Minister of Culture and Sport Raleb Majadele said recently that if soccer teams plan to honor the memories of the eight young Jewish students slain by a terrorist in Jerusalem last week with a moment of silence, they should honor the memories of innocent women and children killed in IDF operations in Gaza as well.  In an interview with Voice of Israel government radio, Majadele said that Arab citizens of Israel are upset by “what the State of Israel is doing in the [Gaza] Strip,” and called on Israel to treat the dead in Gaza and those killed in the Jerusalem attack equally.

Majadele said his call to honor civilians killed in fighting between the IDF and Hamas should not be taken as a sign of support for Hamas.  As a committed Muslim, he opposes Hamas’s murder of innocents, he said. 

Earlier in the day the Foreign Ministry released photographs and video footage documenting Hamas’s exploitation of Gaza civilians as human shields in recent fighting.  IDF soldiers who fought in Gaza several days ago reported that Hamas terrorists fired from inhabited buildings, making it nearly impossible to avoid civilian casualties.