Terrorist's Father Released, Police Won't Hand Over the Body
(IsraelNN.com) Police have refused to hand over the body of mass murderer Ala Abu Dheim for burial. Dheim, an Arab Israeli citizen who slaughtered eight yeshiva students last week, was shot and killed during the attack by an armed student and an off-duty IDF officer who was nearby.
His funeral was scheduled for Monday, but authorities will not return his body until the family commits to holding a small funeral, thereby preventing a pro-Jihad procession which could turn violent.
Thousands of Israeli and Palestinian Authority Arabs are expected to participate in the funeral, which was to end with the terrorist's burial in his eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukabar.
The Palestinian Authority daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, under control of Mahmoud Abbas, ran a front page picture of Abu Dheim calling him a shahid (Holy martyr).
Jerusalem District Police have been preparing for the possibility that the funeral procession will become a march to demonstrate support for Hamas and Hizbullah, as well as other terrorist organizations.
Police released Abu Dheim's father from custody earlier in the day. Hisham Abu Dheim was questioned repeatedly to determine whether he and his family were involved in his son's terrorist activities. Police said they will continue the investigation.
The Abu Dheim family is known to have ties with Hamas, according to Arab neighbors. The terrorist's father removed Hamas and Hizbullah terror organization flags adorning the family's mourning tent only after he was ordered by the Jerusalem municipality to do so.
Police have established a presence near the family home in order to guard it from Jewish activists who tried Sunday to reach and destroy the public mourning tent in which relatives welcomed guests who came to honor the murderer.
The police refused a request to allow Jews to set up a protest tent near the Abu Dheim mourning tent, located in the eastern Jerusalem neighborhood of Jabel Mukabar, but said they would allow activists to erect a protest tent elsewhere in the city.
However, a Jerusalem court has extended the arrests of activists Itamar Ben-Gvir and Baruch Marzel, who were arrested along with four others in the attempt to reach the Abu Dheim family mourning tent. "The arrest is in vain and violates freedom of expression," Marzel said before entering the courtroom.
In eastern Jerusalem, Islamic Movement leader Ra'ad Salah said he is planning to hold a news conference later in the day. Salah himself was indicted earlier this year for incitement to violence and racism during a fiery speech he gave that was followed by rioting last year.
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