Death Penalty for Terrorists Bill – Moral but not Smart - by Daniel Seaman

While there is no arguing terrorists should die – the “Death Penalty for Terrorists” bill is a political sham. There are other options available if the government is serious.

Zakariya Zubeida

Daniel Seaman..
MiDA..
04 January '17..
Link: http://en.mida.org.il/2018/01/04/death-penalty-terrorists-bill-moral-not-smart/

In the afternoon of September 13, 2004, a scream filled the halls of Beit Agron in Jerusalem, the home of many of the foreign media offices in Israel – “They killed Zaki, they killed Zaki, the bastards killed Zaki.” The person screaming was none other than a journalist for one of the leading British newspapers.

I served as the Director of the Government Press Office at the time and immediately approached her to find out what had happened. The concern was that one of her colleagues or employees of the newspaper had been killed. This concern dissipated quickly. When asked who Zaki was, she replied, “What do you mean? Zaki, Zaki Zubeida, and you killed him just now”. The person in question was terrorist murderer Zakariya Zubeida of Jenin and the “bastards” who killed him according to her were none other than us, the Israelis.

Zubeida was not killed that day. In the Israeli air force attempt to target him though, his deputy and two of his men were killed. In the first hours it was not clear who had been hurt, but the rumor spread quickly among the foreign correspondents that it was indeed Zubeida.

Zakariya Zubeida was a big star among the foreign press in those days, the days of Arab violence known as the “Intifada”. He met with them and escorted them through the streets of Jenin, bragging about his actions and the violent way he treated those he suspected of collaborating with the Jews. To his credit, he did not put a nice spin on things. Yet this did not prevent Reuters’ employees from having him star in a goodbye video they prepared for a colleague who was leaving the country. Their friend “Zaki” is shown in the video as the future head of their office in Ramallah.

I remembered this story this week when the death penalty for terrorists bill was promoted in the Knesset. Those who promote the law ignore the realities in the world and the attitude of the world towards our despicable enemies.

Let me clarify first that I believe a terrorist murderer should die. A terrorist should die on the spot. Terrorists are not enemy combatants and therefore the laws pertaining to warfare should not apply to them. They deserve no consideration, should not be taken prisoner nor be incarcerated. It is no coincidence that after the Elor Azaria incident it was quiet for seven months, because they understood that the Jews “have lost it”, so killing terrorists is a clear deterrent.

A court ruling on the death penalty, on the other hand, will turn an Arab terrorist into a international figure. The terrorist and his life story will be the subject of articles all over the world. His family and friends will be sought-after guests on any possible communication channel. They will become symbols. And Israel will fold. This is not a gut feeling or an assumption. This is based on past cases. It is enough to see how there are already those who are showing empathy for the wretched Tamimi family, glorifying their provocations and how the daughter has become a symbol.

Marwan Barghouti is an even better example. Barghouti, a despicable murderer, a miserable man with a vile and corrupt personality, is directly responsible for the murder of at least 4 people. He became a symbol that many of our politicians, no less miserable themselves, who honor him with prison visits.

I remember well the days of his trial. The media circus and the manner in which the media treated it and the celebration around it. The Palestinian Nelson Mandela they call him. It is not difficult to describe what would have happened in the world had he been sentenced to death.

Long past time to shut the revolving door for terrorist murderers

...Ziad Awad was originally imprisoned for murdering Palestinians that he suspected of “collaborating” with Israel. Had he received the death penalty for those crimes, Baruch Mizrachi would be alive today. Unfortunately, this is likely only part of the ultimate price of the Shalit deal.

Vic Rosenthal..
Abu Yehuda..
23 June '14..




News item:

Israel Police have arrested Ziad Awad, one of the 1,027 terrorists released two-and-a-half years ago in exchange for IDF hostage Gilad Shalit, on suspicion that Awad was responsible for the murder of Baruch Mizrahi on Passover eve near Hebron.

Mizrahi, a senior police officer, was on his way to a holiday Seder meal when he was ambushed and murdered, reportedly by Awad, a resident of Idna, an Arab village near Hebron.

Mizrahi’s wife was also wounded in the attack.

The IDF blog reports that Awad, a member of Hamas, was indicted today and will stand trial for the murder.

I wrote about Mizrachi’s murder here:

It still isn’t clear whether Baruch Mizrachi, a man who had devoted his life to protecting the Jewish people in their land, was targeted because of his job, or simply murdered because he was a Jew. It doesn’t matter. The question is, when is enough enough? When does the State of Israel decide that the Palestinian Arabs are a hostile enemy and start treating them as such (my guess is that the people of Israel already understand this)?

It’s not surprising that some of those released as ransom for Shalit continued on the path of murder. They were treated like heroes on their return:

Ziad Awad receives a hero’s welcome after his release in the
Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange in 2011 (courtesy Jewish Press)

Last week, I argued that the tactic of kidnapping Israelis and holding them as bargaining chips to force the release of prisoners has removed all of the deterrent effect of imprisonment as a penalty for terrorism. Further, I said, it encourages terrorists to kidnap Israelis, especially children.

Tepper - Capital Crime. Capital Punishment?

Aryeh Tepper
Jewish Ideas Daily
05 July '11

http://www.jewishideasdaily.com/content/module/2011/7/5/main-feature/1/capital-crime-capital-punishment

( .... After Awad's conviction, military prosecutor Lt. Col. Robert Noifeld outlined the prosecution's request for punishment, asking for five life sentences and additional prison terms for crimes other than the murders. He said that the decision not to ask for the death penalty was made with the approval of the military advocate-general, and with the knowledge of Israel's attorney-general. Israel Hayom 11-27-'11 Y.)

Since its founding, the only person ever to be executed by the state of Israel has been the notorious Nazi, Adolf Eichmann. But the brutal murders of Udi and Ruth Fogel and three of their young children this past March has the IDF weighing the possibility of seeking the death penalty for the Fogels' murderers, brothers Hakim and Amjad Awad.

One wonders what punishment, aside from the most extreme one, can possibly be in order for the brutal slaughter of a mother, father, and three children. Still, such a sentence cannot be given, or even sought, without offering ample justification. If Israel were to sentence the Awad brothers to death, what would be the purpose: justice, vengeance, or deterrence?

The history of capital punishment in the modern state of Israel begins with the British legal code inherited by the nascent state in 1948. Under that code, capital punishment was permitted for a variety of crimes, including some relatively minor offenses. The British law was abolished in 1954, under the influence, it is often claimed, of the Jewish legal tradition—specifically, the spirit embodied in one well-known talmudic passage:

The Sanhedrin (High Court) that executes one person in seven years is called murderous. Rabbi Elazar ben Azaria says this extends to one execution in seventy years. Rabbi Tarfon and Rabbi Akiva say, "If we had been among the Sanhedrin, no one would ever have been executed." (Makkot 7a)

Often, when this passage is evoked, people neglect to mention that Rabbi Simon ben Gamliel dissents, on grounds of deterrence: "such an attitude would increase bloodshed in Israel."

But the mainstream argument endures to this day. Accordingly, current Israeli law leans towards the talmudic scholars' abhorrence of the death penalty, but still allows for capital punishment in extreme cases: treason, incitement to war, aiding the enemy during wartime, crimes against the Jewish people, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. In addition, Israeli military courts have been given the freedom to demand the death penalty for particularly heinous acts of terrorism. Until now, they've been extremely reluctant to do so—but that might soon change.

IMRA - Observation: Realistically Thinking About Post Shalit Deal - Blood and Revenge

Dr. Aaron Lerner
IMRA
16 October '11

If there are terror attacks after the Shalit deal is completed those who pushed for the deal won’t have remorse. They will either say that terror is inevitable regardless of the deal or that the only way to end terror is to give the Arabs what they want (or both). Some might even criticize the security services for failing to thwart the attacks. And if the attack takes place beyond the Green Line then the victims will be to blame for being there in the first place.

And If there are kidnappings then unless the parents of the hostages scream for the heads of the terrorists rather than for PM Netanyahu to release another thousand, there is every reason in the world to expect, once again, a full press by the media for Israel to once again open the prison gates.

Is it possible to actually change any of this?

Are we locked into a perpetual spiral of concessions?

How can Israel respond differently to a post-Shalit terror attack that will give the nation the feeling that we are not in some terrible free fall?

How can the next kidnapping be handled so that we are not demoralized?

Blood and revenge.

Yes. It sounds primitive.

But it is the lingua franca of the neighborhood.

And, In truth. Not just the neighborhood.

Blood isn’t shelling empty buildings in an ever growing target bank.

Then again, blood can very much be the mysterious disappearance and or death of terrorist commanders and leaders.

A lot of blood.

After all, literally within walking distance there are hundreds – if not thousands – of legitimate candidates.

Blood certainly doesn’t necessarily require an official press release from the IDF Spokesperson’s Office.

As for kidnapping, we should be prepared to actively seek out the whereabouts of the victim by bringing in the terrorist leadership associated with the kidnappers. Of course, if these leaders resist while being taken into custody their deaths will be on their own heads.

As for “revenge”, there is today one clear and indisputable form of “revenge”: Jewish settlement construction.

Blood and revenge.

Certainly preferable to surrender.

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Another reason Israel needs a death penalty for terrorists

Carl
Israel Matzav
07 April '10

The fact that Israel has no death penalty for terrorists is absurd. It leaves us open to the whims of governments seeking to trade terrorists for kidnapped soldiers and civilians to bolster their standing. It encourages the 'Palestinians' to try to kidnap Israelis, especially IDF soldiers. Worst of all, it destroys the citizenry's morale as time and again we are forced to watch murderers go free.

There's another reason why we need a death penalty for terrorists: Occasionally, they actually serve out their term and are set free. Such is the case with the terrorist who allowed his home to be used in the 1994 kidnapping and murder of IDF soldier Nachshon Wachsman HY"D (may God avenge his blood), the son of an American immigrant mother and an Israeli father.

Israel freed on the eve of Passover the Arab terrorist who allowed his home to be used by the kidnap-murderers of Golani elite commando soldier Nachshon Wachsman in 1994. The terrorist had served his prison term of 13 years.

(Read full "Another reason Israel needs a death penalty for terrorists")
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