The story blaming Jews was widely reported; the exoneration - not so much. |
On April 1, BDS leader Omar Barghouti wrote:
Settlers who have torched to death Palestinian toddler Ali Dawabsheh and his parents last year and later celebrated their gruesome acts of terror have yet to be sentenced for the murders. This has naturally encouraged other settlers to torch the house of the remaining eyewitness to the crime, Ali's uncle.
Yet the torching of the uncle's house on March 20 had already been determined not to have been done by Jews a week earlier.
Times of Israel, March 23:
On Sunday, the home of the sole alleged witness to the attack of Ahmed’s home, Ibrahim Dawabsha, caught fire in what local residents described as a deliberate attack. But the Israel Police and Shin Bet, in a joint statement Sunday night, said mounting evidence indicated that Sunday’s fire was not a nationalistic attack.
Israel Hayom, March 30:
The fire that broke out at the home of Duma village resident Ibrahim Dawabsheh a week and a half ago appears to have started from inside the house, Judea and Samaria police and fire authorities reported on Tuesday.
The report also said that in contrast to the claims made by Dawabsheh, a relative and neighbor of the Dawabsheh family who were murdered in an arson attack in their home nine months ago, no Molotov cocktail had been thrown at his house.
From the start, the evidence did not align with the claim that the fire had been the result of a hate crime.
The fact that no accelerant was found at the scene and that the fire burned slowly led to the conclusion that it was not caused by arson. The house was also locked while the fire burned and no windows were broken, contradicting the claim that the fire had been caused by a Molotov cocktail.
Ibrahaim Dawabsheh and his family were summoned for questioning, but denied the police claims. The police investigation is heading in several directions, including the possibility that the family wanted to frame settlers, was trying to commit insurance fraud, or was trying to drum up sympathy to secure money or donations.
The Judea and Samaria Police said in a statement that "the investigation into the recent events has raised a suspicion that the complainants are making false reports and trying to present the fire as a hate crime, and in doing so are disrupting the fragile balance of life by pressing on a complex security period."
Is it surprising at all that Barghouti lies as easily as he breathes?
(h/t SpotlightingSA)
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