Israel to Remove Name of Slain Palestinian Teenager From Memorial
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Version 0 of 1. JERUSALEM — The Israeli authorities said late Tuesday that the name of Muhammad Abu Khdeir, the Palestinian teenager from East Jerusalem who was abducted, beaten and burned to death by three Israelis last summer, would be removed from the state’s memorial to victims of hostile acts at the request of his father. The youth’s name was added to the memorial in advance of Israel’s Memorial Day for its war dead and victims of terrorism, observed Tuesday evening and Wednesday. But the step drew strong criticism from the youth’s father, Hussein Abu Khdeir, who said he had not been consulted and learned of it for the first time from news reports Tuesday morning. Muhammad Abu Khdeir’s name has been inscribed on a plaque on the memorial wall at Mount Herzl, the site of Jerusalem’s military cemetery and the national cemetery where many Israeli dignitaries are buried. On the government website commemorating victims of terrorism, his entry noted that he was 16; that he was killed in a hostile act on July 2, 2014, in Jerusalem; and that he is survived by his parents and six siblings. The grisly killing shocked Israelis and set off riots in Palestinian areas of East Jerusalem and predominantly Arab towns across Israel. The Israeli authorities determined that it was a hate crime, after the abduction and killing of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank. The three Israelis charged with killing Muhammad — Yosef Haim Ben-David, who was 29 when he was arrested in July, and two minors who were 16 at that time — are being tried in a Jerusalem court. Mr. Abu Khdeir, Muhammad’s father, initially told Ynet, an Israeli news website, that the addition of his son’s name was “an excellent initiative meant to honor my son.” But he said he was more interested in seeing the court sentence the perpetrators appropriately. He told other Hebrew and Arabic news outlets that he would rather be able to hang a large portrait of his son outside his house in the Shuafat district of East Jerusalem, in territory that Israel captured from Jordan in 1967 and that the Palestinians claim as part of a future state. But he said the Israeli authorities told him he would be fined 2,000 shekels (about $500) a month if he did so. “The occupation authorities are trying to improve their image in the world,” Mr. Abu Khdeir told Maan, an independent Palestinian news agency. Including Muhammad’s name on the state memorial, he said, “would not change the racist reality of the Israeli occupation.” When those suspected of killing Muhammad were indicted, Israel’s Ministry of Defense said that it recognized Muhammad as a “victim of terrorism” because of the “nationalistic motive” for the attack. The designation entitled Muhammad’s family to the same compensation and benefits that Israeli victims of Palestinian terrorism receive. It also placed him in the same category as the Israeli victims whose names are listed on the official memorial. The Abu Khdeirs are not citizens of Israel. Like most Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, they have permanent resident status, which affords them social welfare benefits and the right to work in Israel, but not an Israeli passport or the right to vote in national elections. The Israeli authorities said it was not the first time Israel had memorialized Palestinian victims of Jewish violence in that way. But the addition of Muhammad’s name also drew criticism from another side — an Israeli activist group, which said the youth should not be compared to citizens who died in attacks against the state. Meir Indor, the leader of the activist group, the Almagor Terror Victims Association, said the killing of Muhammad was a criminal act that “does not belong to the national narrative or ethos.” The group had also demanded that Muhammad’s name be removed. |