The bodies of ‘Udai and Ghasan Abu Jamal, who carried out the horrendous attack in a synagogue in the West Jerusalem neighborhood of Har Nof, have not yet been returned to their families. According to media reports, Israel Police legal adviser Shaul Gordon notified the families that the possibility of withholding the bodies at this stage was under consideration, “given that handing over the body, which will be followed by a funeral procession, a burial, erection of headstone, and so on, may glorify the memory of the terrorist and make him a role model for others.” Gordon added that, according to security estimates, such a step may “serve as a deterrent to reduce motivation for carrying out such attacks.”
Israel’s refusal to return the bodies is yet another form of harm to innocents that authorities justify citing deterrence. This step does not punish the deceased but their relatives, who were not involved in the actions of the former and are not responsible for them. Refusing to allow the families to bury their dead causes them considerable distress, impedes their process of mourning, and prevents them from performing out the traditional and religious rituals that mark the death of a loved one.
B’Tselem calls upon the authorities to make a clear distinction between the grave actions of the deceased and any harm to their relatives, who are not suspected of any offense, and to refrain from imposing collective punishment, which is immoral and contravenes international law.
Israel has refused in the past to return the bodies of persons who carried out attacks to their families. For a review of this policy, see 1999 report “Captive Corpses”, published by B’Tselem and HaMoked: The Centre for Defence of the Individual.
