Uncle of slain Hebron attacker: Jailing soldier won’t help, he should apologize
Fathi al-Sharif urges Israel to return his nephew’s body, says continuation of peace process ‘most important’ thing
Dov Lieber is a former Times of Israel Arab affairs correspondent.
The uncle of a disarmed Palestinian attacker shot dead by an IDF soldier in Hebron last month told The Times of Israel that he does not think jailing the infantryman will achieve anything and that he should apologize.
“What happened, happened. It won’t help me or the family if he is in jail,” Fathi al-Sharif, 55, said during a phone conversation Tuesday from his Hebron home.
Sgt. Elor Azaria was charged with manslaughter on Monday for the killing of 21-year-old Abdel Fattah al-Sharif in the aftermath of a March 24 stabbing attack against soldiers in the West Bank city.
Al-Sharif stressed that the outcome of the court case against Azaria matters little to him.
“What is important to me is that the soldier should admit what he did was wrong, apologize to the family, and please, please they should return my nephew’s body,” he said.
Israel has held on to the bodies of some Palestinians killed while carrying out attacks until families agreed not to conduct funerals that could turn into nationalist rallies.
Fathi al-Sharif cast doubt on whether Azaria would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. He said he was not aware of comments made Tuesday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calling for “balance” during Azaria’s trial.
Azaria has been in detention since shortly after the incident, angering his family and some right-wing activists and politicians, who accuse the army of abandoning the soldier. Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon said after the killing that the soldier was not a hero, and castigated MKs who had expressed support for him.
Fathi al-Sharif stressed that beyond the case of his nephew, improving relations between Israelis and Palestinian must be the top priority.
“The most important thing is that the peace process should continue. We need to increase the love between the two peoples who are living side by side next to each other.”
“We have had enough of the killing and the hatred,” he added.
“I don’t hate any Jews,” said al-Sharif. “But there is one thing I do hate and that must end, and that is the occupation.”
A rally in support of Azaria at Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square on Tuesday night drew around 2,000 people, according to a Times of Israel reporter — far fewer than the tens of thousands expected by the organizers.
Judah Ari Gross and Raoul Wootliff contributed to this report
The Times of Israel Community.