Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked: “Those who take part in solidarity strikes called by terror orgs are terror supporters.”
Arab merchants throughout eastern Jerusalem, including the Old City of Jerusalem and the road leading to the Kotel (Western Wall) from Jaffa Gate, closed their doors on Thursday, striking in solidarity for the dead terrorist Udai Tamimi.
Among the strikers was, for instance, Jerusalem resident Imar Abu Hadijeh, whose store was refurbished by the Tika organization – a group identified with the Muslim Brotherhood in Turkey. The store is situated on Shalshelet St., facing the beginning of the entryway to the Western Wall plaza.
Another merchant, in one of the rare stores that was open, said that operatives from Fatah walked around the Old City Arab shuk looking for the few merchants who hadn’t willingly closed, and made it clear to them that they they should close, which most of then then did. Fatah is the terrorist faction associated with Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
NGOs on the right have joined the call to deny citizenship to the Arab strikers, calling the strike a form of “support for terrorism.” The strikers were protesting against the fatal shooting of the terrorist Udai Tamimi, who murdered policewoman Noa Lazar earlier this month. Alert security guards outside Maaleh Adumim who were targeted by the fugitive murderer returned fire and killed him.
Israel’s Anti-Terrorism Law, legislated in 2016, calls for heavy punishments for those expressing support for or identification with a terrorist organization.
Chaim Silberstein, Chairman of Im Eshkachech/Keep Jerusalem, arrived at Shalshelet St. on Thursday evening to demand that the strikers be punished to the full extent of the law.
Silberstein, whose daughter Shira Ishran was shot in a terrorist attack nearly four years ago at the Ofrah Junction, said, “No longer will we remain silent in the face of support for terrorism. We cannot allow a strike whose avowed purpose is to strengthen and encourage terrorism, neither as citizens and certainly not as a state. I call upon the government to cancel Hadijeh’s permanent residency permit; he did not only go on strike today, but is also clearly a supporter of the arch-terrorists of Hamas.”
Shai Glick, Director-General of the B’Tzalmo organization, sent a detailed letter to Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked, explaining precisely why the abrogation of the residency permits of Hadijeh and other strikers is justified.
“Support for an act of terrorism is a violation of the Anti-Terrorism Law,” Glick wrote. “I call upon the authorities to arrest the strike leaders, and upon the Jerusalem Municipality to cancel the strikers’ business permits. At the same time, I call upon the Israeli public not to shop at these stores at all. Terrorism supporters belong in Syria, not Jerusalem.”
Interior Minister Shaked said in reaction, “Participation in a solidarity strike called by terrorist organizations is a form of support for terrorism. As Interior Minister, I will not hesitate to remove the Israeli citizenship of terrorism supporters of any type.”
