NABLUS, July 12, 2018 (WAFA) – The Israeli District Court in Lydda, northern Israel, set free on Thursday an Israeli settler involved in the murder of the Dawabsheh family on July 31, 2015 after setting their home in the northern West Bank village of Duma on fire, killing the parents and their infant, while causing serious burns to another child, the only surviving member, which prompted relatives of the Dawabsheh family to accuse the court of being racist and of double standard.

Nasser Dawabsheh, a relative of the afflicted family, told WAFA that the court decided to place the murderer, a minor, under house arrest and banned him from leaving the country or to use the phones or internet.

“It is a sad day for the family,” he said. “The decision brought back to us dreadful memories of the fire at my brother’s  house and when we tried to save them. The scene has been re-enacted with the court ruling.”

Dawabsheh accused the Israeli court and judge of being racist and of double standard, saying that if the accused was Palestinian he and his family would have been punished severely and their home demolished, and even their entire village would have been subjected to collective punishment. “But when the crime is perpetrated by Israelis, the courts try to find anything to get them out of it.”

He said “the Israeli court system gives impunity to the murderers of Palestinians and the more reason to continue to attack them.”

He said the family has no choice but to pursue the case at Israeli courts before appealing to international courts for justice if all efforts to convict the murderers fail.

M.K.