An IDF military court acquitted this morning the central suspect in the murder of Dov Dribben six years ago. The accused Ahmed Dababsa was also found not guilty on a second count: attacking and injuring Dribben's two friends, Yehoshafat Tor and Efraim Perl. The court acknowledged that the accused was at the site of the murder and that his brother Issa Dibabsa shot Dribben to death. But the judges said that Ahmed had no prior knowledge that his brother intended to murder Dribben and was therefore not involved in the planning of the attack. Issa Dibabsa was liquidated by the IDF three years ago. The court criticized the prosecution’s investigation.
Dov’s father, American-born Eddie Dribben who immigrated to Israel 50 years ago, reacted with shock to the court’s decision. "I've spent all my years in Israel farming and herding sheep right alongside the Arabs. My Arabic is as good as my Hebrew. Only someone who doesn't have a close familiarity with the inner workings of the Arab clans and doesn't understand that such a decision to murder a Jew is reached by an entire clan and everyone knows about it - could make such a ruling. It is plain stupid."
He protested the decision itself, as well as the fact that he received no advanced notice of the hearing. “When it is the trial of an Arab, our humanitarian court invites the entire clan of the accused to the court – wives children and cousins,” said Dribben, “but when it is the trial of the murderer of a Jew, they don't even bother calling up his father to let him know.”
According to Dribben, the court’s decision is a misguided attempt to project an image of "enlightenment” to the world. “We are a nation of sheep,” complained Dribben, in an interview on Arutz 7; “our courts try to demonstrate to the world how weak we are and how removed from the Jewish concept of justice we are – showing inhumane mercy on murderers and their accomplices.”
The IDF prosecution announced that it would appeal the court's decision.
Dov’s father, American-born Eddie Dribben who immigrated to Israel 50 years ago, reacted with shock to the court’s decision. "I've spent all my years in Israel farming and herding sheep right alongside the Arabs. My Arabic is as good as my Hebrew. Only someone who doesn't have a close familiarity with the inner workings of the Arab clans and doesn't understand that such a decision to murder a Jew is reached by an entire clan and everyone knows about it - could make such a ruling. It is plain stupid."
He protested the decision itself, as well as the fact that he received no advanced notice of the hearing. “When it is the trial of an Arab, our humanitarian court invites the entire clan of the accused to the court – wives children and cousins,” said Dribben, “but when it is the trial of the murderer of a Jew, they don't even bother calling up his father to let him know.”
According to Dribben, the court’s decision is a misguided attempt to project an image of "enlightenment” to the world. “We are a nation of sheep,” complained Dribben, in an interview on Arutz 7; “our courts try to demonstrate to the world how weak we are and how removed from the Jewish concept of justice we are – showing inhumane mercy on murderers and their accomplices.”
The IDF prosecution announced that it would appeal the court's decision.