Family of Har Nof massacre terrorist stripped of medical benefits

Interior Ministry to deport wife and three children of Arab killer, destroy east Jerusalem home

By DANIEL K. EISENBUD
har nof ceremony 7 days after terror attack (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
har nof ceremony 7 days after terror attack
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
The wife and three children of one of the Arab terrorists responsible for November’s Har Nof massacre have been stripped of their state-sponsored health-care benefits after the Israeli government announced it would deport the killer’s family.
According to Arab media, one of the children of Ghassan Muhammad Abu Jamal – who along with his cousin Uday Abu Jamal butchered four Israelis praying in a west Jerusalem synagogue and shot a Border Police officer – was denied medical treatment following the attack.
Nadia Abu Jamal, of east Jerusalem’s Jebl Mukaber neighborhood, said she attempted to bring her fiveyear- old son for treatment at an area hospital but was turned away when staff members informed the widow she and her children had been stripped of medical insurance.
In a subsequent attempt to get the child treatment for the undisclosed condition, Jamal had a relative escort the boy to another area hospital using the identity of one of his cousins, a family member told the Gulf News newspaper.
It is unclear if the child was treated following the ruse.
Less than 10 days after the November 18 terrorist attack that rattled the nation, Interior Minister Gilad Erdan announced plans to revoke Nadia Abu Jamal’s residency and force her to leave the country and forfeit all future monetary and social benefits from the state.
Under the family reunification law, Jamal, a Palestinian, was allowed to live in Israel because her husband was a permanent resident.
“Everyone who is involved in terrorism needs to take into account the effects it could have on family members as well,” Erdan said of the decision.
The ministry also announced that the neighboring homes of the two terrorists would be demolished.
“Several collective punishment measures have been applied against the Abu Jamal family since Ghassan and Uday attacked the synagogue,” a Jamal family spokesman told Gulf News. “The family, however, has been trying its utmost to reduce the consequences of the Israeli punitive measures.”
The family has appealed the demolition orders and Jamal plans to marry one of her husband’s five brothers so she can remain in Jerusalem, the spokesman added.