Ori Ansbacher “was stabbed several times and brutally murdered in Jerusalem. DNA from the scene led Israel to the Palestinian, 29-year-old Arafat Arfiah, who was captured after soldiers entered a mosque.” Palestinian Authority Minister of Religious Affairs Yusuf Ida’is was quick to “‘condemn’ Israel’s entering the mosque to search for the terrorist.” Ida’is referred to the arrest as an “attack” by the “occupation forces.”
The attack on Ansbacher was so brutal that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the murder “shocking brutality,” and it has been described by many as one of “the most horrific murders Israel has ever seen.” Why was Ori Ansbacher murdered? Because she was Jewish.
According to attorney and former prosecutor Ari Lieberman: “Forensic teams scoured the site for evidence and within 24 hours, there was a significant evidentiary breakthrough that led to the doorstep of 29-year-old Hebron resident, Arafat Irfayia. So strong was the physical evidence that police noted that they could secure a conviction even without a confession. Following the crime, Irfayia hid in a mosque in the Arab village of El-Bireh”
Palestinian Minister of Religious Affairs Yusuf Ida’is was so incensed that Israeli authorities dared to enter a mosque to search for the jihadi that he issued a statement with no mention of the murder of Ori Ansbacher, and he bizarrely dragged Christianity into it:
This cowardly attack against a religious and sacred place of worship, without any consideration for its sanctity and its religious and spiritual value, constitutes part of a series of daily attacks against our Islamic and Christian holy sites, and particularly the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the pearl of Palestine, by the occupation forces and unbridled settlers and under political cover of the right-wing occupation government.
The brutality of this crime is monstrous. People should be asking themselves: where are all the international advocates for human rights?
“PA minister ignores brutal murder of young Israeli woman but criticizes Israel for searching in mosque for murderer”, by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik, Palestinian Media Watch, February 10, 2019:
Three days ago, a 19-year-old Israeli woman, Ori Ansbacher, was stabbed several times and brutally murdered in Jerusalem. DNA from the scene led Israel to the Palestinian, 29-year-old Arafat Arfiah, who was captured after soldiers entered a mosque and seized footage from its security camera.
PA Minister of Religious Affairs Yusuf Ida’is completely ignored the fact that a young Israeli woman had been attacked, stabbed, and murdered by a Palestinian, but was quick to “condemn” Israel’s entering the mosque to search for the terrorist as an “attack,” according to the PA’s official daily. Moreover, not only was there no reference to the murder in the minister’s quote, this entire article in the official PA daily did not even mention the terror attack and murder as the context of Israel’s search to the mosque.
Absurdly, the minister complained that the Israeli soldiers’ entrance into the mosque lacked “any consideration for its sanctity and its religious and spiritual value.” Concerned about “sanctity” and “spiritual values,” he didn’t even mention the innocent 19-year-old Israeli victim:
“[PA] Minister of Religious Affairs Yusuf Ida’is condemned the attack against the sanctity of the Jamal Abd Al-Nasser Mosque under baseless and unacceptable pretexts. Ida’is said in a press statement that this cowardly attack against a religious and sacred place of worship, without any consideration for its sanctity and its religious and spiritual value, constitutes part of a series of daily attacks against our Islamic and Christian holy sites, and particularly the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the pearl of Palestine, by the occupation forces and unbridled settlers and under political cover of the right-wing occupation government.”
[Official PA daily Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, Feb. 9, 2019]The headline did not mention the murder either, but focused solely on the “occupation’s raid”:
“The occupation raided the Jamal Abd Al-Nasser Mosque, the Sateh Marhaba neighborhood and Al-Quds Street in El-Bireh”
Media reports in Israel have stated that the Palestinian has confessed to the murder, but that it is not yet clear based on his statement if it was nationalistically motivated – meaning an act of terror -or criminally motivated.
The distinction is of significance for the murderer, especially in terms of how the Palestinian Authority decides to view it. If this was a nationalistically motivated crime, i.e., terror – what the PA terms “struggle against the occupation” – then Arafat Arfiah will be entitled to receive a monthly salary under the PA’s “Pay for Slay” program with which the PA uses to reward terrorist murderers. Should this be the case, prisoner Arfiah will receive at least 1,400 shekels/month starting from the day of his arrest, eventually rising to as high at 12,000 shekels/month…..