed.) – criminals who cannot even be compared to the Palestinian freedom fighters?’”
Cave of the Patriarchs massacre - On Feb. 25, 1994, Baruch Goldstein, a member of an Israeli far-right movement, opened fire on Muslims praying inside the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, known to Muslims as the "Ibrahimi Mosque," killing 29 and wounding 125. Following the attack, which was widely condemned by Israeli leaders and Jewish communities abroad, the Israeli government took concrete steps to prevent similar attacks from occurring by dividing the area of worship into Muslim and Jewish sections and designating several extremist movements, including Goldstein’s, as illegal terrorist groups.
Muhammad Abu Khdeir - Palestinian teen kidnapped and murdered by Israeli extremists in Jerusalem on July 2, 2014, in revenge for the kidnapping and murder of Israeli teens Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Fraenkel in the West Bank on June 12. Following Abu Khdeir’s murder, Palestinians took to the streets of East Jerusalem in violent and continuous protests. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli ministers immediately condemned the revenge murder in the strongest terms. Israeli police arrested six Israeli suspects on July 6 of whom three confessed to murdering Khdeir. One of the murderers, Yosef Ben-David, is serving 1 life sentence and an additional 20 years. His two accomplices, both unnamed minors, are serving 1 life sentence and 21 years respectively.
Duma arson attack - On July 31, 2015, two Palestinian houses in the West Bank village of Duma were set afire by Molotov cocktails thrown through their windows. 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh was murdered in this attack, as was his father, Saad Dawabsheh and mother, Reham Dawabsheh, who both died of their injuries later. The only survivor of the attack was the couple’s other son, 4-year-old Ahmad, who suffered burns on 60% of his body and was treated in Israel. Israeli leaders and citizens from all sectors of society condemned this attack, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that all Israelis were disgusted by the crime, adding, “We will not countenance terrorism of any kind.” He ordered the security forces "to use all means at their disposal to apprehend the murderers and bring them to justice forthwith." Israeli Police has treated the attack as a nationalistic crime carried out by Jewish extremists in revenge for Palestinian terror attacks. In early December 2015, Israeli police arrested several Jewish extremists who were believed to have been involved in the attack, and in January 2016, Israel indicted 21-year-old Amiram Ben Uliel, a member of the radical Jewish group “Hilltop Youth,” with three counts of murder, attempted murder, arson and conspiracy to commit a nationalistically-motivated crime. Ben Uliel confessed to police that he carried out the attack in revenge for the murder of Malachi Rosenfeld, an Israeli who was shot and murdered in a terror attack in the West Bank. Ben Uliel's defense has claimed that his confession was made under torture and suspicions have been raised that the arson and three other subsequent arson attacks against other Dawabshe family members are part of a family feud. Ben Uliel's trial is still pending. A minor whose name remains under a police gag order was also charged.
“The Palestinian National Initiative movement (i.e., a Palestinian political party, not a member of the PLO) called to reject and block the Israeli-American pressures to stop paying the allowances (mukhassasat) of the families of the Palestinian prisoners and Martyrs (Shahids).
The movement said today [May 14, 2017] in a statement… that this contradicts the national values and elementary human rights, and harms the principle of honoring the sacrifice of the male and female fighters of the Palestinian people, who sacrificed their freedom or their sons’ lives for their people’s freedom, and struggled while implementing the decisions of their national movement…
The [Palestinian National] Initiative statement wondered: ‘Did the government of Israel stop paying the allowances of the families of terrorists such as Baruch Goldstein, who committed the massacre at the Ibrahimi Mosque (i.e., Cave of the Patriarchs) in Hebron, or the allowances of the families of those who committed the crimes of burning young [Muhammad] Abu Khdeir and the Dawabsheh family (sic., allowances were not given for the act of committing a crime in any of the cases mentioned -Ed.) – criminals who cannot even be compared to the Palestinian freedom fighters?’”
Cave of the Patriarchs massacre - On Feb. 25, 1994, Baruch Goldstein, a member of an Israeli far-right movement, opened fire on Muslims praying inside the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, known to Muslims as the "Ibrahimi Mosque," killing 29 and wounding 125. Following the attack, which was widely condemned by Israeli leaders and Jewish communities abroad, the Israeli government took concrete steps to prevent similar attacks from occurring by dividing the area of worship into Muslim and Jewish sections and designating several extremist movements, including Goldstein’s, as illegal terrorist groups.
Muhammad Abu Khdeir - Palestinian teen kidnapped and murdered by Israeli extremists in Jerusalem on July 2, 2014, in revenge for the kidnapping and murder of Israeli teens Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Fraenkel in the West Bank on June 12. Following Abu Khdeir’s murder, Palestinians took to the streets of East Jerusalem in violent and continuous protests. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other Israeli ministers immediately condemned the revenge murder in the strongest terms. Israeli police arrested six Israeli suspects on July 6 of whom three confessed to murdering Khdeir. One of the murderers, Yosef Ben-David, is serving 1 life sentence and an additional 20 years. His two accomplices, both unnamed minors, are serving 1 life sentence and 21 years respectively.
Duma arson attack - On July 31, 2015, two Palestinian houses in the West Bank village of Duma were set afire by Molotov cocktails thrown through their windows. 18-month-old Ali Dawabsheh was murdered in this attack, as was his father, Saad Dawabsheh and mother, Reham Dawabsheh, who both died of their injuries later. The only survivor of the attack was the couple’s other son, 4-year-old Ahmad, who suffered burns on 60% of his body and was treated in Israel. Israeli leaders and citizens from all sectors of society condemned this attack, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas that all Israelis were disgusted by the crime, adding, “We will not countenance terrorism of any kind.” He ordered the security forces "to use all means at their disposal to apprehend the murderers and bring them to justice forthwith." Israeli Police has treated the attack as a nationalistic crime carried out by Jewish extremists in revenge for Palestinian terror attacks. In early December 2015, Israeli police arrested several Jewish extremists who were believed to have been involved in the attack, and in January 2016, Israel indicted 21-year-old Amiram Ben Uliel, a member of the radical Jewish group “Hilltop Youth,” with three counts of murder, attempted murder, arson and conspiracy to commit a nationalistically-motivated crime. Ben Uliel confessed to police that he carried out the attack in revenge for the murder of Malachi Rosenfeld, an Israeli who was shot and murdered in a terror attack in the West Bank. Ben Uliel's defense has claimed that his confession was made under torture and suspicions have been raised that the arson and three other subsequent arson attacks against other Dawabshe family members are part of a family feud. Ben Uliel's trial is still pending. A minor whose name remains under a police gag order was also charged.