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Tuesday, August 5, 2025
Knesset panel to discuss moving Haifa-area grave of ‘father of terrorism’ Qassam
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSam Sokol is a former political correspondent at The Times of Israel. He was previously a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Haaretz. He is the author of "Putin’s Hybrid War and the Jews"
The Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee will hold a hearing next week to discuss the possibility of moving the grave of notorious Muslim extremist Izzedine al-Qassam, the namesake of Hamas’ military wing, who is buried in the town of Nesher, north of Haifa.
According to the Walla news site, newly appointed chairman Yitzhak Kroizer (Otzma Yehudit) has stated that “we must remove the disgrace and moral stain that the father of terrorism, Izzedine al-Qassam, is buried on state land, and therefore I will hold the first hearing in the Interior Committee on the removal of the grave of the arch-terrorist.”
“Our demand is to move his grave, or use it as a bargaining chip in negotiations to return the hostages. Or he will be buried in a cemetery for terrorists,” he said.
Born in Syria, Qassam was a Muslim extremist who fought against French colonialism in Syria and later against the British rulers of Mandatory Palestine as well as Zionist settlers. He orchestrated many murders of Jews in Palestine during the 1930s. Hamas’s military wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades, is named after him, as are the crude Qassam rockets that have been fired from Gaza into Israeli population centers in the south of the country.
Kroizer was appointed as chairman of the committee yesterday, replacing United Torah Judaism MK Yaakov Asher, whose party recently left the coalition over a dispute regarding the conscription of yeshiva students.
After accepting his position, Kroizer said that he will serve until Asher’s return.
The Times of Israel Community.