Israel Matzav

'What he did is a duty for all Palestinians'

'What he did is a duty for all Palestinians.' That's how the father of Salam Zaghal, the 21-year old terrorist who murdered 31-year old Evyatar Borovsky at Tapuach junction on Wednesday, defended his son's actions.

While the family of the dead settler mourned their loss, the Zaghal family, living in poverty in the north of the Palestinian territory, defended Salam's action as justified.

"It was destiny, and we take pride in him as a family. What he did is a duty for all Palestinians living with the aggression of the army and settlers," his elderly father Assad said, sitting with glum relatives in a circle of plastic chairs.

The slaying of 31-year-old Evyatar Borovsky was the first time an Israeli had been killed by a Palestinian in the West Bank since 2011, when seven Israelis died, including a family of two settlers and their three young children all knifed to death.

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While Salam's deed may bring esteem to his family among some Palestinians, it may not erase an old taint in this run-down village - his brother Abdulfattah's conviction by Palestinian authorities of spying for Israel.

According to Reuters, Israeli security forces say they are investigating whether Salam's attack was meant to clear the family name, something the family denies. Palestinian society reviles suspected spies and families seldom live down the shame of being linked to one.

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Salam was released from an Israeli jail just two months ago after completing a 3-1/2-year term for planting explosives by Israel's separation barrier near his village and trying to wrest a gun from a soldier, his family said.

"They let him out of one prison and into what? This open-air prison?" asked his brother Ali.

"He had no job lately and he was talking more and more about the martyrdom of the prisoners in Israeli jail. He felt deeply about their suffering, but he seemed normal," he said.

How does one make 'peace' with people like this? The answer is that one does not. One lives or one dies.

Labels: Palestinian terrorism

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:18 PM