Arab Israeli MKs meet relatives of Palestinian terrorists

[Mosby]

Last edited Fri Feb 5, 2016, 07:16 PM - Edit history (1)

Knesset members from the Joint (Arab) List met this week with relatives of Palestinian terrorists killed by Israeli security forces as they were carrying out attacks, including some who had killed Israelis.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blasted the Knesset members on Thursday evening, saying they were “unworthy of serving” as lawmakers.

An organization representing the families of Palestinian “martyrs” invited all lawmakers from the Joint (Arab) List, which comprises three parties, to meet in Jerusalem. Three MKs — Hanin Zoabi, Jamal Zahalka and Basel Ghattas — showed up at the meeting Tuesday, all members of Balad, an Arab nationalist party whose members have identified with Palestinian violence in the past.

Some Israeli reports said that the meeting began with a moment of silence for the “martyrs.”

http://www.timesofisrael.com/arab-israeli-mks-meet-relatives-of-palestinian-terrorists/

[EileenFB]

1. Netanyahu posted yesterday

concerning this:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issued the following statement this evening:
"Members of Knesset who go to comfort the families of terrorists who murdered Israelis do not deserve to be in the Israeli Knesset. I have asked the Speaker of the Knesset to examine what steps can be taken against them."

https://www.facebook.com/IsraeliPM/?fref=ts

[Little Tich]

2. It seems as if the visit by Israeli Arab MKs forced Netanyahu to do the right thing.

Israel Returns Bodies of Three Palestinians Behind Deadly Jerusalem Attack
Source: Haaretz

05.02.2016 | 5:10 PM

Israel returns bodies of three Palestinian assailants

Israel hands over the bodies of three Palestinians who killed an Israeli policewoman outside Damascus Gate in Jerusalem before being shot down on Wednesday.
The three were all residents of Qabatiyah in the northern West Bank. 

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/1.701603

These families were victims of collective punishment thanks to Netanyahu, so I think the visiting MKs did the morally right thing, which also led to the release of the bodies.

Netanyahu started all this by keeping the bodies of the terrorists so that they couldn't be buried. That's tantamount to collective punishment, which is not acceptable in civilized countries.

Netanyahu should apologize for acting against a very fundamental democratic principle. The families never committed any crime and shouldn't be treated like criminals.

[6chars]

3. Oh the moral contortion

That is not what collective punishment is. The poor, poor terrorists.

[Little Tich]

4. Surely you understand that dead people can't be punished?

The problem as I see it, is that Israel creates victims out of criminals due to all kinds of OTT measures. If Israel hadn't withheld the bodies, a visit by MKs to the families would have been very suspect indeed. It's the same thing with the demolitions of the houses of supposed Palestinian terrorists - without the demolitions there would be very little doubt about who is the bad guy, but now there's savagery from both sides and there's no discernable good guy anymore.

[azurnoir]

6. So the MK's were talking to Dead People? I thought that was M. Night. Shyamalan movie

[Little Tich]

7. It's a Muslim custom to bury their dead within 3 days.

For Israel to hold on to the bodies of supposed terrorists "just because" is a pretty big insult to the relatives, and should be discontinued. Are you aware that Jews have similar customs too? Just imagine the uproar if the Israeli authorities would refuse to release the body of a Jewish person...

[King_David]

8. These are terrorist murderers ,who cares,

I have no sympathy.
Maybe this will influence future terrorists.

[Little Tich]

9. We who care about civil rights care.

And yes, this might influence future terrorists.

[shira]

11. One cannot care for civil rights while defending incitement towards racism & terror

These MK's stand in solidarity with parents praising their dead kids as "martyrs". The only way for racist, Jew hating future terrorists to see this is as a stamp of approval, a green light to keep it going.

Imagine Likud MP's going to the homes of those who murdered the Dawabshe baby or Abu Khdeir, rather than to the victims' homes.

Pause....

Yeah, it's that vile.

Caring for civil rights....seriously? Well, unless it's the civil rights of racist terrorists that take precedence here.

[Israeli]

13. Imagine....

" Imagine Likud MP's going to the homes of those who murdered the Dawabshe baby "

http://forward.com/news/327893/lawyer-for-us-torture-teen-held-in-firebombing-turns-to-israeli-justice-min/

Imagine more ...

Jewish politicians meet with terrorist families too

Netanyahu wants to kick Arab MKs out of the Knesset for meeting with families of Palestinian terrorists. Will the same standard be upheld for those who meet with Jewish terrorists?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wants to punish Palestinian members of Knesset for meeting with families of Palestinians who have carried out deadly attacks against Jewish Israelis. But could his initiative backfire and end up punishing members of his own government?

The prime minister announced on Sunday that he would be promoting legislation to bar three MKs who met with families of terrorists from serving in Knesset. His announcement came in response to a report that Arab members of Knesset from the nationalist Balad faction of the Joint List met with the families of Palestinian terrorists. The Balad MKs said the visit was humanitarian, in order to help negotiate the release of the bodies Israel refuses is holding on to. The MKs reportedly took part in a moment of silence for the attackers.

Netanyahu called on the opposition to support his initiative in addition to a complaint he filed against the three with the Knesset’s Ethics Committee.

The prime minister’s proposal, however, could entangle a top minister in the Israeli government. According to American liberal Jewish newspaper The Forward, Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked met recently with the mother of an Israeli-American minor suspect in the murder of three Palestinians last year. The arson in the West Bank village of Duma was considered a terrorist attack by the Israeli government and defense establishment. According to his attorney, following his arrest, the minor was subject to torture and solitary confinement by his Shin Bet interrogators.

In that case, allegations of torture markedly overshadowed the meeting between Israel’s justice minister with the mother of a suspected terrorist. In fact, as opposed to the Balad MKs, details of Shaked’s meeting could not be reported in the Israeli media due to a sweeping gag order on the case.

The Duma suspect, however, is only the tip of the iceberg. Israeli leaders have not only met with the families of convicted terrorists, some of them even employ them. Take Nathan Nathanson, who was convicted in 1985 for his involvement in the Jewish Underground and taking part in three car bombings against Palestinian mayors in June 1980. He was sentenced to three years in prison. Today Nathanson is a political advisor to Education Minister Naftali Bennett.

Or take Ze’ev “Zambish” Hever, a veteran leader of the settler movement and the subject of a recent investigative report, exposing him for fraudulently purchasing Palestinian land for the purpose of building illegal settlement outposts. Hever, who was also a member of the Jewish Underground, served a scant 11 months in prison for placing a bomb under a car belonging to Dr. Ahmed Natshe, a political figure in Hebron, in 1984. He has been closely associated with several Israeli prime ministers, most prominently Ariel Sharon, who is known as the father of the settlement movement.

Or what about Haggai Segal, who today serves as the editor-in-chief of right-wing newspaper Makor Rishon? Segal served two years in prison for planting bombs under the car of then-Ramallah Mayor Karim Khalaf and in the garage of Al-Bireh Mayor Ibrahim Tawil. Segal’s son, Amit, is a reporter for Channel 2 news, and has interviewed Netanyahu on various occasions. According to his own logic, Netanyahu, too, must be kicked out of Israel’s parliament.

And this isn’t even taking into account the countless number of members of pre-state Jewish militias such as the Palmach, Etzel, and Lehi — including several prime ministers — who committed massacres and headed expulsions in the years leading up to and during the 1948 War, only later to become leaders in the nascent Jewish state.

Source : http://972mag.com/jewish-politicians-meet-with-terrorist-families-too/116779/

[shira]

14. That dumbass article is a great example of false moral equivalency....

To start, the author implies Ayelet Shaked went to a home in order to show support for the terrorist and his act, like the Balad degenerates did.

Please.

You know better than that.

That 972 trash is an insult to any thinking person's intelligence. It's just as idiotic as extreme rightwing illogic.

[Little Tich]

15. I can see the moral equivalency quite clearly.

In both cases, MKs are visiting the families of suspected terrorists in order to protest human rights violations. One case involves the torture of suspects, the other the denial of a swift burial by refusing to release the bodies of dead suspects.

What am I missing here?

[shira]

16. The Balad MK's support these terrorists as 'martyrs' for the cause...

In an interview with Panet, a major Israeli Arabic news site, Ghattas discussed his meeting, along with two other MKs, with the families of 10 terrorists last week.

“The day Arab MKs abstain from visiting martyrs' families who have lost their precious sons in the turmoil of the struggle against the oppressive occupation - they did not go to kill or attempt to kill for criminal reasons or illegally - the day we abstain from visiting the martyrs' families, we will have to vacate our chairs and leave the keys and go home,” Ghattas said.

Three MKs from Balad, one of the parties making up the Joint List, met with families of terrorists whose bodies are being held by the Israeli Police because the families refuse to hold modest funerals to avoid incitement to violence.

The MKs stood in a moment of silence in memory of Palestinian shaheeds (martyrs in Arabic), and referred on its Facebook page to a particular terrorist, who killed three Israelis, as a shaheed.

http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Balad-MK-says-terrorists-didnt-commit-a-crime-are-victims-of-occupation-444564

Ayelet Shaked OTOH does NOT support the Duma murders as legitimate resistance, self-defense, etc....as she actually called for the death penalty for those responsible.

Starting to see the difference now?

[Little Tich]

17. From what I understand, Ayelet Shaked - bless her racist little heart - made the visit out a desire

to stop Jewish terror suspects from being getting the "Palestinian" treatment, which she considers to be torture when applied to Jews.

It's an interesting issue, as there are 850 uninvestigated complaints of torture / maltreatment of Palestinian suspects, but the Israeli Minister of Justice only cares about Jewish suspects. Personally, I don't think anyone deserves the Palestinian treatment, not even Palestinians, so in a perverse way, Ayelet Shaked is (partially) right on this issue.

Neither Aylet Shaked nor Basel Ghattas have voiced any support for the actions of the suspected terrorists, which would be crossing an important red line. I hope you understand why I still maintain that what Ayelet Shaked and Basel Ghattas are doing is morally equivalent in some ways. However, I think that Basel Ghattas' motives are less racist and more in line with the promotion of civil rights in a normal democratic country.

Some info on Ayelet Shaked's meeting with the mother of a terror suspect:

Israeli Justice Minister Met With Mother of U.S.-Israeli Suspect in West Bank Arson Murder
Source: Haaretz, Dec 25, 2015

Ayelet Shaked reportedly says she has been in 'close contact' with Shin Bet chief to make sure 'red lines were not crossed' during interrogations of Duma suspects.

Israel’s justice minister met last week with the mother of an Israeli-American teen held in isolation by Israeli security authorities amid a terrorism investigation, the teen’s attorney told the Forward.

The highly unusual meeting with Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, a member of the right-wing Jewish Home party, was attended by Adi Kedar, a lawyer with the settler legal aid group Honenu, and the suspect's mother.

The suspect, whose family says he has been tortured by interrogators, is among a handful of Israeli Jews held without charge in the wake of the July arson murder of three Palestinians in the West Bank town of Duma.

A spokesperson for Shaked could not be reached for comment about the meeting. Yet Shaked told the right-wing Israeli news outlet Arutz Sheva on December 22 that after “complaints” were brought to her attention, she had been in “close contact” with the head of the Shin Bet, among others, to “make sure red lines were not crossed” in interrogations of suspects in the Duma arson case.

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/1.693756

[shira]

18. You believe Balad MK's who support the killing of innocent Jews aren't racist.

That's legitimate resistance according to them, as you saw in post #16 where they tacitly approve of the actions of Palestinian martyrs. Says it all, really.

Have you actually thought that through, because it doesn't really get more racist, KKK, neo-nazi ugly than that. What they're doing just incites more murdering of Jews. Again, what the Balad MK stated in post #16 is clear:

they did not go to kill or attempt to kill for criminal reasons or illegally - the day we abstain from visiting the martyrs' families, we will have to vacate our chairs and leave the keys and go home,”

That's support.

Even worse, you've gone out of your way to back Ban Ki-Moon's justification of terror attacks on Jews, which is exactly what he did (and you deny) but also exactly what Balad MK's are doing here (which you also deny). What's with this denial of reality? Why the pretense? I don't get it. Why can't we deal with reality here?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meanwhile, Shaked calls for the death penalty against Jewish terrorists murdering Palestinian innocents. That's how much she's against what the Balad MK's are for. In no way does she incite the murder of Palestinians. Yet she's the racist and the Balad MK's are not?

How utterly absurd.

It's fascinating how you have things 180 degrees in reverse.

[shira]

19. BTW, when BDS'ers deny incitement, defend Palestinian MK's supporting the murder of Jews.....

....and show more compassion for the murderers than their victims, is it any wonder why the vast majority of Jews worldwide think BDS is an antisemitic movement? Forget the 1-state full RoR rhetoric, it's the justification for terror, minimizing it, defending "resistance" against occupation - defending the Holocaust denying Abbas - that leads Jews to conclude BDS'ers are without question Jew haters on par with Neo-Nazis and Klansmen.

[Little Tich]

20. I disagree and I think I can perceive gaps in your argumentation.

I'm not sure how BDS is involved in all this, but I have problems understanding how opposing settlements and occupation means being "without question Jew haters on par with Neo-Nazis and Klansmen". Nor do I understand how Ayelet Shaked's meeting with a terrorist's mother means calling for the death penalty for said terrorist.

[shira]

22. You can't see how BDS (Abunimah, Barghouti, Galloway, Atzmon) are racist Jew haters?

You said earlier the BDS of Abunimah, Barghouti, etc... is NOT the type of BDS you support - but whenever BDS is brought up, that's the only BDS there is - as there is no other BDS that exists without those racist Jew haters.

Ayelet Shaked supports the death penalty for Jewish terrorists who deliberately target innocents. That makes her infinitely better than the Balad assholes who support terror against random Jews.

[Little Tich]

23. BDS is a very loose concept.

There's a wide range of opinions of what it means, and there are groups and individuals that support BDS in ways that conflict with each other. You're highlighting an extreme version of BDS and its proponents as the only real BDS, while in reality that form of BDS is actually not supported by the majority of BDS supporters.

Most people who support BDS simply want the occupation and the illegal settlements to go away, and target only that, not Israel. In fact, all Israeli companies targeted by BDS are connected to the illegal settlements and the occupation. There's not a single Israeli company without links to the illegal settlements and the occupation that's being targeted by BDS.

Go figure.

[geek tragedy]

21. Abusing corpses generally doesn't harm those already dead nt

[Little Tich]

10. Haaretz Editorial: Holding the Bodies of Terrorists Is Political Populism, Not Deterrence

Source: Haaretz

Senior defense officials believe that holding attackers' bodies exacerbates violent trends. Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan is trying to earn political points by acting otherwise.

Three Israeli-Arab MKs from the Balad faction met last Tuesday with the families of 10 Palestinians who were killed while carrying out murderous attacks in Jerusalem. Their actions sparked a furor and denunciations from across the political spectrum. The meeting also triggered the regular calls of incitement from the right and its associates in the “center” to take steps against these MKs and even oust them from the Knesset.

Directing anger at the MKs who met the families – who aren’t to blame for their sons’ acts – obscures the real issue: holding the assailants’ bodies and preventing their burial.

The bodies that haven’t been returned are being held by the police, in accordance with the instructions of Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, because they are residents of East Jerusalem. This is in contrast to the opinion of Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon and senior defense officials. They believe that holding the bodies will not only fail to prevent terror, but will even exacerbate it by eliciting retaliation acts.

Several weeks ago, on Ya’alon’s command, the IDF returned the bodies of all the West Bank terrorists it was holding. On Friday, the bodies of the three gunmen from Qabatiyah, who killed Border Policewoman Hadar Cohen last Wednesday, were also returned.

Read more: http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.701799

[Mosby]

12. the israelis should follow the Islamic rituals to the letter

Bathe the DBs of the terrorists, wrap them in shrouds and say the appropriate prayers, within the time parameters.

Then take them out in a boat and drop the corpses in the Med.

Problem solved.

Note to jury: This is exactly what President Obama did with Bin Laden.