An open and shut case?
Meet Hakim and Amjad Awad (top left). They stand accused of the murders of Udi, Ruti, Yova, Elad and Hadas Fogel HY"D (may God avenge their blood) in Itamar a little over a month ago. From this article, it sounds like the case against them is pretty much open and shut. Awarta has 8,000 inhabitants. Suspicion fell at first on the local Kawarik clan, two of whose male members had been killed a year earlier in an incident involving the IDF. It was thought that the motive was revenge for those deaths and dozens of men from the Kawarik family were arrested and questioned.But here's the scariest part:
But that line of inquiry proved fruitless. None of the suspects turned out to have any connection to the murders.
The investigation, carried out jointly by the IDF and Shin Bet, intensified as DNA samples were taken from men and women in Awarta, in an attempt to match forensic evidence from the Fogel house with a specific family in the village.
Finally, on April 5, over three weeks after the murder, in an operation carried out by the elite Duvdevan unit, 17-year-old Hakim Awad was arrested at his home in Awarta and, under Shin Bet questioning, admitted to having participated in the murders. He gave away the name of his partner, 18-year-old Amjad Awad - no relation - who was arrested five days later.
Palestinian spokesmen said that the two had confessed under torture, but Israeli sources denied that any physical or illegal pressure had been used. Their confessions were borne out by the DNA matches.
"While both suspects grew up in families that were affiliated with the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), there is no evidence that they carried out their actions in co-ordination with any organisation," said a senior Shin Bet official. "This was a private initiative and very few people in the village knew about it."How many more 'Palestinian' kids are there who are 16, 17 and 18, who have grown up on incitement and who might undertake this kind of thing as a 'private initiative'? Hundreds? Thousands? I understand how the IDF can stop an organized terror group, but how can it stop two kids who decide on their own to become shahids? The answer is that they probably can't.
Another point that bears making here. The reason these murders were resolved relatively quickly is that the IDF and the Shin Bet undertook the investigation and kept it away from the 'Palestinian Authority.' Knowing that the 'Palestinian Authority' could get involved - and knowing what is likely to happen to the murderers if they do - is an incentive for the IDF and the Shin Bet to treat each such investigation as a top priority. Compare that to the murder of Juliano Mer-Khamis two weeks ago, which the IDF has left to the 'Palestinian Authority' to handle. There has been no news and no arrests. And given Mer-Khamis' unpopularity in Jenin, I don't expect any either.
Labels: Amjad Awad, Fogel family massacre, Hakim Awad, Itamar, Palestinian terrorism, Shama Awad
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 3:42 PM
2 Comments:
When you see what they are taught in school about hating Jews and killing them, all those videos of mickey mouse and cute little animals telling them the Jews stole palestinian land and that their capital city is Jerusalem, it is not surprising.
Still wondering whether the Dayton training is including how to defeat Israeli security systems... you'd think that cutting through? going over or under? the fences would set off an alarm. I wouldn't count on 100% restraint (even in the U.S. at this point), so a security system with operational parameters not given away in Dayton training would be uppermost.
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