This week the Israeli justice system showed that despite unrelenting attacks by right wing politicians, including Prime Minister Netanyahu, the courts still are independent, and have the power and the courage, to hand out justice where justice is due.
The Jewish terrorist Amiram Ben-Uliel, was handed three life sentences and an additional twenty years, by the Lod District court for the premeditated murder of Sa’ed Dawabsheh, his wife Riham Dawabsheh and their 18 months old son Ali. Ben-Uliel planned and executed a firebombing attack of the house of the Dawabsheh family in Duma, in the Occupied West Bank that resulted in the death of the infant, while the parents died days later in hospital. A 4-year-old son was wounded but survived.
Throughout the trial and afterwards, attempts were made to influence the court and its deliberations, by politicians as well as other “interested” persons and organizations but in the end the court stood fast and delivered its verdict of guilty of three murders.
The question of “equal” justice for Jews and Arabs (Palestinians) in Israel has been raised often and mostly depending on political inclinations, accusations have been that Arabs are treated more harshly than Jews and that punishment for the same or similar crimes varies a lot, depending on the ethnicity of the criminal. And sometimes it is not so easy to understand the deliberations of the courts, (while most of the time people don’t bother to read them before making accusations).
An important problem with the system though lies in the fact that Palestinians from the Occupied Territories, in particular those that are accused of terrorist activity or what is termed in Israel as terrorist activity, are brought before the military courts whereas Jews (even Jews living in the Occupied Territories) are under the jurisdiction of the civilian courts. And without accusing the military courts of bias, one way or the other, the fact remains that the punishments for (relatively) minor crimes are often harsh and incomprehensible.
While the murder of a Jew in the West Bank will almost automatically be treated as a terrorist act and punished severely, the murder of an Arab in Israel proper will be treated as a crime and sentences will be more lenient. (This is mostly due to the different nature of a military and civilian court, but also of course to the automatic definition that killing a Jew is an act of terrorism.
The problem of Jewish terrorism has become more and more acute over the years and especially the so-called “Hilltop Youth”, and their fanatic religious leaders, are a menace that is hardly being controlled by authorities, and if this is a result of political pressure (many politicians are pleased with having these youngsters do Israel’s dirty work), or simply a lack of interest, does not really matter, for Palestinians the terrorism is real. Burned down orchards, destroyed crops, graffiti on houses and mosques, damaged and destroyed vehicles, harassment and physical attacks, killed farm animals you name it, it is an almost daily threat without the authorities able (or willing) to do something serious about it.
The triple murder in Duma, did touch a sensitive nerve though and even the Shin Bet has stated that the problem of Jewish terrorism is being dealt with more intensively and successfully since this horrific act of Jewish terrorism.
And the court did its part. Three life sentences is what the military courts would hand down to a Palestinian triple murderer as well and while the accused will most likely still appeal to the Supreme Court, significant changes to the verdict are not expected.
One thing remains a glaring injustice. In the Occupied Territories, the Israeli army will often destroy the home of the (alleged) terrorist, even before the man stands trial and is convicted. While the Israeli Supreme Court has intervened more than once to stop or control these blatantly illegal actions, the homes of Jewish terrorists have not been destroyed ever, and the Supreme Court has refused to order such destruction on the grounds that under Israeli law, the demolishing of the house of a terrorist is not allowed as punishment but as a deterrence only and there are “much less” Jewish terrorists than Palestinian terrorists, so much less Jewish terrorists need to be “deterred”. A rather surprising judgment but as Menachem Begin famously said when his ministers demanded that a Supreme Court ruling declaring the Elon Moreh settlement illegal should be ignored (in 1979): There are Judges in Jerusalem”.
Of course with the incessant attacks on the court system in general and the Supreme Court in particular, by Benjamin Netanyahu and his cronies, maybe someone should remind him and them, that there are (still) Judges in Jerusalem.
I hope you found this article interesting and I welcome any comments you may have.
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