12 aug 2010
Report: Israeli 'serial killer' arrested in US
American media outlets report Elias Abuelazam, suspected of terrorizing three states, removed from flight from Atlanta to Tel Aviv. Authorities say killer responsible for at least 16 attacks, five of them fatal; 14 of victims were black
American authorities arrested a "person of interest" of Israeli descent on Wednesday on suspicion of being involved in serial killings in three different states. The man was identified by law enforcement sources as Elias Abuelazam, 33, the Washington Post reported.
Media outlets in the United States reported that the suspect was removed from a flight from Atlanta to Tel Aviv.
A spokesman for US Customs and Border Protection says the agency's officers arrested the man about 10 pm Wednesday night at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, as he attempted to board a Delta flight for Tel Aviv. The suspect was handed over to the FBI and Atlanta police.
FOX News reported that the man has a dual citizenship – Israeli and American – and that more than 500 tips helped lead to his arrest. The US law enforcement authorities were aware of his identity and his name was placed on a black list of people not allowed to leave the country. The suspect was apparently caught after making the mistake of registering for the flight.
According to the Atlanta Journal, the suspect had an expired Israeli passport and was about to board a plane to Tel Aviv when agents from several law enforcement agencies swooped in.
CNN reported that air traffic in and out of Hartsfield-Jackson was stopped temporarily until the man was in custody.
The NBC network reported that the suspect was of Israeli descent and worked as a clerk near a bar and liquor store near Flint, Michigan.
'Attacks may have been racially motivated'
Police in Leesburg, Virginia said the man was being held on unrelated charges. Leesburg Police Officer Chris Jones says authorities believe the man could be the suspect.
Jones says police "have information that he was trying to leave the country." The attacks started May 24 in Flint.
"While this is a key step in the investigation, there are still many issues that need to be addressed before we identify this individual as the person responsible for this horrific crime spree," the Leesburg Police Department said in a news conference.
Police had been focusing on that area until Leesburg police reported three similar attacks last week. Toledo, Ohio, authorities also say a stabbing in that city Saturday appears to be linked to the Michigan cases.
Authorities said the serial killer is responsible for at least 16 attacks in Flint, Michigan, five of them fatal. Fourteen of his victims were said to be black men.
Police have said the man's attacks usually follow a pattern: He approaches black men late at night on lonely urban roads, and asks for directions or help with a broken-down car. Then, without warning, he pulls out a knife and strikes. Then, he speeds away in his vehicle, leaving them for dead.
The brazen nature and the frequency of the attacks - the assailant has struck an average of about once every four days since the first stabbing in May - has terrified some of those in cities he's already targeted.
As the victims have been mostly black, police have suspected the attacks may have been racially motivated. The youngest victim was 17; the oldest was 60.
The Toledo victim, who survived, was stabbed twice in the abdomen August 7, while taking a cigarette break outside the church where he works, NBC reported.
"I believe his motivation is pure hatred," Leesburg Police Chief Joseph Price said at a news conference Thursday.
The Flint Journal repored that dozens of angry residents had gathered outside Kingwater Market in Beecher, talking about the man they knew as "Eli" who worked behind the counter.
Abdullah Farah, manager of the store, said police on Wednesday watched store surveillance tapes of the man working. He was later arrested.
Flint Serial Slasher is Israeli Citizen With Green Card, Elias Abu al-Azzam
Abuelazam's mother, Iyam al-Azzam, told Israel Radio that she talked to her son by phone before he was supposed to board "and he sounded the same as usual, quiet and calm." She said she was getting ready to pick her son up at the airport when relatives told her he had been arrested. "I do not believe these charges are true," she said. "Elias, my son, is a religious, God-fearing man who always assists anyone who needs help."
In Ramla, a mixed Israeli Jewish-Arab working class town between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the shabby, two-story house where the suspect's mother and sister live was dark late Thursday. Neighbors, who refused to give their names, said the family is Christian but told reporters little else.
Elias Abuelazam was about to board a plane for Israel when police arrested him in connection with a three-month stabbing spree that left five men dead, 13 others wounded and a Michigan city in terror. In the moments before the bald, pudgy man in flip-flops and shorts was handcuffed, passengers saw him nervously talking on his cell phone, insisting he wasn't violent.
The Israeli citizen and legal U.S. resident was charged Thursday in just one case out of Flint, the battered industrial city where most of the stabbings occurred, but authorities said more charges are expected there and in Ohio and Virginia. At least 15 of the 18 victims were black but it was unclear whether the attacks were racially motivated.
Flint residents hope the arrest ends their summer of fear. Roughly every four days since late May on average, the killer approached men on lonely roads at night, asking for directions or help with a broken-down car. Then he'd pull out a knife, plunge it into his victim and speed away; in one case he used a hammer.
The youngest victim was 15; the oldest 67.
Abuelazam, 33, was arrested late Wednesday at a boarding gate at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport shortly before his plane to Tel Aviv was to take off. Officers seized him after he was paged over the intercom and told to report at a ticket counter.
Passengers on the Delta Air Lines flight were stunned but said Abuelazam appeared tense. He was talking to someone on his cell phone "about not being violent and different things like that," passenger Eugene Williams said after the plane landed in Tel Aviv.
Israeli 'Serial killer chose victims by skin color'
Report: Israeli 'serial killer' arrested in US. Washington Post: Israeli serial killer suspect is Elias Abuelazam
US police say Abuelazam had previous criminal record; identified by fingerprints left at crime scene
Fingerprints left at one of the crime scenes led to Elias Abuelazam, who is suspected of committing five murders and 15 additional assaults in the United States, Leesburg police commander said on Thursday.
In a special press conference held in Michigan, the police chief said Abuelazam selected his victims based on the color of their skin.
A police investigator added that they made the match after analyzing fingerprints from the scene of the murder. In addition to the murders and assaults committed in recent months, the police was checking whether Abuelazam was also involved in a March 2009 murder.
The initial information about Abuelazam was received from Michigan, and was quickly verified with additional information from Virginia.
The police investigator said they had no direct cooperation with the Israeli government at the moment, but added that the federal authorities had most likely made contact.
According to the police, Abuelazam had a previous criminal record and was arrested in 2007 for illegal gun possession, but the charges against him were dropped.
Another report states Abuelazam was convicted in 1995 in the state of California.
The police noted they will continue investigating other incidents that may be related to the suspect.
American newspaper Washington Post identified the suspected serial killer arrested in Atlanta airport as 33-year-old Elias Abuelazam.
Abuelazam, nicknamed Eli, is an Israeli citizen legally living in the United States. He is suspected of five murder cases and over 15 assaults in the states of Michigan, Virginia and Ohio.
Passengers on flight with 'serial killer' shocked
Despite witnessing federal police escort a handcuffed Elias Abuelazam off flight from Atlanta to Tel Aviv, passengers were shocked to learn man on board is suspected of at least 16 attacks in US, five of them fatal
Despite his identity being kept a mystery, almost all the passengers on flight DL152 from Atlanta to Tel Aviv on Thursday noticed something wasn't right about passenger Elias Abuelazam who is suspected of carrying out a number of murders in the United States and was removed from the flight moment before it took off for Israel.
The first clue was when American federal police officers boarded the flight, along with bloodhounds, and combed every corner of the plane. Shortly afterwards, the police walked off the plane along with the bulky Elias Abuelazam, wearing a white shirt and in handcuffs.
While the passengers didn't learn more about the affair until they landed, their relatives waiting for them at the Ben Gurion Airport arrivals' hall already heard from reporters that the man removed from the flight before takeoff was no ordinary passenger, but a suspected serial killer.
Dalia Shoval-Shaked, who was waiting for her 12-year-old daughter to return from a summer vacation in the US said, "We didn't know anything about what was going on, my daughter Romi called and said there was a delay with the flight. We had no idea there was a serial killer on the flight, I am really worried. She is alone on the flight."
One nerve-wracking hour later, Romi landed and gave Ynet her account of what happened on the flight. "The guy was sitting right next to me, he had an Israeli appearance, he looked completely Israel. He seemed a little nervous, and suddenly, police came over and asked him to go with them, they handcuffed him and took him away, he did not resist and did not say anything special.
"The name they called on the loudspeaker sounded like an Arabic name, I had no idea what was going on, now, when you tell me he could be a serial killer, it gets a whole new frightening meaning."
The Williams, an African-American family on their first visit to Israel, were surprised to hear that the man whose arrest they witnessed on the plane was suspected of murdering a number of African-Americans. "Really? We had no idea, we didn't even hear of those murders," one of them told Ynet.
The family said he was talking on the phone at the time of his arrest. "We saw him being led off. Even when they combed the plane with dogs we had no idea it was a murderer. It is very surprising to hear this."
Israeli Man Visits America for Racial Serial Killing Spree
Abuelazam's mother, Iyam al-Azzam, told Israel Radio that she talked to her son by phone before he was supposed to board "and he sounded the same as usual, quiet and calm." She said she was getting ready to pick her son up at the airport when relatives told her he had been arrested. "I do not believe these charges are true," she said. "Elias, my son, is a religious, God-fearing man who always assists anyone who needs help."
In Ramla, a mixed Israeli Jewish-Arab working class town between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the shabby, two-story house where the suspect's mother and sister live was dark late Thursday. Neighbors, who refused to give their names, said the family is Christian but told reporters little else.
In Michigan, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said authorities don't know the motive for the stabbings, and that despite the fact that most victims were black there is no evidence race played a role.
Killed were
David Motley, 31,
Emmanuel A. Muhammad, 59,
Darwin Marshall, 43, and
Arnold R. Minor, 49,
all of Flint, and Frank Kellybrew, 60, of Flint Township. All died before Aug. 4, when Michigan authorities concluded the attacks were the work of one serial killer.
A tip late Tuesday — one of more than 500 received in the stabbings — led police to a market near Flint where Abuelazam worked. Leyton said investigators talked to employees, and a store video showed that he matched the description of the man wanted by authorities.
Antwione Marshall, the victim of the July 27 stabbing in which Abuelazam has been charged, told The Associated Press that he identified Abuelazam as his assailant when the FBI visited him at 3 a.m. to show him a photograph of the suspect.
Marshall, 26, of Flint, said he was going into his apartment building when the assailant approached and asked for help fixing his car. He was stabbed twice when he opened the hood, and now has a long scar from his chest to his pelvic area.
Marshall said he wants to "retaliate" but "I'll let God handle it. Every time I look at my scar, I get angry."
Abuelazam was living in Flint, where his uncle owned two adjacent homes. Leyton said police searched them and removed evidence but he declined to describe it.
The suspect left his vehicle in Michigan and flew Wednesday to Louisville, Ky., and then to Atlanta, the last stop before the planned international flight. Leyton said Abuelazam's uncle bought him the plane ticket, which cost about $3,000, and is now cooperating with police.
A few dozen people who heard about the arrest gathered outside Abuelazam's former workplace, Kingwater Market in Mount Morris Township. One yelled that the owner should have been suspicious. Police cleared the parking lot.
Store manager Abdulla Farrah said Abuelazam worked there for about a month before leaving Aug. 1. He said he seemed like a "very polite, nice guy" who "didn't show any kind of racism," but he also said, "I hope if he's the one that did this I hope they hang him, I hope he gets the death penalty." Michigan does not have capital punishment.
American authorities arrested a "person of interest" of Israeli descent on Wednesday on suspicion of being involved in serial killings in three different states. The man was identified by law enforcement sources as Elias Abuelazam, 33, the Washington Post reported.
Media outlets in the United States reported that the suspect was removed from a flight from Atlanta to Tel Aviv.
A spokesman for US Customs and Border Protection says the agency's officers arrested the man about 10 pm Wednesday night at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, as he attempted to board a Delta flight for Tel Aviv. The suspect was handed over to the FBI and Atlanta police.
FOX News reported that the man has a dual citizenship – Israeli and American – and that more than 500 tips helped lead to his arrest. The US law enforcement authorities were aware of his identity and his name was placed on a black list of people not allowed to leave the country. The suspect was apparently caught after making the mistake of registering for the flight.
According to the Atlanta Journal, the suspect had an expired Israeli passport and was about to board a plane to Tel Aviv when agents from several law enforcement agencies swooped in.
CNN reported that air traffic in and out of Hartsfield-Jackson was stopped temporarily until the man was in custody.
The NBC network reported that the suspect was of Israeli descent and worked as a clerk near a bar and liquor store near Flint, Michigan.
'Attacks may have been racially motivated'
Police in Leesburg, Virginia said the man was being held on unrelated charges. Leesburg Police Officer Chris Jones says authorities believe the man could be the suspect.
Jones says police "have information that he was trying to leave the country." The attacks started May 24 in Flint.
"While this is a key step in the investigation, there are still many issues that need to be addressed before we identify this individual as the person responsible for this horrific crime spree," the Leesburg Police Department said in a news conference.
Police had been focusing on that area until Leesburg police reported three similar attacks last week. Toledo, Ohio, authorities also say a stabbing in that city Saturday appears to be linked to the Michigan cases.
Authorities said the serial killer is responsible for at least 16 attacks in Flint, Michigan, five of them fatal. Fourteen of his victims were said to be black men.
Police have said the man's attacks usually follow a pattern: He approaches black men late at night on lonely urban roads, and asks for directions or help with a broken-down car. Then, without warning, he pulls out a knife and strikes. Then, he speeds away in his vehicle, leaving them for dead.
The brazen nature and the frequency of the attacks - the assailant has struck an average of about once every four days since the first stabbing in May - has terrified some of those in cities he's already targeted.
As the victims have been mostly black, police have suspected the attacks may have been racially motivated. The youngest victim was 17; the oldest was 60.
The Toledo victim, who survived, was stabbed twice in the abdomen August 7, while taking a cigarette break outside the church where he works, NBC reported.
"I believe his motivation is pure hatred," Leesburg Police Chief Joseph Price said at a news conference Thursday.
The Flint Journal repored that dozens of angry residents had gathered outside Kingwater Market in Beecher, talking about the man they knew as "Eli" who worked behind the counter.
Abdullah Farah, manager of the store, said police on Wednesday watched store surveillance tapes of the man working. He was later arrested.
Flint Serial Slasher is Israeli Citizen With Green Card, Elias Abu al-Azzam
Abuelazam's mother, Iyam al-Azzam, told Israel Radio that she talked to her son by phone before he was supposed to board "and he sounded the same as usual, quiet and calm." She said she was getting ready to pick her son up at the airport when relatives told her he had been arrested. "I do not believe these charges are true," she said. "Elias, my son, is a religious, God-fearing man who always assists anyone who needs help."
In Ramla, a mixed Israeli Jewish-Arab working class town between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the shabby, two-story house where the suspect's mother and sister live was dark late Thursday. Neighbors, who refused to give their names, said the family is Christian but told reporters little else.
Elias Abuelazam was about to board a plane for Israel when police arrested him in connection with a three-month stabbing spree that left five men dead, 13 others wounded and a Michigan city in terror. In the moments before the bald, pudgy man in flip-flops and shorts was handcuffed, passengers saw him nervously talking on his cell phone, insisting he wasn't violent.
The Israeli citizen and legal U.S. resident was charged Thursday in just one case out of Flint, the battered industrial city where most of the stabbings occurred, but authorities said more charges are expected there and in Ohio and Virginia. At least 15 of the 18 victims were black but it was unclear whether the attacks were racially motivated.
Flint residents hope the arrest ends their summer of fear. Roughly every four days since late May on average, the killer approached men on lonely roads at night, asking for directions or help with a broken-down car. Then he'd pull out a knife, plunge it into his victim and speed away; in one case he used a hammer.
The youngest victim was 15; the oldest 67.
Abuelazam, 33, was arrested late Wednesday at a boarding gate at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport shortly before his plane to Tel Aviv was to take off. Officers seized him after he was paged over the intercom and told to report at a ticket counter.
Passengers on the Delta Air Lines flight were stunned but said Abuelazam appeared tense. He was talking to someone on his cell phone "about not being violent and different things like that," passenger Eugene Williams said after the plane landed in Tel Aviv.
Israeli 'Serial killer chose victims by skin color'
Report: Israeli 'serial killer' arrested in US. Washington Post: Israeli serial killer suspect is Elias Abuelazam
US police say Abuelazam had previous criminal record; identified by fingerprints left at crime scene
Fingerprints left at one of the crime scenes led to Elias Abuelazam, who is suspected of committing five murders and 15 additional assaults in the United States, Leesburg police commander said on Thursday.
In a special press conference held in Michigan, the police chief said Abuelazam selected his victims based on the color of their skin.
A police investigator added that they made the match after analyzing fingerprints from the scene of the murder. In addition to the murders and assaults committed in recent months, the police was checking whether Abuelazam was also involved in a March 2009 murder.
The initial information about Abuelazam was received from Michigan, and was quickly verified with additional information from Virginia.
The police investigator said they had no direct cooperation with the Israeli government at the moment, but added that the federal authorities had most likely made contact.
According to the police, Abuelazam had a previous criminal record and was arrested in 2007 for illegal gun possession, but the charges against him were dropped.
Another report states Abuelazam was convicted in 1995 in the state of California.
The police noted they will continue investigating other incidents that may be related to the suspect.
American newspaper Washington Post identified the suspected serial killer arrested in Atlanta airport as 33-year-old Elias Abuelazam.
Abuelazam, nicknamed Eli, is an Israeli citizen legally living in the United States. He is suspected of five murder cases and over 15 assaults in the states of Michigan, Virginia and Ohio.
Passengers on flight with 'serial killer' shocked
Despite witnessing federal police escort a handcuffed Elias Abuelazam off flight from Atlanta to Tel Aviv, passengers were shocked to learn man on board is suspected of at least 16 attacks in US, five of them fatal
Despite his identity being kept a mystery, almost all the passengers on flight DL152 from Atlanta to Tel Aviv on Thursday noticed something wasn't right about passenger Elias Abuelazam who is suspected of carrying out a number of murders in the United States and was removed from the flight moment before it took off for Israel.
The first clue was when American federal police officers boarded the flight, along with bloodhounds, and combed every corner of the plane. Shortly afterwards, the police walked off the plane along with the bulky Elias Abuelazam, wearing a white shirt and in handcuffs.
While the passengers didn't learn more about the affair until they landed, their relatives waiting for them at the Ben Gurion Airport arrivals' hall already heard from reporters that the man removed from the flight before takeoff was no ordinary passenger, but a suspected serial killer.
Dalia Shoval-Shaked, who was waiting for her 12-year-old daughter to return from a summer vacation in the US said, "We didn't know anything about what was going on, my daughter Romi called and said there was a delay with the flight. We had no idea there was a serial killer on the flight, I am really worried. She is alone on the flight."
One nerve-wracking hour later, Romi landed and gave Ynet her account of what happened on the flight. "The guy was sitting right next to me, he had an Israeli appearance, he looked completely Israel. He seemed a little nervous, and suddenly, police came over and asked him to go with them, they handcuffed him and took him away, he did not resist and did not say anything special.
"The name they called on the loudspeaker sounded like an Arabic name, I had no idea what was going on, now, when you tell me he could be a serial killer, it gets a whole new frightening meaning."
The Williams, an African-American family on their first visit to Israel, were surprised to hear that the man whose arrest they witnessed on the plane was suspected of murdering a number of African-Americans. "Really? We had no idea, we didn't even hear of those murders," one of them told Ynet.
The family said he was talking on the phone at the time of his arrest. "We saw him being led off. Even when they combed the plane with dogs we had no idea it was a murderer. It is very surprising to hear this."
Israeli Man Visits America for Racial Serial Killing Spree
Abuelazam's mother, Iyam al-Azzam, told Israel Radio that she talked to her son by phone before he was supposed to board "and he sounded the same as usual, quiet and calm." She said she was getting ready to pick her son up at the airport when relatives told her he had been arrested. "I do not believe these charges are true," she said. "Elias, my son, is a religious, God-fearing man who always assists anyone who needs help."
In Ramla, a mixed Israeli Jewish-Arab working class town between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, the shabby, two-story house where the suspect's mother and sister live was dark late Thursday. Neighbors, who refused to give their names, said the family is Christian but told reporters little else.
In Michigan, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said authorities don't know the motive for the stabbings, and that despite the fact that most victims were black there is no evidence race played a role.
Killed were
David Motley, 31,
Emmanuel A. Muhammad, 59,
Darwin Marshall, 43, and
Arnold R. Minor, 49,
all of Flint, and Frank Kellybrew, 60, of Flint Township. All died before Aug. 4, when Michigan authorities concluded the attacks were the work of one serial killer.
A tip late Tuesday — one of more than 500 received in the stabbings — led police to a market near Flint where Abuelazam worked. Leyton said investigators talked to employees, and a store video showed that he matched the description of the man wanted by authorities.
Antwione Marshall, the victim of the July 27 stabbing in which Abuelazam has been charged, told The Associated Press that he identified Abuelazam as his assailant when the FBI visited him at 3 a.m. to show him a photograph of the suspect.
Marshall, 26, of Flint, said he was going into his apartment building when the assailant approached and asked for help fixing his car. He was stabbed twice when he opened the hood, and now has a long scar from his chest to his pelvic area.
Marshall said he wants to "retaliate" but "I'll let God handle it. Every time I look at my scar, I get angry."
Abuelazam was living in Flint, where his uncle owned two adjacent homes. Leyton said police searched them and removed evidence but he declined to describe it.
The suspect left his vehicle in Michigan and flew Wednesday to Louisville, Ky., and then to Atlanta, the last stop before the planned international flight. Leyton said Abuelazam's uncle bought him the plane ticket, which cost about $3,000, and is now cooperating with police.
A few dozen people who heard about the arrest gathered outside Abuelazam's former workplace, Kingwater Market in Mount Morris Township. One yelled that the owner should have been suspicious. Police cleared the parking lot.
Store manager Abdulla Farrah said Abuelazam worked there for about a month before leaving Aug. 1. He said he seemed like a "very polite, nice guy" who "didn't show any kind of racism," but he also said, "I hope if he's the one that did this I hope they hang him, I hope he gets the death penalty." Michigan does not have capital punishment.
10 aug 2010
Twelve years for 18-year-old who stabbed 'rapist' stepfather
Judge acknowledges extenuating circumstances - but rules that 'arguments must not be settled by the knife'.
A Haifa District Court sentenced an 18-year-old from northern Israel to 12 years in jail on Tuesday for stabbing his stepfather, who allegedly raped the man's younger sister.
The court stated that the youth, who played an important role in his sister's life, was enraged after the girl told him of the rape.
In delivering the verdict, the judge said: "Arguments must be settled by a court of law, not by the knife."
In January the teenager, who was still a high school student, wa told by younger sister, 1, that their stepfather had raped her two days previously and had sexually assaulted her several times in the past.
The teenager asked his sister to leave the house, armed himself with two kitchen knives, and stabbed his stepfather while he slept. The older man was taken to hospital for his injuries, but was released soon afterwards.
Following the stepson's arrest, the stepfather was arrested on suspicion of sex crimes, but was released under conditions that included a restraining order banning him from the home for two weeks.
During the trial it emerged that the children's mother doubted her daughter's story. The girl's mental health deteriorated follwing the attack and she was eventually insitutionalized.
"I imagine that after he described himself and his sister being 'abused' physically and verbally for years, that when his sister described to him how the complainant had sexually assaulted her, the accused must have felt horrible," Judge Moshe Gilad wrote in his summing up.
"I am ready to believe that when the accused saw his sister feeling so vulnerable, and heard her tell of such horrible things, he was frustrated and enraged."
But he added: "We cannot allow the court to send a message that someone who stabs another in anger, rage, revenge, no matter what the reason, will not be put under lock and key."
A Haifa District Court sentenced an 18-year-old from northern Israel to 12 years in jail on Tuesday for stabbing his stepfather, who allegedly raped the man's younger sister.
The court stated that the youth, who played an important role in his sister's life, was enraged after the girl told him of the rape.
In delivering the verdict, the judge said: "Arguments must be settled by a court of law, not by the knife."
In January the teenager, who was still a high school student, wa told by younger sister, 1, that their stepfather had raped her two days previously and had sexually assaulted her several times in the past.
The teenager asked his sister to leave the house, armed himself with two kitchen knives, and stabbed his stepfather while he slept. The older man was taken to hospital for his injuries, but was released soon afterwards.
Following the stepson's arrest, the stepfather was arrested on suspicion of sex crimes, but was released under conditions that included a restraining order banning him from the home for two weeks.
During the trial it emerged that the children's mother doubted her daughter's story. The girl's mental health deteriorated follwing the attack and she was eventually insitutionalized.
"I imagine that after he described himself and his sister being 'abused' physically and verbally for years, that when his sister described to him how the complainant had sexually assaulted her, the accused must have felt horrible," Judge Moshe Gilad wrote in his summing up.
"I am ready to believe that when the accused saw his sister feeling so vulnerable, and heard her tell of such horrible things, he was frustrated and enraged."
But he added: "We cannot allow the court to send a message that someone who stabs another in anger, rage, revenge, no matter what the reason, will not be put under lock and key."
9 aug 2010
Translator shortage hinders probes into IDF abuses in West Bank
Rights group Yesh Din says complainants often travel far to meet investigators, only for meetings to be canceled because no interpreter could be found.
A shortage of translators is seriously damaging Military Police investigations into complaints by Palestinians against Israeli soldiers, human rights organization Yesh Din said yesterday.
In a letter to the officer monitoring such investigations, Yesh Din said complainants often travel far for prearranged meetings with investigators, only to find that the meetings have been canceled because no interpreter could be found.
"On one occasion, we waited nearly five hours with a complainant invited to the Hebron District Coordination Office because the investigators couldn't find an interpreter," Mohand Anati, a Yesh Din field researcher, told Haaretz.
"They were going through the entire brigade, looking for an Arabic-speaking soldier, and they were really trying hard, but they couldn't find anyone. I guess the problem is somewhere higher in the hierarchy.
"They invite people to testify over and over again, and then it turns out there's no one to interpret. The complainants are making a huge effort to arrive, taking a day off work and going through all the checkpoints. And then the meeting is canceled. Some people feel it's intentional."
Palestinians usually make their initial complaints by phone, often through the services of Yesh Din. If the Israel Defense Forces launches a Military Police investigation, the complainants are summoned to give testimony to the investigators.
Yesh Din lists 10 cases in which an investigation was interrupted due to a shortage of translators, including suspicions of grave offenses such as soldiers firing toward minors and physically assaulting Palestinians.
"The army, as the occupying force, is obligated not only to ensure order and security for all residents of the West Bank, but also to investigate criminal offenses by soldiers against Palestinians," said Emily Schaeffer, who approached the monitoring officer on behalf of Yesh Din. "This obligation is violated when they fail to provide interpreters."
The IDF Spokesman's Office said in response that Military Police bases have Arabic-speaking investigators, and if there is a shortage of such investigators, officers from district coordination offices help out.
"Recently, there have been a number of cases in which the Military Police encountered difficulties in finding an interpreter for the investigation. This is not a change of policy but a temporary shortage of manpower," the spokesman's office said in a statement.
A shortage of translators is seriously damaging Military Police investigations into complaints by Palestinians against Israeli soldiers, human rights organization Yesh Din said yesterday.
In a letter to the officer monitoring such investigations, Yesh Din said complainants often travel far for prearranged meetings with investigators, only to find that the meetings have been canceled because no interpreter could be found.
"On one occasion, we waited nearly five hours with a complainant invited to the Hebron District Coordination Office because the investigators couldn't find an interpreter," Mohand Anati, a Yesh Din field researcher, told Haaretz.
"They were going through the entire brigade, looking for an Arabic-speaking soldier, and they were really trying hard, but they couldn't find anyone. I guess the problem is somewhere higher in the hierarchy.
"They invite people to testify over and over again, and then it turns out there's no one to interpret. The complainants are making a huge effort to arrive, taking a day off work and going through all the checkpoints. And then the meeting is canceled. Some people feel it's intentional."
Palestinians usually make their initial complaints by phone, often through the services of Yesh Din. If the Israel Defense Forces launches a Military Police investigation, the complainants are summoned to give testimony to the investigators.
Yesh Din lists 10 cases in which an investigation was interrupted due to a shortage of translators, including suspicions of grave offenses such as soldiers firing toward minors and physically assaulting Palestinians.
"The army, as the occupying force, is obligated not only to ensure order and security for all residents of the West Bank, but also to investigate criminal offenses by soldiers against Palestinians," said Emily Schaeffer, who approached the monitoring officer on behalf of Yesh Din. "This obligation is violated when they fail to provide interpreters."
The IDF Spokesman's Office said in response that Military Police bases have Arabic-speaking investigators, and if there is a shortage of such investigators, officers from district coordination offices help out.
"Recently, there have been a number of cases in which the Military Police encountered difficulties in finding an interpreter for the investigation. This is not a change of policy but a temporary shortage of manpower," the spokesman's office said in a statement.
4 aug 2010
Police launch criminal probe into rabbi suspected of molesting boys
Mordechai Elon at home in February in the northern community of Migdal.
Investigation follows discovery of alleged sex crimes victim; charges filed by the victim not disqualified by statute of limitations.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has instructed the police to initiate a criminal investigation into Rabbi Moti Elon, under suspicion that he sexually molested young boys.
Weinstein made the call after at least one additional boy who claims that Elon committed sexual offences against him came forward, and whose case is still valid under the statute of limitations. Elon was questioned last month at the offices of the National Fraud Unit.
Elon's lawyer, Yair Golan, told Haaretz on Wednesday evening that a mudslinging campaign is being waged against Elon, and so it's no surprise that there will be a police investigation. Golan added that he is convinced that at the end of the investigation, it will be revealed that Elon committed no criminal act.
Back in February Weinstein instructed the police to conduct a preliminary investigation of the complaints, according to which Elon, one of the most important rabbis in the national religious movement, committed sexual offences against youths that came to him for advice.
However, from the initial investigation conducted by the police -- a prerequisite for launching a criminal investigation – it would appear that there were no complaints made by those who were minors at the time of the supposed offences and who were complaining of offences that occurred recently enough to not be disqualified by the statute of limitations.
The incident began with Takana, a forum dedicated to preventing sexual harassment by prominent religious figures, on the basis of complaints of alleged sexual relations between Rabbi Elon and minors that they had accumulated.
The Takana Forum revealed details of the complaints that they received in the past from students of Rabbi Elon. "One of the first complaints submitted to the forum was against Rabbi Mordechai Elon," the group wrote on its Web site. "One claim accused him of sexual exploitation by an individual with religious authority. These are grave acts that are not open to any other interpretation."
According to Takana, a small subcommittee was first notified of the initial complaint. Its members then confronted Elon about the allegations, to which the rabbi replied that he had completely overcome his problem. He said "these were old incidents and there would not be a repeat of new ones."
A year later, Takana received another complaint stating that Elon had maintained "a relationship of a clear sexual nature over an extended period of time." The complaint prompted the group to limit Elon's activity. When the rabbi failed to adhere to the restrictions, the members of the group elected to publicize the details of the affair.
In the last few months, police investigators conducted an investigation of the complaints that were received by the Takana forum, and met with forum members who over the years have come into contact with Elon's accusers and potential accusers. They also went over material that documents the complaints and records of the contacts that occurred between forum members and Rabbi Elon in regards to the complaints.
Until the last complainant was found, a decision had been made that it would be difficult to convince all of the complainants to press charges. And even if they could, most of the concrete complaints were not made by minors, or were no longer prosecutable because of the statute of limitations.
The management of the Takana forum stated, "The forum acts in cases that the police cannot. When a police action becomes possible, the Takana forum is confident that they will perform their jobs faithfully."
Investigation follows discovery of alleged sex crimes victim; charges filed by the victim not disqualified by statute of limitations.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has instructed the police to initiate a criminal investigation into Rabbi Moti Elon, under suspicion that he sexually molested young boys.
Weinstein made the call after at least one additional boy who claims that Elon committed sexual offences against him came forward, and whose case is still valid under the statute of limitations. Elon was questioned last month at the offices of the National Fraud Unit.
Elon's lawyer, Yair Golan, told Haaretz on Wednesday evening that a mudslinging campaign is being waged against Elon, and so it's no surprise that there will be a police investigation. Golan added that he is convinced that at the end of the investigation, it will be revealed that Elon committed no criminal act.
Back in February Weinstein instructed the police to conduct a preliminary investigation of the complaints, according to which Elon, one of the most important rabbis in the national religious movement, committed sexual offences against youths that came to him for advice.
However, from the initial investigation conducted by the police -- a prerequisite for launching a criminal investigation – it would appear that there were no complaints made by those who were minors at the time of the supposed offences and who were complaining of offences that occurred recently enough to not be disqualified by the statute of limitations.
The incident began with Takana, a forum dedicated to preventing sexual harassment by prominent religious figures, on the basis of complaints of alleged sexual relations between Rabbi Elon and minors that they had accumulated.
The Takana Forum revealed details of the complaints that they received in the past from students of Rabbi Elon. "One of the first complaints submitted to the forum was against Rabbi Mordechai Elon," the group wrote on its Web site. "One claim accused him of sexual exploitation by an individual with religious authority. These are grave acts that are not open to any other interpretation."
According to Takana, a small subcommittee was first notified of the initial complaint. Its members then confronted Elon about the allegations, to which the rabbi replied that he had completely overcome his problem. He said "these were old incidents and there would not be a repeat of new ones."
A year later, Takana received another complaint stating that Elon had maintained "a relationship of a clear sexual nature over an extended period of time." The complaint prompted the group to limit Elon's activity. When the rabbi failed to adhere to the restrictions, the members of the group elected to publicize the details of the affair.
In the last few months, police investigators conducted an investigation of the complaints that were received by the Takana forum, and met with forum members who over the years have come into contact with Elon's accusers and potential accusers. They also went over material that documents the complaints and records of the contacts that occurred between forum members and Rabbi Elon in regards to the complaints.
Until the last complainant was found, a decision had been made that it would be difficult to convince all of the complainants to press charges. And even if they could, most of the concrete complaints were not made by minors, or were no longer prosecutable because of the statute of limitations.
The management of the Takana forum stated, "The forum acts in cases that the police cannot. When a police action becomes possible, the Takana forum is confident that they will perform their jobs faithfully."
1 aug 2010
Israel police arrest suspect in human organ trafficking scam
Jerusalem man suspected of working as an intermediary to buy kidneys from donors abroad and sell them to Israeli transplant patients.
Jerusalem police on Sunday arrested a man suspected of working as part of an international operation to trade human organs.
The 67-year-old man is suspected of working as an intermediary, buying kidneys from donors abroad and selling them to Israeli patients awaiting transplant.
In one case, the man, whose name has not been released, allegedly defrauded an Israeli patient of tens of thousands of dollars.
After paying the intermediary, the patient was told to board a flight for South America and make contact with a donor at a fixed meeting point. But upon arrival, the patient was told that due to technical problems, the transplant could not take place. It later emerged that no donor existed.
Police are expected to ask a court to extend the remand of the suspect, who has been arrested for similar offenses in the past, pending a decision by state prosecutors on whether to indict him.
Jerusalem police on Sunday arrested a man suspected of working as part of an international operation to trade human organs.
The 67-year-old man is suspected of working as an intermediary, buying kidneys from donors abroad and selling them to Israeli patients awaiting transplant.
In one case, the man, whose name has not been released, allegedly defrauded an Israeli patient of tens of thousands of dollars.
After paying the intermediary, the patient was told to board a flight for South America and make contact with a donor at a fixed meeting point. But upon arrival, the patient was told that due to technical problems, the transplant could not take place. It later emerged that no donor existed.
Police are expected to ask a court to extend the remand of the suspect, who has been arrested for similar offenses in the past, pending a decision by state prosecutors on whether to indict him.