Murder in Halamish

Murder in Halamish: Palestinian kills three Members of Jewish family at Their Home during Shabbat dinner

Temple Mount Crisis Reignites Lone-wolf Terror 

By Esther Lehman and Dan Wooding, Special to ASSIST News Service 

JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (ANS – July 25, 2017) – The Salomon family had sat down for a Friday night (July 21, 2017) Shabbat dinner in their home in Halamish, also known as Neveh Tzuf, an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, located in the southwestern Samarian hills to the north of Ramallah.

According to the Jerusalem Post, they had invited their friends to come later that evening for a celebration to mark the birth of a grandson when suddenly a Palestinian terrorist infiltrated their home, and stabbed Yosef, 70, and two of his children -- Elad, 36 and Chaya, 46 -- to death. Yosef’s wife, Tovah, 68, was wounded and hospitalized at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.

It took only 15 minutes from the moment Omar al-Abed, the 19-year-old alleged terrorist, to climb over the fence around the settlement to the moment he killed members of the Salomon family.

IDF Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Ronen Manelis said on Saturday, “It was a horrific, murderous, attack. The house is full of blood,” adding that the photographs showing the aftermath of deadly attack don’t show the entire picture.

The Jerusalem Post added, “Nonetheless, new photographs of the grisly crime scene were released by ZAKA International Rescue Unit Sunday morning which expose some of the extent of the crime.”

The Times of Israel then said, “Following the attack, Abed’s mother Ibtisam al-Abed, appeared in a video that was widely shared on social media, in which she praised her son for the attack, saying she was “proud of him” and hoped he would be released from custody.”

Several hours before making his way into the settlement and murdering the three members of this Jewish family, Omar al-Abed, wrote a message in Arabic on his Facebook status as a bidding of farewell to his family.

In it, he said, “I am writing my will and these are my last words. I am young. I have not yet reached the age of 20. I have many dreams and aspirations. I know that, with Allah, my dreams will come true. I loved life, making people smile, but what kind of life is this? They kill our women and youth [and] defile our Aqsa while we sleep.

“Take your weapons and resist…I only have a knife and it will answer the call of Al-Aqsa. You start a war amongst us and Allah will judge you for it. I hope that after me, there will come men who beat you with an iron fist. I know I am going and will not return.”

Not surprisingly, Hamas praised the attack as “heroic,” and said it came after “Israel’s attacks on the rights of our people in Jerusalem and at Al-Aqsa Mosque.”

As the killing was taking place, thank G-d one of the women in the room had the presence of mind to rush the children into a room, and then she called the police from there.

Omar el-Abed was stopped by a neighbor, an off-duty soldier, when he heard the shouting. He rushed over to the house and shot Abed, but did not kill him. He was arrested and taken to a hospital for treatment, and then transferred to Israeli security agencies for questioning.

Now some Israeli ministers are calling for Omar el-Abed to be executed for his alleged crimes. In Israel, military courts can sentence someone to death, though the option has not been used since 1962, when Adolf Eichmann was hanged after being convicted of genocide and crimes against humanity during World War II.

Let us speculate (Personal opinion by Esther Lehman)

Why would a young man, with so much to offer, decide to leave his house with the intent of murdering Jews? Are Arabs being deprived of their rights, you might ask? Absolutely not! If you came to visit Israel, you will experience firsthand how integrated Arabs are in Israeli life and culture.

Modern Arabs are now going to universities, and are employed in managerial positions at work. Many Arabs run thriving businesses and enjoy the unique combination we have here in Israel, where the west meets the east.

Arab women enjoy the complete luxury of equality in Israel, something which they can only dream about in their Arab cultures. They also hold high positions in the Israeli workforce. In Arab countries like Saudi Arabia, they still don’t allow their women to drive a car. Here in Israel Arabs are treated as equal in every aspect of life.

Many own large homes, even though much of the media loves to portray otherwise. They have nice cars and live well. They enjoy a good standard of living here in Israel, and many of them agreed to accept Israeli citizenship so they could reap the financial benefits of not being a terrorist.

Israeli society supports our Arab businesses. We buy in their shops, employ their services, and allow them into our homes and families.

For how much longer will the Governments of the world tolerate Arab extremists who convince and brainwash young Arabs like Omar El-Abed, at the start of their lives, to go out and murder? Everybody here suffers from this, especially the families on both sides who are directly involved.

Photo captions: 1) (L-R) Yosef, Elad and Chaya Salomon who were stabbed to death in the Halamish settlement on July 21, 2017. 2) Shocking scene of terror attack in Halamish. (Photo credit: ZAKA) 3) Omar al-Abed, the alleged perpetrator of a terror attack in the settlement of Halamish on July 21, 2017 (Facebook photo). 4) An Israeli military vehicle at the scene of the killings. 5) Peter Wooding with his father, Dan Wooding holding his recent award.

About the writers: Esther Leman is originally from the UK, but has lived in Israel for many years. She is a colleague of Cheryl Hancock-Watts who runs Reporting from Israel and supplies stories to ANS. Dan Wooding is an international author, broadcaster and journalist, who is also founder of the ASSIST News Service. He was recently honored with a top “humanitarian” award at a Beverly Hills, California, film festival. It was presented to Dan by his son, Peter Wooding, in front of a large crowd of people drawn from the Hollywood entertainment industry. 

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