Son of terror victims arrested for Independence Day swastika display

A man who lost his parents and three of his siblings in a suicide bombing was arrested when he displayed a Nazi swastika as a protest in a land dispute with the state that threatens a planned memorial site for the members of his family who were killed.

Police detained Meir Schijveschuurder on Tuesday night after he planted the Nazi flag on his land alongside the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, Maariv reported Wednesday.

“Our society sanctifies symbols but it doesn’t sanctify people,” he raged. “The last time this flag had any significance was 70 years ago. I have to deal with the flags of my enemies being displayed in the media. I see politicians shaking hands with our enemies in the media, after they murdered my family.”

Schijveschuurder’s immediate family was devastated when a Palestinian suicide bomber blew up a Sbarro pizza restaurant in downtown Jerusalem, killing 15. Schijveschuurder’s parents — both children of Holocaust survivors — and three of their eight children were killed in the blast. Mahmoud Daghlas, who planned the attack, and Ahlam Tamimi, a female university student who escorted the bomber to the restaurant, were both jailed by Israel but then freed in 2011 as part of the prisoner exchange deal that gained the release of kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit.

Schijveschuurder is protesting the unilateral expropriation of 40 dunams (10 acres) of his family’s land at the site, which it wants to use as a memorial and visitor’s center for its deceased family members.

In June 2012 Schijveschuurder, a lawyer, sued the Transportation Ministry and the state for seizing the land and offering NIS 172,000 ($47,400) in compensation. According to the report, the family has already invested more than NIS 2 million ($550,000) in preparing the site as a memorial.

At first the family thought the land was needed for expansion of the adjacent highway, which is one of the country’s busiest roads. However, after Schijveschuurder was invited to a meeting with Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz to try to resolve the dispute, it became clear that the land was to be used for offices and services for the contractor who maintains the road.

“I thought they were going to really try and resolve the issue,” Schijveschuurder said of the meeting. “But instead they just offered me even less, just NIS 140,000.”

In protest, Schijveschuurder bought a swastika flag and displayed it on Sunday night, as Memorial Day began. Motorists on the highway complained and the police ordered Schijveschuurder to remove the banner.

“A police officer took down the flag and left, ” Schijveschuurder said. “It wasn’t legal because they entered my private property.”

On Tuesday night, as Israel celebrated its 65th Independence Day, Schijveschuurder displayed the flag again. Within minutes, police arrived and told him he was engaging in a racist act. Although there is no law in Israel forbidding the display of a swastika, Schijveschuurder was arrested. He was released after half an hour without charges or conditions.

Schijveschuurder vowed to continue displaying the swastika flag as part of his campaign.