| Kidnapping and murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir | |
|---|---|
| Location | Shuafat, East Jerusalem Jerusalem Forest |
| Date | 2 July 2014 approx. 4:00 a.m. (IDT, UTC+03:00) |
Attack type | Death by bludgeoning and burning |
| Deaths | 1 |
| Perpetrators |
|
No. of participants | 3 |
| Motive | Revenge for 2014 kidnapping and murder of Israeli teenagers[1][2][3] |
| Convictions |
|
The kidnapping and murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir occurred early on the morning of 2 July 2014. Khdeir, a 16-year-old Palestinian, was forced into a car by Israeli citizens on an East Jerusalem street.[4] His family immediately reported the fact to Israeli Police who located his charred body a few hours later at Givat Shaul in the Jerusalem Forest. Preliminary results from the autopsy suggested that he was beaten and burnt while still alive.[5][6][7][8] The perpetrators subsequently claimed that the attack was a response to the abduction and murder of three Israeli teens on 12 June.[2][3] The murders contributed to a breakout of hostilities in the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.[9][10]
On Sunday, 6 July, police took into custody six Jewish suspects for interrogation.[4][11] One confessed quickly, incriminating three others, some of them minors, and they were put on remand for 8 days. Within a day, three had confessed and reenacted the murder at the scene of the crime.[12] Three other suspects were released as unconnected with the crime, though they heard about it from the alleged murderers.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas blamed the murder on the Israeli government and demanded Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu condemn it "as we condemned the kidnapping of the three Israelis".[13] The attack was widely condemned in Israel.[14] Khdeir's family members have, however, blamed government incitement for the murder and rejected the PM's condolence message, as well as a visit by then President Shimon Peres.[15][16][17] The day the suspects were arrested, the family of one of the Israeli victims, the Fraenkels, called the family of Abu Khdeir to condemn the murder and offer their condolences.[15] The Fraenkels said they understand the magnitude of the loss and that they oppose any act of violence either by Jews or Arabs.[18] The murder was condemned by the families of the three murdered Israeli teens, who sent Khdeir's family their condolences.[19]
In the aftermath of Khdeir's murder, one of his cousins, Tariq Khdeir, a 15-year-old Palestinian-American boy, was beaten by Israeli police officers in an assault caught on camera.[20] Another one of his cousins, a 19-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir,[21] was detained by the Israeli police during a 28 July 2014 protest. Though he was an American citizen, Israel failed to notify US authorities of the arrest and the US has accused Israel of singling out Khdeir family members for arrest.[20][22]
When Israel included Khdeir in its Victims of Acts of Terror Memorial at Mount Herzl, the family obtained its immediate removal. They had not been consulted, dismissed the inclusion as a bid to improve Israel's image, rebuffed the idea of him being memorialized among fallen Israeli soldiers who "killed his relatives in Gaza, Lebanon and the West Bank",[23] stated the trial of the suspects was being dragged out, and complained that several months earlier, the Jerusalem council had forced them to remove his image from outside their home after it had hung there for four months, by threatening them with a per diem $500 fine, on the grounds it contravened a local Israeli law.[24][25]
On 30 November 2015, the two minors involved were found guilty of Khdeirs' murder, and were respectively sentenced to life and 21 years imprisonment on 4 February. On 3 May 2016, Ben David was sentenced to life in prison and an additional 20 years.[26]
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