Gideon Levy :Palestinians Who Praised Deadly Terror Attack in Song Get the Full Israeli Army Treatment
Here’s how soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces
spend their time: On two consecutive nights, dozens of soldiers from
the Binyamin Brigade raided a home in Kafr Ein, a village north of
Ramallah, where a young Palestinian man lives with wife, infant son and
elderly grandparents. They damaged the property, beat and handcuffed the
detainee’s brother, and confiscated equipment suspected of being used
for purposes of terror: two electric organs, a microphone, computer, and
a 48-inch television.
The
soldiers didn’t bother explaining to anyone why they abducted Nazzal
Abu Kharma, who had never been arrested before (nor had anyone from his
family), why the arrest had to be made so brutally, in the middle of the
night, in the presence of an elderly couple and a baby, and why it was
necessary to return the following night in the same violent fashion.
It
would be interesting to know what kind of briefing the forces received
before setting out on their mission two weeks ago, what they were told
about their target. The soldiers swooped in before dawn in their daring
operation behind enemy lines – a three-pronged offensive aimed at two
villages – armed with intelligence supplied by the omniscient Shin Bet
security service, to arrest individuals suspected of producing a song
praising the terrorist attack that took place in the settlement of Halamish
in July, during which three members of the Salomon family were killed.
The song is indeed a blunt, explicit ode to the attack and to its
perpetrator, Omar al-Abed, from the village of Kobar.
The
IDF arrested Abu Kharma, as well as singer and lyricist Mohammed
Barghouti and keyboard player Naji Rimawi, the latter two from the
village of Beit Rima, also near Ramallah.
As
far as can be ascertained, Abu Kharma is suspected of producing the
song in the makeshift studio in his house and also of posting it on
social media. He and Barghouti have been in detention for about two
weeks. Rimawi was released, for some reason, within a few days.
It’s
not hard to imagine what would have happened were Abu Kharma a Jewish
Israeli, who’d recorded a song calling for the death of Arabs.
Abu
Kharma, 28, is an amateur keyboard player. Four years ago, unable to
find work as a casual laborer, he bought an organ and taught himself how
to play it, in the hope of being able to provide for his Jordanian-born
wife, Asma, and their 7-month-old son, Ilian. His brothers have also
helped him support his family.
In
the past year he earned 400 to 500 shekels ($110-$140) per evening,
once or twice a month, at local weddings and other family celebrations;
at some of them, he teamed up with a band. His hope was to build up a
career gradually.
The
Abu Kharmas share the dwelling in Kafr Ein with Nazzal’s extended
family: They live in an apartment near one entrance to the building and
on the ground floor near the other entrance live his grandparents,
Safiya, 75, and Ass’ad, 85, and their daughter, Amira, his aunt, who’s
36; his brother, Dia, lives on the second floor. Their father left 12
years ago for Tennessee, where he married an American woman, his second
marriage. They are barely in touch with Nazzal and his siblings.
At
4 A.M. on August 30, Amira, who was at home with her parents, was
awakened by noise coming from the front door. She thought her mother
might have fallen with her walker, and so she was horrified when she saw
about 20 soldiers walking around the house. One asked her where the
shabab – the young people – were. Amira explained that there were no
young people in this apartment, only her and her aged parents. The
soldiers ordered her to go upstairs and open the door of the apartment
there – which belongs to her brother Arafat, but is not in use –
otherwise they would blow it up. She told the soldiers she wanted her
father to go with her – she was afraid of them, she says now, and didn’t
want to remain alone with them – but they refused. Eight army jeeps
were parked outside, she recalls.
The
soldiers made their way through the building with the aid of head-lamps
on their helmets. Amira opened the door to Arafat’s apartment, and when
the soldiers discovered that it was indeed empty, they asked her for
the names of all her siblings. They specifically wanted to know where
her brother Omar lived. He’s in Tennessee, she told them. They wanted to
break into Omar’s apartment. His son, Dia, lives upstairs in an
apartment reached via the building’s second entrance, but she didn’t
have a key for it. In any event, the soldiers went up and tried to break
down the door, but Dia woke up and opened it for them.
According
to Amira, the soldiers hit and kicked Dia before handcuffing him and
locking him in his room. He himself used no violence against the
soldiers, she asserts. They searched the room before asking his name.
“We’re not looking for you,” they said and left, with him still
shackled. Only then did Amira realize that they were after Nazzal, who
lives on the ground floor. They tried to break down his door, too, even
as Dia shouted that there was a baby in the house and that they
shouldn’t smash the door. But the soldiers had already entered by force.
Asma
woke up in fright. Cringing with fear, she locked the door to her room,
sealing herself inside with Ilian, who was sleeping in a crib. A few
soldiers broke down Asma’s door, and others charged into the room where
Nazzal was, his recording studio, demanding his ID card. He had asked
them not to enter his wife’s room, as she is religious and was not
wearing a head covering. Asma recalls now that there were about 15
soldiers in their small, heavily ornamented, colorful apartment. The
soldiers handcuffed and blindfolded Nazzal, and took him away. By 5:30
A.M. the operation was over.
The
troops left behind, posted on an electric pole, an unclear form in
Arabic explaining that the place was a closed military zone, because of
terrorist activity that had taken place there, and warning residents not
to approach the dangerous site. Of course, no arrest warrant or
anything similar was produced – it’s laughable to expect that in the
territories.
Asma
says she had no idea why her husband was being arrested and was afraid
to ask the soldiers. Asked what she thought at the time, she says, “I
thought that this was their routine, to arrest people.” For the next two
days, she also didn’t know where he was being held.
The
soldiers returned the next night at about 2 A.M.; they had no trouble
entering, as they had broken down the front door the previous night. Dia
tried to ask them where his brother was – and was again beaten,
according to Amira. The soldiers proceeded to the recording studio,
which is covered in felt and has sealed windows for acoustic purposes,
and took almost everything. What remained behind was an ashtray full of
butts of cigarettes that Nazzal apparently smoked, before his arrest.
Dia says she saw him last week in the courtroom of the Ofer detention facility, where he was remanded.
Have
you heard the song, we ask the family. An embarrassed silence descends
on the room. “We are not politicians,” Aunt Amira says. Grandfather
Ass’ad grumbles, “These young folk think that with songs like that they
can change the situation.”
Nazzal
is suspected of disseminating the song, which indeed is widely
available on the social networks. There’s a video clip depicting images
of the occupation and the resistance to it, while the song is being sung
loudly in the background. We also see a portrait of Omar al-Abed, the
terrorist from Halamish. There’s another clip showing Mohammed Barghouti
performing the song at a wedding, while guests dance and one of the
musicians blows a kiss to the camera. It’s a popular Bedouin melody,
frequently heard at celebrations and graduation ceremonies, to which new
lyrics are sometimes adapted, which is what Barghouti did in this case.
The
lyrics: “I heard the sounds of shots / in Arab Kobar. / Omar crossed
the city / and perpetrated the attack. / They said he drove the army
crazy / and burned the Halamish neighborhood. / Oh, settler, We want to
live / and for my land to be free. / He left through the window / he
carried a knife, at his side / When he threatened to attack / he put the
Zionists to sleep.”
The
IDF Spokesman’s Office boasted of the mission on its website, and
posted a clip showing Abu Kharma’s arrest. A soldier is seen carrying
off the spoils – a television. The spokesman’s unit stated this week:
“On Friday, July 21, 2017, three members of the Salomon family were
murdered in a stabbing attack in the settlement of Halamish. In the wake
of the terrorist attack, a singer from the village of Beit Rima
produced and disseminated a song that praises the terrorist’s actions
and calls for attacks on Israelis.
“On
August 30, 2017, as part of the campaign against incitement, IDF troops
arrested Mohammed Barghouti, the singer who wrote the song, and his two
partners, one of whom is Nazzal Abu Kharma, who recorded the song and
posted a video clip praising the terrorist, accompanied by the song. We
will note in addition that the equipment used to record the song was
also seized. Contrary to what the article says, no violence was employed
during the arrest against any of those present.
“In
the past few days, following interrogation of the three, indictments
were filed against them for offenses involving incitement. The
indictments also charge Barghouti and Kharma with involvement in other
cases of incitement, including the recording and dissemination of a song
praising the terrorist attack in which Staff Sgt. Hadas Malka, of
blessed memory, was murdered.”
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