Day after another systematic terrorism by Israeli settlers against Palestinian citizens and their property in the occupied West Bank especially in the northern West Bank is escalating with an official sponsorship from the Israeli government and the absence of any role for the Palestinian Authority.
The crime of burning alive the Dawabsha family in the town of Duma south of Nablus in 2015 and the murder of Aisha al-Rabi near Za’tara checkpoint in 2018 are part of a long series of attacks and crimes committed by Israeli settlers where the perpetrators enjoy impunity.
Religious decree to protect settler terrorism
The latest manifestation of the blatant complicity with the Israeli terrorists according to a report by the Center for Freedom News is the issuance of a religious decree by Jewish rabbis recently aimed at providing religious cover for the Israeli extremists who violated the sanctity of the Sabbath according to Jewish religious law to help the perpetrators of the murder of Aisha al-Rabi.
Settlers from the settlement of Yitzhar located in southern Nablus traveled to the settlement of Rahalim southeast of the city to teach the boys at the religious institute of Beri Ha-Haaretz how to act during their interrogation following the killing of Aisha al-Rabi.
The Shabak announced that five youths from the institute were arrested on suspicion of being behind the killing of al-Rabi on Friday October 10 after they threw stones at a car driven by her husband which caused her a head injury and eventually led to her death.
The religious decree was part of the so-called Jewish law of ‘saving the soul’ meaning allowing a group of ultra-extremist settlers to travel by car from Yitzhar settlement to the settlement of Rahalim on Saturday the day after the murder of the rabbi (to protect the Jewish murderers who killed the Palestinian woman).
The group was headed by Meir Ettinger known as the leader of an extremist group the grandson of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane and one of the suspects of the arson attack on the Dawabsha family.
The sources revealed that the purpose of the group’s visit was to guide the suspects in the killing of al-Rabi how to act during the investigation if arrested.
The decree was signed by a number of rabbis including Dov Lior Yehoshua Schmiden and Shavei Shomron who are known for their support for Israeli terrorism.
The rabbis did not only provide religious support for those involved in the crimes and their aides but also criticized the Shabak for allegedly torturing the five young settlers.
Accomplice legal system
The developments of the case of martyr al-Rabi a few days after the new developments in the trial of the killers of the Dawabsha family revealed the complicity of the Israeli judiciary in covering up the killers.
At the beginning of the new year the Israeli occupation court rejected the confession of a settler involved in the killing and burning alive of the Dawabsha family and other attacks including the burning of a church in Jerusalem as part of a Jewish terrorist group.
The Haaretz newspaper noted that the settler confessed his involvement in murder and arson in addition to the destruction of property but the court acquitted him of the charge of murder.
The court judges refused to accept the confession of the settler after his defense team claimed that he was under severe pressure from the Shabak investigators to confess which weakened the prosecution’s position and made them drop his conviction.
Dawabsha family
In June last year an Israeli military court rejected the confessions of three settlers who took part in the killing of the Dawabsha family and accepted only some confessions regarding the formation of a cell for Jewish terrorism.
Unstoppable terrorism
If the crimes of the Dawabsha and al-Rabi families are so horrendous that the occupation was forced to open an investigation in order to withdraw any pretexts for an international investigation even if the chances of punishing the murderers are weak hundreds of crimes and attacks committed by Israeli settlers each year take place with full impunity.
In recent months the cameras of Palestinian citizens have documented numerous attacks by settlers on the West Bank roads and at checkpoints at the sight of Israeli soldiers without arresting or even preventing them.
