Father and mother of Mohamed Abu Khdeir mourn their son
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Yesterday night, I noticed several Israeli Facebook users infecting my feed with false claims that Mohamed Abu Khdeir, the 16 year-old who was murdered by suspected Jewish terrorists, was killed in an honor crime because he was gay. With the help of an Israeli friend, I traced the rumor to, of all places, the Israeli police (Hebrew). They leaked (Hebrew) this false information to the media, which dutifully reported it as if it was true (it wasn’t). The police claim (made anonymously of course) that it had “information” Abu Khdeir was gay was false. But this calumny spread like the wind, and a credulous Israeli public eager to believe the worst of Palestinians and refusing to take any responsibility for their own brethren spilling the blood of a Palestinian, took to social media like a raging plague and spread this bile everywhere.
Haaretz documents Israeli hoax claiming Palestinian murder victim was gay
This is the proverbial “blaming the victim” tactic often used by accused rapists and their defense attorneys. But this is worse because the victim in this case is dead and the fellow citizens of the accused killers refuse to acknowledge the pain and suffering of the murder. They want to wipe it out because they hate Palestinians and believe them undeserving of sympathy.
This Haaretz report (pictured on right) by Nir Hasson and Jack Khoury documents the fraud and conveys the angry response of the victim’s family:
Our family is not involved in any dispute and he was a good boy. this is not a family problem. It is a kidnapping [now murder] and everyone must know this.
The police are living up to their reputation of being the most corrupt, incompetent, racist and thuggish agency in the entire nation. I’ve reported here their incompetence in handling the 911 calls from the Hebron kidnapping victims and their family. The families of the victims now complain (Hebrew) that the Shabak lied to them initially telling them the shots heard on the 911 call were “blanks.” They were not. They were also told that no DNA was found in the burnt vehicle used to kidnap the boys (blood and bullets were found). All this gave them false hope they might still be alive. At a certain point, the families realized the police could not handle an investigation of this magnitude. That’s when the IDF became involved.
Now, in the current case, instead of solving the crime and apprehending the Jewish terrorist who likely committed it, they prefer to create red herrings which confuse the case and the public, thus diverting attention from the real killers. You’d almost think the police are in cahoots with them or at least so sympathetic they don’t want to catch them. What I’d like to know is whether the false reports to the Israeli media were part of an orchestrated police or even government campaign or whether this was an impromptu idea some idiot cop thought up on his own.
To add further fuel to this fire, Maan reports that instead of the kid gloves treatment accorded the Israeli families, the Palestinian victim’s father was questioned for hours by the police, who tried to get him to say that there was a family feud in which Mohamed was caught up. Though the father doesn’t mention the claim of his son being gay, that is no doubt due to the fact that subjects like this aren’t publicly discussed by families. The father vehemently denied his family had disputes with anyone. This angle of investigation is spurious and an attempt to sow deliberate confusion. The father also reveals that there is surveillance video of the kidnapping which clearly show the perpetrators.
The family is deeply critical of the police “response:”
Muhammad’s father Hussein Abu Khdeir said the family notified police about the incident immediately after it happened but are still waiting for a response.
“We notified the police of the incident when it happened, but until now they haven’t moved a muscle or arrested the kidnappers, despite their clear appearance in the surveillance cameras,” he said.
“If things were different and an Arab kidnapped an Israeli, it would have been uncovered in moments.”
Hussein said that following news of the killing he was detained and interrogated for several hours and his wife was forced to take a DNA test.
“Police want to cover the issue up, to protect the settlers, but the cameras were clear,” he added.
If the police would exert half as much energy in finding the real killers as they are in spinning lies, they might find them.
Sheera Frenkel, one of the few reporters based in Israel I trust writing about this story adds some potentially incendiary developments in her reporting. We knew that when Abu Khdeir’s body was found it had been burnt. But we didn’t know the scenario of what had happened and how he was killed. Frenkel sheds light on this:
The body of a Palestinian teenager was found in the Jerusalem Forest on Wednesday, beaten and burned to death.
The notion that this boy was tortured before his murder and that he may not have been dead when they set his body alight takes this crime beyond mere blood vengeance into the realm of deviant pathology. When this new development makes its way through the Palestinian community and into the wider world, it will light a tinderbox. If you wonder what it might take to cause a Third Intifada, this is precisely the fuel that would do it.
Speaking of pathology, Rabbi Noam Perel, the worldwide leader of the Bnai Akiba youth movement which, at one time, was known as a bastion of modern Orthodox Judaism, called for vengeance for the Hebron killings:
“An entire nation and thousands of years of history demand revenge,” Perel posted on his Facebook page…
“The government of Israel is gathering for a revenge meeting…The landlord has gone mad at the sight of his sons’ bodies. A government that turns the army of searchers to an army of avengers, an army that will not stop at 300 Philistine foreskins,” Perel wrote, alluding to the biblical tale of David, who killed 200 Philistines and gave their foreskins to King Saul as the bride price for his daughter.
“The disgrace will be paid for with the blood of the enemy, not with our tears…”
I wish I could say this is deviant Israeli Jewish behavior. But at a certain point you have to admit that the lunatics have taken over the asylum and are running it. If there are any sane people remaining they’re too ashamed, too frightened, or too tired to do anything to stop it. Which may mean that Israel is doomed. Unless the rest of world comes to its senses and restores sanity by knocking heads together and forcing compromise.
Amidst all this misery, the only small flicker of hope and humanity is this statement released by the uncle of one of the murdered Israeli boys:
Yishai Fraenkel, uncle of Naftali Fraenkel, called upon Israelis and Palestinians to “refrain from any type of violence” following the deaths of the four young men.
“The life of an Arab is equally precious to that of a Jew. Blood is blood, and murder is murder, whether that murder is Jewish or Arab,” Fraenkel told CTV News Channel in a telephone interview from Israel.
“There’s no justification whatsoever to revenge or do anything as a result of the barbaric murder of my nephew.”
The wild-eyed lunatics in Yitzhar and other warrior settlements won’t accord the Fraenkels any respect, even in their period of mourning.
The net is full of images of hundreds of Israelis ramping throught the streets of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on the night of the funeral shouting “Death to the Arabs” and people who express their will to kill but I guess these mean Palestinians – who don’t love their children anyway – just profited from this to kill their own son in order to blame it on the Jews…….
It reminds me of an interview with Yehudah David, the French-Israeli doctor who had operated the father of Mohamed al-Durah on an earlier occasion. Just before the final court ruling last year, he claimed in an interview with Arutz Sheva (on the net) that he had proofs Mohamed al-Durah had died earlier that day, that the kid in the images from Netzarim was his brother, and that the whole shooting had been orchestrated by the Palestinians to make the Jews look bad in the eyes of the world….. I piy the Israelis who’re still sane in this State that has become a madhouse.
Errata: ‘through the streets’, ‘I pity’
○ Funeral of Mohammed Abu Khdair delayed, row with Israel over release of body
Appears to be a dispute over another autopsy report before handing over the body (Al Jazeera TV). Checking the BBC webpage, has just been updated with a new headline and info as follows:
“The funeral of the young Palestinian abducted and killed in Jerusalem has been delayed because his body has not yet been released by police. The father of Mohammed Abu Khdair says the authorities are carrying out a post-mortem examination.”
According to AJ broadcast, the funeral is expected later today.
Police won’t let me see body, says slain teen’s father | Times of Israel July 3, 2014, 11:35 am |
Hussein said he was certain his son Muhammad was kidnapped, killed and burned by Israeli Jews, “probably settlers or the Shin Bet.” He said footage from a surveillance camera located near the site of the kidnapping clearly showed three men, all of them Hebrew-speakers, seizing his son.
“We saw. There are cameras. We saw how they took him,” he said.
“I have the footage. You can see a car arrive at around 4 a.m., 4:10, 4:05. The car arrived, two people got out, and one stayed [in the car]. They came, took him and forced him into the car.”
Hussein added that it was not the first time the group had attempted a kidnapping in the area. Rather, he said, on Tuesday afternoon, the same men had come to Shuafat and tried to kidnap someone off the street. A few hours later, they succeeded in forcing 16-year-old Muhammad into their car.
Shuafat refugee camp East Jerusalem
Even today most Jerusalemites have no idea that there is a refugee camp within the city’s jurisdiction.
The Shuafat refugee camp encapsulates Israeli rule in east Jerusalem. All the maladies of the occupation are concentrated there, and it’s also a “prequel” revealing the direction the occupation is taking. The region, which includes five subdivisions, was created over the years in a gradual process in which residents of the refugee camp abandoned it due to congestion and terrible sanitary conditions, preferring peripheral areas – Ras Hamis, Ras Shehadeh, Dakhyat al Salaam, Anata and the refugee camp which gave the region its dubious name.
Richard, you still haven’t given any information that does not appear in Israeli media, except for the fact that the body has been burned. All rest (burnt alive, relatives say they saw the footage) are speculation.
What I would like to know: how much time does it take from finding a burnt body to finalize DNA sequencing? Why didn’t they publish it is the kid? Why don’t they let him be burried? What are they hiding? What can they say without risking the investigation?
Sorry, but our expectation from Tikun Olam are higher than what you’ve provided so far. Perhaps focus more on your sources and less on firing on Twitter.
You are clearly delusional in your hatred of the Jewish state. Not 1 single serious Israeli newspaper has run with this. Every single such paper are quoting police sources saying that most probably the murder was an act of vengeance. You are sir, a despicable liar.
I don’t get it. Killing him for being gay wouldn’t make things even worse, since it would be not only ethnic prejudice, but also homophobia?
No, you didn’t get it 🙂 Israeli propaganda accused his own family of having killed him for being gay. Richard mentions it in this article by ‘honor crime’ but if you want to see examples read the comments to the previous article. Some Novak-thing is claiming this is the truth …..
I know! These devious Palestinians waited for exactly the right moment to kill their own son. Clever.
A claim of homosexual motive has been a historical modus operendi by which Zionists seek to avoid responsibility for nationalist Zionist-motivated murders. See the cases of Jacob deHaan [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacob_Isra%C3%ABl_de_Haan] and Herschel Grynszpanand [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herschel_Grynszpan].
[comment deleted–comments must be factual and not based on prejudice or unsupported opinion]
[comment deleted–yet more Arabophobic racist nonsense. It simply won’t be published here. Read the comment rules.]
How can you claim to be authentic and objective while ignoring Moshe Nussbaum’s report (chanell 2, last night) that three days ago the boy’s younger brother was victim to a kidnap attempt, and while his mother claimed that “Settlers” tried to abduct him, his father told the police it was Arabs!
Now either this is the world’s most unlucky family ever, being attacked twice in a week by settlers attempting to abduct their sweet little innocent children, and the father claims their Arabs, OR this is the usual Hamulla-Gang clashes in Arab villages everyb one who knows Arab culture is well acquainted with.
Do you expect being credited as an honest, even if clearly left-wing dispositioned, reporter, while ignoring, and worse – hiding, such reports???
Clearly a pathetic attempt to degrade Israelis, as usual.
We hate you no less then you hate us
A true Jew, not Erev rav like you – go worship your golden calf. Tikun olam my ass
So, now that we have the truth, the question becomes: Will the parents be apprehended and charged for this murder? Who will apprehend them? What would count as evidence, crocodile tears perhaps? The parents probably conspired with the Rest of the World to embarrass Israel, so there might be some traces…
One can hardly wait for the next progress report from the police, some new smear or libel perhaps on the victim or family. After more investigation, perhaps the Hamas link will turn up. Stay tuned.
1.Same day this boy was murdered. a 14 years old Arab girl murdered by her own family,no one talk about it..why?
2.I did not know CCTV cameras can record voices, how can the father know they were Hebrew-speakers?
How do you like this one Rooey:
“OK, three abducted teenagers in the West Bank were murdered, but look: An Israeli father killed his own children, let’s talk about that instead.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2656646/Israeli-police-Father-killed-2-US-children.html
Such cases of domestic violence have nothing to do with nationalist hate crimes like this, and you know it. You just want to deflect attention.
I used to eagerly read your reports. But unfortunately lately I couldn’t find any scoop on this blog. It’s a pity that you have to keep you rating and popularity up by publishing such “yellow” and unproved information.
My Hebrew is pretty good, like fluent. Where in the posted article does it say that he’s gay? Oh, it doesn’t.
Couldn’t explain it better myself …
Daily Kos and the Zionist hasbara
“I expect that whatever McCarthyte policies take over in in Israel – which they are – as we all see – they will seed off-shoots in this country, as they are in Canada and Australia, and we, who care about liberal values and human rights, will have to stand and watch as reactionary forces rip what they helped sow.”
I was banned once at DK and reinstated after I wrote a damning diary @BooMan. A few monthe later, the dark forces at DK struck again. DK has become part of the establishment.
Well, according to the media, many people saw the teenager being abducted, and have described the kidnappers. Someone also wrote down the license number. By the way, earlier that day, a eight years old boy from Shuafat managed to escape from another group who tried to abduct him. Guess they’re all lying …..
If you know how the settler thugs have behaved in the West Bank for decades, this is hardly a surprise: beating up old shepherds and children on their way to school is a favorite pastime, particularly around Hebron.
I wonder if this murder will have consequences for Netanyahu and others as they clearly created an atmosphere revenge and incitement to violence against Palestinians. A leader that behaves in such an un-stateman-like manner does not belong in a civilized country.
As someone in Haarets zommented: ” At the hundreds & hundreds of abductions & murders that were carried out by the IRA over a long period. Did we hear the British PM ranting & raving, threatening to bomb this & that, invade Ireland & systematically root out the IRA. No, a true Statesman acts in a cool calm manner, not with the lunatic type of knee jerk attitude of Netanyahu who is doing more damage to his country than anyone.”
even if he was gay he was murdered and burnt -Israel has no shame left I am glad haertz is acting neutral -it shows some jewish values are still in force -this is an absolute apostasy to justify any murder by claiming the victim was gay -half the jewish men in new York are gay and are they all going to be murdered for being so
“Jewish oligarch backed neo-Nazis in Ukraine…” Just curious. Doesn’t this violate multiple comment rules? There’s no link to justify this allegation and the circumstances of the deaths in Odessa are totally different from what happened to poor Mohamed Abu Khdeir.
The Nana link in the post clearly indicates the report came from police. Please read every link in posts before making such claims.
Actually, the post says that police is “looking into this line of inquiry”, not that it states this as fact. And the Haaretz picture says that this being a fact (as well as the possibility that this was a family dispute) was spread by Israeli right-wingers, not by police. Israeli police is bad enough without you misleading your readers about its actions.
@ Hebrew Reader: Wrong. THe Nana article says that the police “have information” confirming that it was a crime of “family honor.” Israeli rightists have only slightly embellished by presuming “family honor” is code for the victim being gay (why else would you kill a 16 year old boy anyway?). Next time you try to trump my knowledge of Hebrew don’t paraphrase out of context or incompletely. I’ll only catch you & call you out.
@Canuck: Thanks for picking up on this. I read the comment very quickly & didn’t notice the last, offensive phrase which you did. I’ve deleted it.
@ Elliot: Oh, you mean Israeli rightists don’t understand the use of Hebrew code words like murder for “family honor” & understand that if this was such a murder it would have to be because the boy was gay?? After all, What other reason would a family murder a 16 year old boy? Because he wanted to go to medical school?
The thousands of rightists who flooded social media with these lies took them directly from this hoax about an honor killing.