Almagor protests designation of slain Arab youth as terror victim

Defense Ministry recognizes Muhammed Abu Khdeir as victim of hostile action; Indor: "Will his name be on Mount Herzl? Are they stupid?"

By LAHAV HARKOV, YAAKOV LAPPIN
Muhammad Abu Khdeir (photo credit: REUTERS)
Muhammad Abu Khdeir
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Defense Ministry recognized slain east Jerusalem teenager, Muhammad Abu Khdeir, as a victim of hostile action, following an indictment served against suspects in his murder on Thursday.
The decision means that Abu Khdeir's family will get benefits from the state of Israel and he should be on the list of names on Israel's Memorial Day for victims of terror attacks, from now on.
Almagor Terror Victims Association director Lt.-Col. (res.) Meir Indor said his organization will fight the decision, even if it means lobbying to have a law changed in the Knesset.
According to Indor, the law to pay benefits to victims of terror was meant to support "those who were injured or the families of those killed by organizations that are enemies of the State of Israel.
"His killers should be put behind bars, but there is no connection between [Abu Khdeir's murder] and victims killed on the altar of the State of Israel's establishment," he said. "There are Arab victims too, I don't have a problem with that, but [Abu Khdeir] was killed by a group of criminals. This was a criminal murder.
"Will [Abu Khdeir's] name be on Mount Herzl? Are they stupid?" he asked.
Indor also said that the decision "creates a narrative of moral equivalency that helps the enemy's propaganda, that says even Israel [engages in terrorism]" and that "whoever makes the sides equal is an idiot."
However, Indor called the Palestinians' culture, in which terrorist organizations become political entities like Hamas and Fatah,  "a totally different planet" than a small group of Israelis who murdered the teenage boy.
"In Israel, terrorism isn't a hate crime, it's organized by a political force, by our enemy that wants to destroy Israel," Indor emphasized.
The state indicted the three suspects apprehended in the investigation of the murder of Abu Khdeir, the 16-year-old Palestinian from the east Jerusalem village of Shuafat.
The names of the defendants remain under a gag order. They are a man, 29, from the settlement of Adam, and two teenagers, a 16-year-old from Jerusalem and another from Beit Shemesh.
The three suspects were charged with murder and kidnapping as well as a slew of other crimes.
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.