PA Mufti demands bodies of synagogue murderers

PA Mufti demands bodies of 

synagogue murderers:
 “It is the Martyrs’ right for us to pray for them,

and this is a right according to Shari’ah.

Their relatives, friends and loved ones

also have the right to see them one last time”

Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik

Two weeks ago terrorists Ghassan and Uday Abu Jamal entered a synagogue in West Jerusalem and attacked worshippers with guns, knives and axes. They murdered five and injured seven people, three of them seriously. The terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli police that arrived on the scene.

Now the Palestinian Authority Mufti, Sheikh Muhammad Hussein, demands that Israel transfer the bodies of the dead murderers, who he calls Martyrs (Shahids), a term of the highest honor in Islam. He explained: “It is the Martyrs’ right for us to pray for them” and also so their relatives “may hold the funeral rites required by Muslim Shari’ah”:

“At a press conference at the mourners’ tent in Jabal Mukkaber on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2014, [PA] Mufti of Jerusalem Sheikh Muhammad Hussein called on the occupation authorities to return the bodies of the Martyrs (Shahids) to their relatives and the members of their village quickly, so that they may hold the funeral rites required by Muslim Shari’ah. Hussein continued: ‘It is the Martyrs’ right for us to pray for them, and this is a right according to Shari’ah. Their relatives, friends and loved ones also have the right to see them one last time, and no one gains anything from keeping the Martyrs’ bodies.’”

[The Capital City, bi-weekly distributed with
Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 2, 2014]

The attorney of the murderers’ families blamed Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu for the deaths of the “Martyrs” and said “an indictment must be submitted” against him:

Attorney Raed Bashir: “Given that the occupation forces are responsible for the deaths of eight people in the operation (i.e., the Jerusalem synagogue terror attack) - six settlers and the Martyrs Ghassan and Uday Abu Jamal - an indictment must be submitted against Prime Minister of the occupation Netanyahu, as he is responsible for the events in Jerusalem.”

Another article in the bi-weekly paper The Capital City, which is distributed with the official PA daily, also referred to the killers as “Martyrs,” stating that they carried out “a shooting and stabbing operation against extremist Jews”:

“November 18, 2014: Five Israelis were killed and 11 others wounded in a shooting and stabbing operation against extremist Jews, as they were exiting a synagogue in Agassi Street in western occupied Jerusalem. Palestinians Ghassan and Uday Abu Jamal from the neighborhood of Jabal Mukkaber, who carried out the attack, died a Martyr.”

[The Capital City, bi-weekly distributed with Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 2, 2014]

Yet a third article showed a poster of the two “Martyrs” with the Al-Aqsa compound in the background and a photo of one of the victims from the synagogue attack. Text on the poster read: “At your command, Al-Aqsa.” The article described in detail how the terrorists carried out the attack:

“The young men succeeded in entering the institution, and one of them immediately opened fire on the settlers, while the other [began] killing them with an ax, shouting ‘Allah is greater.’” 

[The Capital City, bi-weekly distributed with Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 2, 2014]

Abbas’ PA TV has also presented the two murderers as victims, as reported by Palestinian Media Watch, and Fatah officials have explained away Abbas’ condemnationof the synagogue murders.

The following are longer excerpts of the report on the Mufti’s demand to transfer the bodies of the murderers to the PA and the reports on the attack itself:

“At a press conference at the mourners’ tent in Jabal Mukkaber on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2014, [PA] Mufti of Jerusalem Sheikh Muhammad Hussein called on the occupation authorities to return the bodies of the Martyrs (Shahids) to their relatives and the members of their village quickly, so that they may hold the funeral rites required by Muslim Shari’ah. Hussein continued: ‘It is the Martyrs’ right for us to pray for them, and this is a right according to Shari’ah. Their relatives, friends and loved ones also have the right to see them one last time, and no one gains anything from keeping the Martyrs’ bodies.’...

Raed Bashir, the attorney of the family of Martyrs Ghassan and Uday Abu Jamal and advisor of the Jabal Mukkaber Lands Defense Council, said: ‘The occupation authorities’ recent destruction of dozens of homes in the village of Jabal Mukkaber comes as part of the policy of collective punishment Israel is adopting against the residents of Jerusalem.’ At a press conference today at the home of Martyrs [Ghassan and Uday] Abu Jamal in Jabal Mukkaber, Bashir noted...: ‘Given that the occupation forces are responsible for the deaths of 8 people in the operation (i.e., the Jerusalem synagogue terror attack) - 6 settlers and the Martyrs Ghassan and Uday Abu Jamal - an indictment must be submitted against Prime Minister of the occupation Netanyahu, as he is responsible for the events in Jerusalem.’”

[The Capital City, bi-weekly distributed
with Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 2, 2014]

“Details of the operation (i.e., the Jerusalem synagogue terror attack):

Five settlers were killed and seven others injured, of whom three were said to be in serious condition, in an attack carried out by Palestinians in the ‘synagogue-yeshiva’ religious institution in the settlement of Givat Shaul (i.e., Jerusalem neighborhood within the Green Line), which is situated on the lands of the occupied village of Deir Yassin in West Jerusalem. According to the details, the young men succeeded in entering the institution, and one of them immediately opened fire on the settlers, while the other [began] killing them with an ax, shouting ‘Allah is greater.’ It should be noted that one of the men had worked as a janitor in the synagogue where the attack was carried out, and the other worked in a store opposite the synagogue; the two were cousins. They carried out the operation with the help of a third person, who provided them with a gun and a hand grenade which did not explode, in addition to the axes.

It should be noted that one of the victims in the Jerusalem operation was Rabbi Moshe Twersky, head of the ‘Torat Moshe’ community, and one of the great leaders of the extremist Shas movement.

The men who carried out the Jewish synagogue operation:

Martyr (Shahid) Ghassan Abu Jamal, 27, married and father of 3, and MartyrUday Abu Jamal, 22. They were cousins from the village of Jabal Mukkaber, in southeast occupied Jerusalem. The two Martyrs belong to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, and were released prisoners.”

Text on logo at top of image: “At your command, Al-Aqsa”

Text at bottom of image: “Ghassan and Uday Abu Jamal”

In the upper right corner of the image, one of the victims is shown lying on the ground; in the background - the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

[The Capital City, bi-weekly distributed
with Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 2, 2014]

“November 17, 2014: Yussuf Al-Ramouni, 32, a resident of the At-Tur neighborhood east of the Old City of Jerusalem, died a Martyr (Shahid) after being strangled by a group of settlers on the night between Sunday and Monday [Nov. 15-16, 2014]. He was found hanged from a bar in his bus, and his colleagues think it likely he was martyred by a group of between 6 to 10 extremist settlers...

November 18, 2014: Five Israelis were killed and 11 others wounded in a shooting and stabbing operation against extremist Jews, as they were exiting a synagogue in Agassi Street in western occupied Jerusalem. Palestinians Ghassan and Uday Abu Jamal from the neighborhood of Jabal Mukkaber, who carried out the attack, died a Martyr.”

[The Capital City, bi-weekly distributed
with Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Dec. 2, 2014]

Notes:Yussuf Al-Ramouni - Arab bus driver from East Jerusalem who was found hanged at a bus terminal in Jerusalem on Nov. 16, 2014. Although an autopsy performed by the Israeli Abu Kabir Forensic Institute and a pathologist chosen by the family of Al-Ramouni revealed no signs of violence, Palestinian leaders and media immediately presented the incident as a murder perpetrated by Jewish settlers. The Palestinian pathologist since changed his mind, claiming that there were signs of violence on the body and that it could not have been suicide.

Jerusalem synagogue terror attack - On Nov. 18, 2014, two Arab terrorists,Ghassan and Uday Abu Jamal from East Jerusalem, entered a synagogue inJerusalem and attacked worshippers with guns, knives and axes, killing 4 worshippers and a police officer. 7 people were injured, 3 of them seriously. The terrorists were killed in an exchange of fire with Israeli Security Forces that arrived on the scene.