Gruesome Palestinian “ethical” dilemma: Should rapist murderer be recognized as hero?
Gruesome Palestinian "ethical" dilemma:
- When a Palestinian murders an Israeli he is declared a "hero" - and receives a high PA salary in prison and legal support
- When a Palestinian rapes an Israeli he is declared a criminal - and receives no PA rewards
Now a Palestinian raped and murdered a 19-year-old Israeli woman
- Had he "only" murdered Ori Ansbacher, he would be declared a Palestinian "hero" and receive a high PA monthly salary and legal support during his trial
- Had he "only" raped her, he would be declared a criminal - and receive no PA rewards
But because he murdered and raped, what is the PA to do?
By Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
It sounds absurd, right? The current "ethical" dilemma facing the Palestinian Authority is this:
A Palestinian man, Arafat Arfiah, murdered 19-year-old Ori Ansbacher last week. Israeli reports stated that Arfiah had not only murdered Ansbacher but raped her as well.
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| Ori Ansbacher |
This possible rape presents the Palestinian Authority with an absurd "ethical" dilemma. The PA supports and pays a salary to anyone who is imprisoned for "fighting the occupation." This means that the PA pays a salary to anyone who murders an Israeli in a terror attack, and that the PA-funded Prisoners' Club provides legal representation to the terrorist in the Israeli court system.
However, rape is considered by the PA a "criminal act" and not a "nationalistic act" opposing "the occupation," and therefore a rapist is not entitled to any support - legally or financially.
Thus, according to PA "ethics," it is fine and even heroic to stab and kill a 19-year-old Israeli woman for "Palestine," but it is unacceptable to rape her. So when a Palestinian rapes and murders, like Arfiah did to an Israeli 19-year-old last week, what is the PA to do?
The chairman of the PA-funded Prisoners' Club Qadura Fares explained the twisted PA values and the resulting dilemma:
"The director of the prisoners club, Qadura Fares, told Haaretz that Irfaiya's family has not asked his group for any legal aid. 'If there will be such a request, we will consider it and send a defense lawyer to review his claims,' Fares, said. 'If it turns out there really was a sexual assault, we will pass on representation. That would make the case a criminal one, as far as we're concerned, and we object to anyone committing a criminal offense trying to pass it off as a nationalist act.'"
[Haaretz, Feb. 13, 2019]
Should the PA recognize the murderer as having acted out of nationalistic motivation, they will be paying him at least 1,400 shekels/month (approx. USD380) from the day of his arrest and his salary will eventually reach 12,000/month - about three times the average Palestinian salary.
Official PA TV's so-called "expert on Israeli affairs" Fayez Abbas also discussed the difference between "nationalistically motivated killing" which the PA would support and "criminal rape and murder":
PA TV "Israeli affairs expert" Fayez Abbas: "We will begin with the [Israeli] newspaper Yediot Aharonot, the main headline: 'The Israeli Security Agency: The nationalistically motivated killing of the female settler near Jerusalem.' Of course, I want to comment. Until yesterday evening [Feb. 10, 2019] the Israeli Security Agency had no decision on this matter, but pressure from families- the family of the killed woman and also some of the politicians from the right-wing - it could be that they pressured the Israeli Security Agency to publish something like this, as the operation (i.e., terror attack) - There is also a gag order on details about this topic - it is not only a killing [operation], but there was also the rape of the same settler girl, and afterwards she was murdered. In other words, there are those who think that it is of a criminal nature and not nationalistically motivated, but the Israeli Security Agency decided; and [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu - who visited the family yesterday [Feb. 10, 2019] in the settlement of Tekoa - updated the family about this."
[Official PA TV, Feb. 11, 2019]
Haaretz also quoted an unnamed "imprisoned senior Fatah official" who expressed views that are diametrically opposite to PA views and policy as documented by Palestinian Media Watch. The unnamed source was quoted as saying that murderer Arfiah is "not a human being" and that the murder was "unacceptable" even without the rape because "the murder victim was no soldier, and it didn't happen during wartime." However, this presentation of PA and Fatah as having these moral values is completely false. PMW has documented numerous PA and Fatah statements glorifying terrorist murderers who killed Israeli civilians.
Two examples are enough to show that official PA policy is to honor and glorify all terrorist murderers - including murderers of young Israelis hiking in forests. Mahmoud Abbas himself honored as "heroic brother" terrorist murderer Issa Abd Rabbo who killed two Israeli university students, Ron Levi and Revital Seri when they were hiking south of Jerusalem in October 1984. Abd Rabbo tied them up at gun point, put bags over their heads, and then shot and murdered them both. At the event celebrating murderer Abd Rabbo's and other terrorists' release in 2013, Abbas held up Abd Rabbo's hand in front of the cheering crowd and Abd Rabbo made the sign of victory.
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Terrorist Kifah Ghneimat attacked two female hikers with a machete and murdered Kristine Luken and severely injured Kay Wilson, who miraculously survived 13 stab wounds by pretending to be dead. Official PA TV referred to the murderer as "heroic," and invited his mother to tell viewers what his favorite food is during the Ramadan.
It is not surprising that the source Haaretz claimed to be citing criticizing the murder of an Israeli civilian was not named, because as PMW has shown, PA-Fatah policy is to honor all murderers of Israeli civilians, be they suicide bombers or drive-by shooters, or stabbers in the forest. Murderers of Israelis are the ultimate Palestinian Authority heroes. As Mahmoud Abbas recently said about Palestinian terrorist prisoners - among them many murderers - and "Martyrs" - including all suicide bombers:
"We view the Martyrs and prisoners as stars in the sky of the Palestinian people they have priority in everything..."
[Official PA TV, July 24, 2018]
PMW's recent report on Fatah use of Facebook in 2018 documents current Fatah glorification of murderers of hundreds of civilians murdered not in "wartime."
The following is a longer excerpt of the report in Haaretz:
Headline: "Palestinian Factions Turn Backs on Israeli Teen's Murderer Because He Raped Her
* 'If you want to be a hero, you don't kill an innocent woman,' jailed senior Fatah official says
* Hamas, Islamic Jihad refrain from taking credit for murder, which Shin Bet said had 'nationalistic' motive"
"Militant Palestinian factions, among them Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have refrained from taking credit for the murder of Ori Ansbacher because she was raped before she was killed.
The Palestinian Prisoners Club and other groups supporting jailed Palestinians have yet to send a lawyer to represent the suspect, 29-year-old Hebron resident Arafat Irfaiya. Imprisoned Fatah members have also distanced themselves from the incident and have opposed his being jailed in the wing identified with their faction. The Palestinian factions' silence is unusual, and contradicts the pattern of responses that usually follow terror attacks.
The director of the prisoners club, Qadura Fares, told Haaretz that Irfaiya's family has not asked his group for any legal aid. "If there will be such a request, we will consider it and send a defense lawyer to review his claims," Fares, said. "If it turns out there really was a sexual assault, we will pass on representation. That would make the case a criminal one, as far as we're concerned, and we object to anyone committing a criminal offense trying to pass it off as a nationalist act." Irfaiya is currently represented by the public defense.
A senior Fatah official imprisoned in Israel told Haaretz that he condemned Irfaiya's actions. He said that he and his colleagues have asked the Palestinian Authority not to pay Irfaiya a salary or to fund his defense. "Such behavior is totally unacceptable to us. Anyone who commits such acts is not a human being," the senior official said. "If an Arab girl had been there, he would have done the same thing. There is nothing nationalist in his acts."
He said the incident was an embarrassment to the Palestinian people and sent condolences to the family. "Even if it weren't a rape, such a murder is unacceptable," he stressed. "The murder victim was no soldier, and it didn't happen during wartime. If you want to be a hero, you don't go and kill an innocent woman who went to read a book in the forest."
The senior official said that Irfaiya will probably be jailed in the wing for Hamas prisoners, considering his family's ties to the faction. He reiterated that Fatah prisoners would not quietly accept any attempt to place him in their wing. "We will never accept such a man," he said. "This man should be in a criminal wing and be punished for what he did to the woman. If we catch him, no one will be able to protect him from harm."
Irfaiya, a 29-year-old resident of Hebron, confessed to raping Ansbacher and stabbing her to death in a forest next to Ein Yael in Jerusalem. The Shin Bet security service announced Monday night that Irfaiya, who previously served time for possessing a knife, committed the crime for political reasons. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu passed this message on to Ansbacher's family.
On Saturday night, the Israeli army mapped the suspect's home in Hebron ahead of a planned demolition. The Magistrate's Court in Jerusalem extended Irfaiya's remand by 10 days on Monday."
[Haaretz, Feb. 13, 2019]
Ori Ansbacher -19-year-old Israeli woman who was brutally attacked and stabbed to death by 29-year-old Palestinian terrorist Arafat Arfiah in Jerusalem on Feb. 7, 2019. Arfiah was apprehended on Feb. 8, 2019, and later confessed to the murder.