Washington Post Notes Jordanian Terrorist Hailed as a ‘Hero’

A Washington Post dispatch highlighted the release of Jordanian terrorist Ahmed Daqamseh, who was imprisoned for murdering seven Israeli schoolgirls in 1997. Post reporters Ruth Eglash and Taylor Luck offered readers an important look at the rapturous reception that greeted Daqamseh upon his release on March 11, 2017 (“Freed 20 years after slaying of 7 Israeli schoolgirls, Jordanian is hailed as hero,” March 13, 2017).

The Post provided readers with a look at Daqamseh’s horrendous crimes and the grieving that followed. On March 13, 1997 Daqamseh—a Jordanian solider—opened fire on a group of Israeli schoolchildren who were visiting the Jordanian border site of Neharayim—known as the “Island of Peace”—for a field trip. He murdered seven Israeli schoolgirls and wounded six others.

Eglash and Luck noted the disappointment and pain of one of the survivors of the massacre, Hila Levy, who is now 33 years old. Levy remarked, “We knew he would be released sometime soon, but it still hurts.”

Daqamseh has been celebrated for murdering the seven schoolchildren. The Post pointed out that, “in Jordan, supporters of Daqamseh, whom the Jordanian military court deemed mentally unstable at the time, hailed his release and called him a hero….hundreds of relatives and supporters greeted Daqamseh at his family home in the northern village of Ibdir, 60 miles north of Amman, the capital.” Eglash and Luck said the murderer’s name trended on Twitter among Arab users where he was called a “model” and “hero.” Indeed, in Jordan, “Daqamseh has been adopted by the opposition movement, led by Islamists and nationalist,” both of who have repeatedly called for his release.

The Post reported that following his release, Daqamseh told Al-Jazeera, “Don’t believe the lie of normalization with the Zionist entity. Don’t believe the lie of the two-state solution. Palestine united is from the ocean to the river…there is no state called ‘Israel.’”

The Washington Post should be commended for highlighting the grotesque celebration of anti-Jewish violence and the rejection of Israel’s right to exist that permeates Arab society.

However, The Post’s report was not without fault. For example, it uncritically quoted a Jordanian shopkeeper named Mohammed Youssef, who justified the celebrations of Daqamseh’s release with the spurious claim that “Israelis kill Palestinians by the hundreds every month, and no one is brought to justice.” This accusation, of course, is false. As CAMERA has highlighted (see, for example “Where’s the Coverage? Joint Chief Chairman Declares ‘Israel Went to Extraordinary Length’ to Protect Gaza Civilians” Nov. 13, 2014), various military officials and inquires have noted Israel’s judicious use of force. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, then serving as the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has stated: “The IDF is not interested in creating civilian casualties.”

By contrast, self-avowed enemies of the Jewish state purposefully target civilians, including schoolgirls—and are praised in many sections of Arab society for their efforts.