The suspects are associated with La Familia, a racist gang of supporters of the Beitar Jerusalem football club
Israel announced yesterday it had arrested six Israeli Jews wanted in the murder of Palestinian youth, Mohamed Abu Khdeir.
The leader of the suspects is apparently Ezra Batzri*, the grandson of a well-known Jerusalem rabbi and a member of the Jerusalem Beitar racist fan club, La Familia. Batzri is from Har Nof, a primarily Orthodox neighborhood in Jerusalem with a large Mizrahi (oriental) population.
Murder is murder, whether of a Palestinian youth or the three Jewish teenagers last week near Gush Etzion. If found guilty, these members of La Familia would represent the most extremist fringe of the 'bad boys' of football. The reprehensible activities of La Familia will have caused a wave of popular revulsion in Israel. They can never be condoned or rationalised. They must be condemned in the strongest terms.
If only the great mass of Palestinians would condemn the kidnapping and brutal murder of the Jewish teenagers as vigorously - instead of gleefully putting up the three-finger salute of approval and handing out sweets in celebration.
The alleged involvement of Mizrahim in the despicable murder of Mohamed Abu Khdeir is utterly deplorable. Might persecution in Arab countries just have something to do with their anti-Arab racism? While it can never excuse it, it might explain some of their behaviour.
Passing the Buck on the Bad Boys of football
* Update: the original source implicating Batzri has now been deleted. No suspects have officially been named.
Soccer thugs who 'burn buildings will burn people next' (Tablet)
Of course it "explains" something. Centuries of oppression by Arabs has left a scar and hurt pride.
ReplyDeleteRemember, Baruch Goldstein wasn't a "Mizrachi" but rather a damn good doctor that got fed up from setting the time of death of neighbors and friends murdered by Arabs. Murder, of course, is never justified. Understandable? Perhaps.
Thank you Shilotoren! You have expressed my own feelings. These are people at the end of their tether. To murder this little kid is wrong and evil but this is war. And so far here in UK we have been deluged from nazi press/BBC about how terrible Jews are, the Pals are right, but no mention of 3 Jewish Israei teens kidnapped and murdered.
ReplyDeleteUnderstandable is right.
It might have been more "understandable" had the murderers of the Arab youth gone after someone actually making trouble for Jews and not some vulnerable kid who happened to be by himself at the time.
ReplyDeleteAlthough done in "hot blood" what they did was just as evil and cruel as the murderers of Shelly Dadon and the three yeshiva students.
What is your source for this story? I had originally posted the same thing on my blog, but I believe that this is incorrect. See http://mystical-politics.blogspot.co.il/2014/07/you-shall-love-stranger-as-yourself-six.html.
ReplyDeleteMy source was that Tweet from the Shomron Settlers Committee. Thanks for telling me it has been deleted. I used 'alleged', 'apparently', to indicate that this is still speculative information.
ReplyDelete