Three men were arrested Tuesday for threatening their relative, Mohammad Zoabi, an Arab-Israeli teen who posted a YouTube video expressing his solidarity with Eyal Yifrach, Gil-ad Shaar and Naftali Fraenkel, the three Jewish-Israeli teenagers who were kidnapped last Thursday. The Times of Israel reports:
“Three members of a Nazareth family were arrested on suspicion of threatening to harm a son from the family, 17, after he showed solidarity for the three kidnapped youths in a movie uploaded to a social network,” the police said in a statement. The three who were arrested range in age from 40 to 60, and the youth’s mother was also called in for questioning, the Ynet news site reported. Due to the nature of the threats against him, police and the Ministry of Education decided to place a security detail on Zoabi and around his high school, Army Radio reported.
Zoabi, who has posted numerous videos on YouTube proclaiming his support for Israel, said – in English, Hebrew and Arabic – in the video:
“To those terrorists who have kidnapped our kids, bring them back. And you better bring them back now. To Bibi, our prime minister and his government, wake up and stop cooperating with terrorists. The Palestinian Authority is the biggest terrorist.” “Yesterday, or two days ago, three Israeli kids were kidnapped. Tomorrow it could be me, you, or any other Israeli. Our enemies don’t separate between Arabs or Jews living in Israel. For them we are all one; for them we are all Israelis. And you know what, I am proud about that, I am an Israeli and I will remain an Israeli. And again, you better bring them back. Israel is here to exist as a Jewish and as a democratic country.”
In contrast, Mohammed’s cousin Hanin Zoabi, a member of the Knesset, has expressed her sympathy with the kidnappers, claiming that they are not terrorists. Her comments drew praise from Hamas:
“We in Hamas bless Hanin Zoabi for standing her ground,” a spokesman for the terror organization said, “and we hope that the leadership of the Palestinian Authority will follow her example in supporting the homeland, citizens, and the Palestinian problem rather than the disappearance of soldiers, or boasting about security coordination” with Israel.
In fact, MK Zoabi cast the blame at Israel’s feet: “We blame the Israeli government, whose terrorist policies are responsible for what has befallen the Palestinian people and which is responsible even for the kidnapping,” she said. Her comments drew criticism from fellow Knesset members, including Labor Party chief Isaac Herzog:
“Yesterday, at the height of the mission to find the boys, you chose to utter obscene statements in support of their kidnapping that I take very seriously. These statements are as harmful to peace and coexistence as any price tag act. Furthermore, these statements cause enormous pain to the families who are waiting anxiously to know their sons’ fate, and at this difficult time it would have been better if they had not been said.”
[Photo: 2learnDeep’s channel / YouTube ]