Kach Kach Kach ' onMouseout='HidePop("64484")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Shabbat">Sabbath
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from sundown Friday until the appearance of three stars in the sky on Saturday night...
, I cannot be part of an organization that expels Jews.' He added the anti-pullout slogan 'Jews don't expel Jews' to his letter, and concluded the message with the words: 'I will consider how I will continue to serve.'
His mother claims that prior to the shooting she alerted the IDF and other security services that her son was still in possession of his military-issued weapon. 'We told everyone he's AWOL, that he could do something with his gun. We begged them to take away his gun. He also asked them to take his gun. The army destroyed my child. The army destroyed my life.' According to
The New RepublicThe New Republic is an American magazine of politics and the arts. It is published semimonthly and has a circulation of approximately 60,000. The editor-in-chief is Martin Peretz and the current editor is Franklin Foer...
, 'an army
psychiatristA psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry and is certified in treating mental disorders. All psychiatrists are trained in diagnostic evaluation and in psychotherapy...
warned that he wasn't fit for weapons or uniform, but his professional judgment was awaiting approval by a panel of medical experts that was not very swift in assembling' and that a 'former chief of staff of the IDF' had 'speculated that the killer's parents might have a chance to win damages in court for neglect by the army of the welfare of their son.'
The Shfar'am attack
Natan-Zada boarded the Shfar'am-bound bus on Thursday, August 4 2005. He was dressed in full IDF uniform, carrying his IDF-issued M16 rifle, and, according to observers, wearing the skullcap, beard, and
sidelocksPayot is the Hebrew word for sidelocks or sidecurls. Payot are worn by some men and boys in the Orthodox Jewish community based on an interpretation of the Biblical injunction against shaving the "corners" of one's head. Literally, pe'ah means corners, sides or edges...
of an observant Jew, as well as an orange ribbon hanging from his pocket. He opened fire on the driver shortly after the bus entered Shfar'am, then turned on the passengers; the driver and two passengers were killed instantly, and a third passenger died from sustained gunshot wounds. When he paused to reload his weapon, Natan-Zada was subdued by streetgoers gathered around the scene of the bus shooting. When the police arrived at the scene he was tied and still alive, but the small police force couldn't prevent the crowd from
lynchingLynching is an extrajudicial punishment meted by a mob, usually by hanging. It is an enumerated felony in all states of the United States, defined by some codes of law as "Any act of violence inflicted by a mob upon the body of another person which results in the death of the person," with a 'mob'...
him. It took the police four hours to remove his body from the scene.
According to witnesses, the bus driver was initially surprised to see a religiously-observant Jewish soldier making his way to Shfar'am (an overwhelmingly Israeli-Arab city) via public bus, so he asked Natan-Zada if he was certain he wanted to take his current route. Upon arriving in Shfar'am's primary
DruzeThe Druze are a religious community found primarily in Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan, whose traditional religion is said to have begun as an offshoot of Islam, but is unique in its incorporation of Gnostic, neo-Platonic and other philosophies, similar to other followers of Ismaili Shi'a...
neighborhood, Natan-Zada stood up and approached the front door as if to disembark the bus. When the door opened, Natan-Zada turned around and began shooting.
The four victims were Hazar Turki and Dina Turki, two sisters in their early twenties, and two men, Michel Bahus (the driver) and Nader Hayek; all were Israeli citizens. In the days after the attack, 40,000 Israeli Arabs formed a funeral service in honor of the victims in the town; the two sisters were buried in an Islamic cemetery, and the two men in the local Christian cemetery.
From some pages in Eden-Zada's handwriting it seems that his motive for the act was to provoke a widespread wave of Arab riots and violent acts, which would keep the police and security forces too busy to carry out the planned evacuation of the
Gaza stripThe Gaza Strip lies on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Egypt on the south-west and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometers wide, with a total area of . The area is recognized internationally as part of the Palestinian territories...
settlers. However, there were no further mass protests among Arabs after the funeral, which was peaceful.
Reactions
Then
Prime Minister of IsraelThe Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...
Ariel Sharon' is an Israeli general and statesman, former Israeli Prime Minister...
condemned Natan-Zada's actions unequivocally, calling them "a reprehensible act by a bloodthirsty Jewish terrorist," and "a deliberate attempt to harm the fabric of relations among all Israeli citizens." Vice Premier
Shimon Peres' is the ninth and current President of the State of Israel. Peres served twice as Prime Minister of Israel and once as Interim Prime Minister, and has been a member of 12 cabinets in a political career spanning over 66 years...
and Interior Minister
Ophir Pines-PazOphir Pines-Paz is an Israeli politician and former Internal Affairs Minister. He is currently a member of the Knesset for the Labor Party, and the Chairman of the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee.-Biography:...
visited the bereaved families. "Your pain is the pain of the entire State of Israel. We will not allow crazy men and terrorists to harm your life here," Peres told the families. Sharon's government has consistently referred to the shooting as "an act of terrorism," language usually reserved for
PalestinianThe Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with family origins in Palestine...
suicide bombers.
While the Israeli government and
US State DepartmentThe United States Department of State, often referred to as the State Department, is the Cabinet-level foreign affairs agency of the United States government, similar to foreign ministries, foreign offices, ministries of external relations, etc. in other countries...
both consider groups based on
KahanismKahanism is a term named after Israeli Rabbi Meir Kahane . It refers to an organization and, more generally, to other movements or groups that share a belief in the fundamental tenets of its ideology...
to be terrorist organizations, Kahanist advocates insist their ideology only advocates the forced removal of Arabs from the
Land of IsraelThe Land of Israel is, according to the Hebrew Bible, the region which was promised by their God to the descendants of Abraham through his son Isaac and to the Israelites, descendants of Jacob, Abraham's grandson. This land forms part of the Abrahamic, Jacob and Israel covenants...
, not murder.
The monitoring committee of the Israeli Arab leadership called on the government to refrain from investigating the death of Eden Natan-Zada. Israeli Arab
KnessetThe Knesset is the legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Operation of the Knesset:...
member
Mohammad BarakehMohammad Barakeh is an Israeli Arab politician and member of the Knesset for Hadash, of which he is the General Secretary.-Biography:...
, a Shfar'am resident himself, warned that protests could erupt if police probe Zada's lynching: "Normally when someone stops a terrorist from continuing to kill he is considered a hero, but in this case it is the heroes who are sitting on the defense stand". However, Shfaram's security officer, Jamal Aliam, told Army Radio that Zada had been attacked by dozens of people after he had been handcuffed and subdued by police.
Eventually, on June 13, 2006 7 suspects in the lynching were arrested. The 7th suspect turned himself in to the Police. The police said: "We're responsible for maintaining the law, and you can't take the law into your own hands. Even when it concerns a terrorist who murdered innocent people even though he made a heinous terrorist act". 2 suspects were subsequently released and 5 await trial in Haifa. There was general support for their arrest and even left-wing activist
Yossi BeilinDr. Yosef "Yossi" Beilin is a left-wing Israeli politician and a former Knesset member, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister and Justice Minister, representing both the Labor Party and Meretz-Yachad, of which he served as chairman between 2003 and 2006...
said: "Israel can't put up with a lynch made on a handcuffed person even if his actions are heinous and unforgivable. It's a combined interest of both Jews and Arabs that Israel won't close its eyes to such behaviour". The Arab
KnessetThe Knesset is the legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Operation of the Knesset:...
members however demanded their release and called their arrest a crime.
On June 7, 2009, 12 Israeli Arabs were indicted over the lynching. Seven were charged with attempted murder.
Burial controversy
Natan-Zada's funeral was a controversial matter. Jewish law requires a swift burial, but nationwide outrage against his attacks left his body without a willing resting place for two days.
An initial agreement between IDF officials and the Natan-Zada family would have allowed burial in a military cemetery, but with no military honors such as a 21-gun salute or placement of the Israeli flag upon his coffin. However,
Meir NitzanMeir Nitzan is an Israeli politician. He was mayor of Rishon Lezion for five consecutive terms.-Biography:Nitzan was born in Bucharest, Romania. He lived in a displaced persons' camp in Cyprus before making Aliyah at age 16. Upon his arrival in Israel, he lived in the then-transit camp Pardes Hanna...
, the mayor of
Rishon LeZionRishon LeZion , is the fourth-largest city in Israel, located along the central Israeli coastal plain. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area. The city had a population of 224,300 at the end of 2007...
intervened before the funeral. The morgue which housed Natan-Zada's body,
Abu Kabir Forensic InstituteThe L. Greenberg National Institute of Forensic Medicine also known as Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, is an Israeli forensic research laboratory located in the Abu Kabir neighborhood of Tel Aviv, Israel....
, refused to release the body to friends and fellow Kahane activists to bury, resulting in a bitter protest.
Residents of
Kfar TapuachKfar Tapuach is an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, founded in 1978. It is one of a collection of Jewish towns in the Samaria region, south of Nablus/Shechem, and sits astride one of the major traffic junctions in the West Bank. The executive director of the village council is Yisrael Blunder....
are divided on the issue. Kfar Tapuah resident Moshe Meirsdorf said Natan-Zada's connection to the community "has been destructive for us. We totally reject everything he did." Meirsdorf claims that Natan-Zada and other extremist youth were not official community members, despite the fact that Natan-Zada had legally updated his address to Kfar Tapuah. "He was never accepted by the absorption committee," said Meirsdorf, whose wife is a member of the committee. Others supported Natan-Zada, including four teenagers from Tapuah who were arrested following the incident. Most locals, however, voiced opinions in line with Tapuah leader David Haivri, who expressed pain over the loss of Natan-Zada and emphasized the tragedy of his death. In early 2006 the central synagogue of Tapuah began building a library in Natan-Zada's honor.
Some Israeli media outlets initially suggested that Natan-Zada be buried in the West Bank settlement of
Kiryat ArbaKiryat Arba or Qiryat Arba is an Israeli settlement with local council status in the Judean Mountains region of the West Bank adjoining the city of Hebron. In 2008 it has a population of 7,200.-Name:...
, where
Baruch GoldsteinBaruch Kappel Goldstein was an American born Israeli physician who perpetrated the 1994 Cave of the Patriarchs massacre in the city of Hebron, killing 29 Muslims at prayer in the Ibrahimi Mosque and wounding another 150 in a shooting attack.-Biography:Goldstein was born in Brooklyn, New York to an...
, the
KahanistKahanism is a term named after Israeli Rabbi Meir Kahane . It refers to an organization and, more generally, to other movements or groups that share a belief in the fundamental tenets of its ideology...
who shot dead 29 and wounded 125 Palestinians in the
Cave of the Patriarchs massacreThe Cave of the Patriarchs massacre was an attack on Muslim Palestinians praying at the mosque in the Cave of the Patriarchs in the West Bank city of Hebron on February 25, 1994. Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli-American settler, off-duty IDF army reservist captain and member of the extremist Kach...
11 years earlier, is buried. Natan-Zada's body resided for two days in the Abu-Kabir
morgueA morgue or mortuary is a building or room used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification, or removal for autopsy or burial, cremation or some other post-death ritual...
, pending an appeal to Prime Minister Sharon by his parents. On August 7 2005, the Prime Minister's Bureau overruled Meir Nitzan's ban against burial in
Rishon LeZionRishon LeZion , is the fourth-largest city in Israel, located along the central Israeli coastal plain. It is part of the Gush Dan metropolitan area. The city had a population of 224,300 at the end of 2007...
, and decreed that Zada should be buried in the civilian cemetery there. He was buried in the Gordon neighborhood. Because of the delays, Natan-Zada was buried two days after Jewish law allows. Three of the hundreds of mourners at the burial were arrested with administrative arrest orders, including "New Kach" leader Efraim Hershkovits, American citizen Saadia Herskof, and former Kach activist Tiran Pollack's son Gilad.
Victim compensation
After the event, the
IsraelIsrael officially the State of Israel , is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and Egypt on the southwest, and contains geographically diverse features within its...
i
Defense MinistryThe Defense Minister of Israel is head of the Ministry of Defense in Israel. The post is considered to be the second most important position in the Israeli cabinet, and usually has a Deputy Minister. The Defense Minister is also a permanent member of the Security Cabinet...
ruled that the four Arab Israelis shot dead were not victims of terror because their killer was not part of an organization deemed "hostile to Israel", and are thus not entitled to the usual compensation for life lost due to terror attacks. According to Mayan Malkin, a spokeswoman with the Israeli Defense Ministry, an attacker must be a member of the "enemy forces" against Israel to be considered a terrorist under the law. Instead, they received payment "beyond the letter of the law," as a lump-sum payment, as opposed to the lifelong monthly annuity given to the families of terror victims. Arab Israeli leaders condemned the decision, with Mohammed Barakeh, an Arab member of the Israeli parliament, saying that the "…decision raises a strong scent of racism, which distinguishes between a Jewish terrorist and an Arab terrorist." On July 19, 2006, the Israeli government changed the "Compensation Law for Victims of Hostile Acts" to include anyone victimized by violence stemming from the Israeli-Arab conflict. As a result of this change, the victims and families of Natan-Zada became eligible for terror compensation.
See also
- Shefa-Amr#Violent incident in Shefa-Amr
- Mohammad Barakeh#Violence in Shfar'am
External links
- Jewish Settler Kills Four Israeli Arabs In Attack on Bus, August 4 2005, The Washington Post
- Sharon Condemns Attack by "Bloodthirsty Jewish Terrorist", Talks to Arab Leaders, August 5 2005, Combined Jewish Philanthropies
- Extremist's body left on a slab in morgue, August 5 2005, Independent Online, South Africa
- Zada Finally Buried; His Death Will be Investigated, August 7 2005, Arutz Sheva (Channel 7 news)
- "For Arabs Only: Israeli Law and Order." Jonathan Cook. CounterPunch. June 14, 2006.