Israel adds name of murdered Palestinian boy to cemetery wall
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Version 0 of 1. The name of a Palestinian boy who was murdered by Jewish extremists in east Jerusalem last summer has been added to an official memorial wall in the city’s Mount Herzl cemetery. The defence ministry announced the addition, which was criticised by an Israeli group representing victims of terrorism, as Israel prepared to mark its annual memorial day for fallen soldiers and victims of terrorism. Mohammed Abu Khdeir was kidnapped and burned to death last July, a day after the burial of three Israeli youths kidnapped and murdered by Palestinians from Hebron. His name has been added both to the memorial wall and the government website listing those who have died in terrorist attacks. The Victims of Acts of Terror Memorial, established in 1998, is in the civil cemetery on Mount Herzl and comprises a wall to which plaques are annually attached. Following the indictment of the three men accused of carrying out the boy’s killing, the defence ministry recognised Abu Khdeir as being the victim of a “hostile action”, giving his family the same compensation rights as Israeli victims of terrorism. The move, however, was condemned by Almagor, a group set up in 1986 following a deal the previous year agreed by Shimon Peres, then prime minister, to release more than 1,000 Palestinians from Israeli jails and which campaigns for victims of terrorist attacks. Yossi Zur, a member of Almagor whose 17-year old son was killed in a 2003 suicide bombing on a bus in Haifa, told the Guardian that while the Abu Khdeir family should be compensated like other victims it was a mistake to include him in a commemoration of the Israeli state. “We had a lot of families complain since it was reported in news this morning. They feel hurt. People phoned and some even threatened go to the wall and remove his name but we are fighting to stop people doing that. “The is a difference between compensation and commemoration. Commemoration is a national issue. It is to do with the narrative of the state and shared values and ethos.” Abu Khdeir’s father, Hussein, initially appeared to welcome the inclusion of his son’s name, telling the news site Ynet: “It’s an excellent initiative that’s meant to honour my son. But I’m interested in something completely different: that the court will convict the men who burned my son and sentence them with appropriate punishments.” In a radio interview on Tuesday, however, Hussein Abu Khdeir clarified that he was not told his son’s name had been added to the wall and said he would ask for it to be removed. “We will request that his name be removed from that list,” he told the Nazareth-based Ashams radio. “We don’t need the recognition ... we’re not Israeli citizens. Instead of this list we want justice and the prosecution of the criminals.” The row follows the announcement by a far-right Jewish extremist group that it is seeking police permission to demonstrate against the involvement of Lucy Aharish, an Arab-Israeli television journalist, in Israel’s independence day celebrations this week. Aharish has been chosen to light a torch during the celebrations. According to Channel 2, the head of Lehava (whose Hebrew acronym stands for “preventing assimilation in the Holy Land”), Benzi Gopstein, said the planned protests were meant to persuade the Israeli authorities to cancel Aharish’s participation due to her being “an anti-Zionist who is not loyal to the state”. “It is quite unfortunate that [Aharish] of all people was chosen to light a torch on independence day,” Gopstein said. “I would understand if they had chosen a representative from the Arab sector who accepts the fact that the Land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people. “Once they pick a woman for whom the Star of David is not her flag, the IDF is not her army, and her soul does not yearn after 2,000 years, then there is a huge lapse here,” he said. “It misses the point of lighting the torch and sending the appropriate message of independence day.” In response, Aharish told Channel 2: “I have nothing to say. We live in a democratic country and the police will make the decision whether to allow the demonstration or not.” |