An Israeli court convicted seven men on Wednesday of inciting violence and terror for their involvement in a 2015 wedding in which participants celebrated an arson attack that killed a Palestinian toddler and his parents. The Jerusalem Magistrate’s court found the seven guilty afer “glorifying with dance and song the murder of the Dawabsheh family” in a deadly firebombing by Jews in July 2015. Another man, the singer at the wedding, was found not guilty. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for November. The attack on the village of Duma killed 18-month-old Ali and his parents Riham and Saad and drew condemnation from across Israel’s political spectrum. Months after the attack, a video from a wedding that aired on Israeli television appeared to show guests at a wedding brandishing rifles and dancing to music with lyrics calling for revenge, while some stabbed photos of Ali Dawabsheh. The court found the men guilty on charges that included incitement to violence or terror, according to the Justice Ministry. One was found guilty of incitement to racism, supporting a terrorist group and illegal possession of a weapon, while another was found guilty of a weapon charge. “I found that the inciting nature of the incident was apparent to all, clear, incontrovertible, and teaches among others two main messages folded into the actions: expression of support for the murder of an innocent family, and calling for revenge against Arabs,” the judge said. Otzma Yehudit chairman Itamar Ben-Gvir responded to the indictment by stating: “The court’s decision to convict the participants in the wedding is mistaken and perpetuates the selective enforcement against right-wing activists. During the hearing, dozens of pieces of evidence, weddings, and exhibits of incitement to violence and terrorism by leftists and Arabs were presented to the court, in which cases no one was prosecuted, and in most of the cases, no investigation was opened.” “It is not clear why at weddings in Rahat and Umm al-Fahm no one filed an indictment while here they convict a group of young people that even if they did something ugly, there was nothing criminal in their actions and there’s no equality in enforcement. I recommend that they appeal.” Attorney Avichai Hajabi of the Honenu organization representing the defendants told Arutz Sheva before the hearing began: “”We want to end the seven-year saga in which the State Attorney’s Office is harassing a group of young people, when we presented evidence that in similar circumstances and in more serious offenses defendants were acquitted.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem & AP)
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