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Israel lists name of slain Palestinian teen on terror victim memorial

Xinhua, April 21, 2015 Adjust font size:

Israel has placed the name of a Palestinian teenager, who was burned to death by Israeli extremists in Jerusalem last summer, on an official memorial wall commemorating terror victims in the city's Mount Herzl national cemetery, Israeli media reported Tuesday.

Israel Radio reported that Israel gave no notice to the boy's family on the addition, which was made as Israel was preparing to mark Tuesday night its annual Day of Remembrance for the Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism.

Last July, Mohammad Abu Khdeir, 16-year-old resident of the Palestinian neighborhood of Shuafat in east Jerusalem, was abducted by three far-right Israelis, who later beat him and torched him to death in the Jerusalem Forest.

Following an indictment of the three suspects in July, the Ministry of Defense decided to recognize Abu Khdeir as victim of a "hostile action."

Hagai Admon, director of Mount Herzl, told the Times of Israel that Abu Khdeir was the first Arab killed by Jews to be added to the Victims of Acts of Terror Memorial. The site, inaugurated in 1998, includes a wall to which new plaques with names are attached every year at the Memorial Day.

Abu Khdeir's name had also been added to a government-run website for the commemoration of terror victims. His picture is showed up on the site, next to the Israeli flag.

The move was criticized by Almagor, a group representing terror victims' families, which demanded to remove Abu Khdeir's name from the memorial plaque.

"One cannot compare a random murder by people whose sanity is in question to institutionalized actions by states and enemy organizations," the group told an ultra-Orthodox Hebrew news site.

The gesture was unwelcomed by the family. The victim's father, Hussein Abu Khdeir, told Nazareth-based Radio Ashams that they will request that his name be removed from that list. "We don't need the recognition, we are not Israeli citizens," said Abu Khdeir.

"Instead of a memorial plaque we want justice and the prosecution of the criminals. We're very concerned that they won't receive the appropriate punishment," he added.

Three suspects in the murder of Abu Khdeir are currently on trial in a Jerusalem court. The main suspect, a 29-year-old settler, claimed temporary insanity during the murder. The other two are minors who claimed to have little role in the case. Endit