Terrorist's Family Sues State, Receives Pension
From Arutz Sheva
by Elad Benari
The family of a terrorist whose actions were caught on camera has won a lawsuit against the State of Israel and will receive a pension from the State.
Mohammed Khatib, a resident of Kafr Manda, an Israeli-Arab town in the Lower Galilee, was filmed by security cameras as he snatched a security guard's gun in the Old City of Jerusalem in August of 2007.
He was filmed grabbing the weapon and firing on the guards before being shot to death. He managed to shoot three bullets and wound one of the guards in the shoulder before being killed.
According to the National Insurance Act, a person who commits a crime of a nationalistic nature is not eligible for a pension. However, Channel 10 News reported on Thursday, Khatib’s family filed a lawsuit and was able to convince the Jerusalem Magistrates Court that Khatib’s actions only looked like a terror attack.
“The behavior of the plaintiff, as recorded by the camera, does not support the conclusion that the incident was nationalistically motivated, because the plaintiff opened fire after the guard went after him and almost caught up with him,” wrote Judge Maha Samir Ammar, according to Channel 10.
According to the report, the family also sought to start criminal proceedings against the security guard who shot Khatib, but the Jerusalem Magistrates Court ruled that the guards acted in self defense.
The police responded to the ruling by saying that there is no doubt that the terrorist acted for nationalistic reasons. The lawyer who represented Khatib’s family rejected the police’s claims and told Channel 10, “Unfortunately, the police are misleading the public about an unfortunate incident that began in an incomprehensible way.”
