On August 28, United States Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) ignited a firestorm after posting to Twitter a claim that Israel was dehumanizing Palestinians by not returning the body of an assailant, who in June had attempted to ram her car into IDF soldiers before exiting the vehicle while wielding a knife. She was subsequently shot dead.
Nevertheless, Tlaib wrote the following on the social media platform:
Meet Mai Afana’s mother, Khuloud, who is fighting to be able to bury her daughter & begin her healing. Mai was a mother, loving daughter & successful PhD student. She was killed by the Israeli government last June. Israel won’t release her body to her family.”
Meet Mai Afana’s mother, Khuloud, who is fighting to be able to bury her daughter & begin her healing. Mai was a mother, loving daughter & successful PhD student. She was killed by the Israeli government last June. Israel won’t release her body to her family. pic.twitter.com/kHehtA0yeW
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) August 28, 2021
First, there is the obvious fact that Tlaib failed to even note that Afana had committed an act of terrorism. Second, Afana was not killed by “the Israeli government” but, rather, by security forces who were intentionally targeted. Third, Tlaib alludes to an Israeli policy whose underpinnings she is clearly unfamiliar with.
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Legal justification for Israel keeping deceased terrorists
While Rashida Tlaib, in particular, and, more broadly, the international media have seemingly turned a blind eye to the ramifications of Israel returning the bodies of dead Palestinian terrorists, the country’s High Court of Justice has addressed the matter.
In 2019, it ruled that the military has the legal right to keep the bodies of slain terrorists. The justices determined that doing so is a matter of national security and that the practice was not illegal under international law governing armed conflict.
The ruling was effectively a judicial seal of approval of a 2018 parliamentary law that allowed district police commanders to determine whether to release terrorists’ bodies for burial. The law made stark that praise has repeatedly been lavished on dead terrorists at their funerals, which, in turn, has served to incite additional attacks.
Indeed, what Tlaib overlooks and what the media continually downplays is the culture of “martyrdom” that pervades Palestinian society.
For example:
- Street names being named after killers of Israelis
- Over 30 Palestinian schools named for terrorists and Nazi collaborators
- Camps named after terrorists
- Terror payments from the Palestinian Authority’s “Martyrs Fund”: monthly stipends to the families of terrorists killed, hurt, or imprisoned for attacking Israelis
Related Reading: Media MIA As Palestinians Name Camp After Terrorist
Tlaib, CNN, and the case of Ahmad Erekat
Tlaib’s August 28 tweet was the latest in a series of posts vilifying the Jewish state for defending its citizens. In 2020, she tweeted out to her 1.4 million followers:
I still remember the Erekat family’s plea last year to release their loving son, Ahmed’s body. Here is his story. @hrw and other human rights organizations have demanded an end to this disgusting practice, and the U.S. must join them in that demand.”
I still remember the Erekat family’s plea last year to release their loving son, Ahmed’s body. Here is his story. @hrw and other human rights organizations have demanded an end to this disgusting practice, and the U.S. must join them in that demand. https://t.co/coEykaXpSK
— Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) August 28, 2021
Besides dismissing Israel’s response to serious national security concerns as a ‘disgusting practice,’ Tlaib again engages in historical revisionism. Ahmad Erekat was caught on video committing an act of terrorism.
Security footage shows Erekat driving a car while approaching a checkpoint in Abu Dis, near Jerusalem. He suddenly accelerates while turning towards a group of Israeli security personnel. He then rams into a female officer, who is knocked into the air. After ignoring warnings issued after the initial incident, Erekat swiftly exited his vehicle, possibly in a bid to target more soldiers.
Related Reading: CNN Slams Israel’s Thwarting Of Car Ramming Attack As ‘Controversial’
Incredibly, CNN then produced this headline:
Erekat was not a member of any known terrorist group. So, partly in order to more effectively respond to the growing phenomenon of so-called lone wolf events, the Israeli security cabinet in late 2020 agreed to keep the bodies of all Palestinian attackers, regardless of whether or not they were affiliated with terrorist organizations.
Another reason for this was to apply pressure on Hamas to release from captivity Israelis Avera Mengistu and Hisham al-Sayed, as well as the bodies of soldiers Hadar Goldin and Oron Shaul.
As Defense Minister Benny Gantz said at the time: “Not returning the bodies of terrorists constitutes part of our commitment to maintain the security of Israel’s citizens, and of course to bring the boys home. I suggest to our enemy that they understand and internalize the message.”
Myopic media enable delusional Tlaib
The same news outlets that focus almost exclusively on the recurring tit-for-tat military exchanges between Israel and Palestinian terrorists give little consideration to the roots of the violence that the Jewish state must counter. In fact, the leadership in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip — the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, respectively — have brainwashed many children to believe that the loftiest goal in life is to become a martyr.
The media’s failure to adequately report on this undeniable reality has contributed to the emergence of a distorted zeitgeist, in which influential public figures such as Rashida Tlaib can advocate without fear of consequence on behalf of Palestinian terrorists while slamming Israelis for defending themselves.
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