MK Uri Ariel (National Union-Yisrael Beiteinu) submitted legislation this morning for the punishment of those who encourage, aid or abet suicide murderers. The proposal calls for deportation of the family of all suicide terrorists, and the confiscation of the family\'s property.
It was reported here yesterday that Hamas terrorist Mahmud Hasan Al-Abed, aged 24, appeared in a video with his mother in which he informed her of his plans to \"kill and be killed.\" Her joy at hearing this news was surpassed only by that she felt the next day when she heard that he had in fact been killed, and had also killed two soldiers in the process. Similarly, the father of today\'s murderer praised his son for his actions.
In the United States, a prominent Jewish communal leader and Washington attorney has raised a storm by calling for the execution of family members of suicide bombers in order to deter future attacks. New York journalist Yigal Schleifer reports that Atty. Nathan Lewin, a possible candidate for a federal judgeship and a legal advisor to Orthodox Jewish organizations, suggests that Israeli and American authorities announce that first-degree relatives of suicide terrorists will be executed unless they immediately denounce their kin’s act and refuse any financial compensation. Reform leader Rabbi Eric Yoffie and National Jewish Partnership for Social Justice director Jeremy Burton came out against Lewin\'s idea, calling it \"reprehensible and beyond the parameters of morality in Jewish ethical thinking.\" Lewin says, \"If executing some suicide-bomber families saves the lives of even an equal number of potential civilian victims, the exchange is ethically permissible.\"
It was reported here yesterday that Hamas terrorist Mahmud Hasan Al-Abed, aged 24, appeared in a video with his mother in which he informed her of his plans to \"kill and be killed.\" Her joy at hearing this news was surpassed only by that she felt the next day when she heard that he had in fact been killed, and had also killed two soldiers in the process. Similarly, the father of today\'s murderer praised his son for his actions.
In the United States, a prominent Jewish communal leader and Washington attorney has raised a storm by calling for the execution of family members of suicide bombers in order to deter future attacks. New York journalist Yigal Schleifer reports that Atty. Nathan Lewin, a possible candidate for a federal judgeship and a legal advisor to Orthodox Jewish organizations, suggests that Israeli and American authorities announce that first-degree relatives of suicide terrorists will be executed unless they immediately denounce their kin’s act and refuse any financial compensation. Reform leader Rabbi Eric Yoffie and National Jewish Partnership for Social Justice director Jeremy Burton came out against Lewin\'s idea, calling it \"reprehensible and beyond the parameters of morality in Jewish ethical thinking.\" Lewin says, \"If executing some suicide-bomber families saves the lives of even an equal number of potential civilian victims, the exchange is ethically permissible.\"