Far-right activists hang poster of accused terrorist, noose in Jaffa
Otzma Yehudit members filmed putting up picture of Abed al-Karim Assi, indicted for murdering Itamar Ben-Gal, on clock tower
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Far-right Jewish activists hung a poster of an accused terrorist and a hangman’s noose from the clock tower in Jaffa overnight Thursday in what police say was an attempt to escalate tensions between Jews and Arabs in the mixed city.
Members of Otzma Yeduhit advocating for the death penalty for terrorists were filmed putting up the picture of Abed al-Karim Assi dressed only in underwear with a hangman’s noose next to him.
Assi was charged in March with the murder of Rabbi Itamar Ben-Gal, and is expected to receive a life sentence.
On February 5, 19-year-old Assi is believed to have stabbed Ben-Gal, 29, at a bus stop outside Ariel. Assi fled the scene, leading security forces on a month-long manhunt that ended with his arrest in the Palestinian city of Nablus.
In the video from Jaffa, one of the group’s leaders, Zvi Sukkot, and another activist are seen using a ladder to put up the picture.
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The group’s spokesman, former MK Michael Ben Ari, said it was an art exhibit prepared by a student from the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design.
“Human dignity and human rights belong to human beings and not to the scum of mankind who took a knife and slaughtered a father of four small children and left behind his young widow,” Ben Ari said, according to Ynet.
“This was someone who receives all the possible rights here,” Ben Ari said. “So there are those who want to show him in underwear, so that we should know to give respect to the lives of the residents of Israel and not to rotten murderers of this kind.”
Police removed the poster and said they have launched an inquiry into the incident. They claimed that the provocative move was intended to incite and harmed public order.
Itamar Ben Gvir, a lawyer and far-right activist, accused law enforcement of acting as “thought police.” He threatened to sue police if they summoned anyone for questioning over the incident.
In March, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman vowed he would pursue the death penalty for terrorists. A bill being pushed by his Yisrael Beytenu party that would apply to those convicted of fatal acts of terrorism passed a preliminary reading in the Knesset in January.
The Times of Israel Community.