On This Day in Jewish History: October 12, 2000

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#onthisday, 2000, two Israeli soldiers are lynched in Ramallah when a Palestinian mob killed and mutilated the bodies of the reservists, Vadim Norzhich (Nurzhitz) and Yosef “Yossi” Avrahami. May they be remembered in blessing.

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The two had accidentally entered the Palestinian Authority-controlled city and were taken into custody by Palestinian Authority policemen.

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There had just been a mass funeral service that day for a youth killed by the IDF and when news go out that “Israeli undercover agents” were in the police building a mob of over 1,000 Palestinians gathered outside the station demanding the death of the Israelis inside.

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Soon after, the mob stormed into the building, overcame the Palestinian police, murdered and mutilated both soldiers.

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Beaten and stabbed to death, the Palestinian police only intervened hours after the second soldier lay dying.

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Aziz Salha, one of the lynchers, soon went to a window to wave his blood-stained hands from the police station – becoming a national symbol.

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Salha was later arrested by Israel and sentenced to life imprisonment, but was released in 2011 as part of the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange.

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In response, the Israeli military launched strikes against Palestinian Authority targets in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Israeli forces sealed off several Palestinian cities and deployed troops, tanks, and armored vehicles.

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The brutality of the murders and violent attempts from Palestinians to censor the event shocked the Israeli public, intensifying distrust in PA Chairman, Yasser Arafat, while damaging the Israeli left-wing’s push in a crumbling Oslo peace initiative that had become the full blown 2nd Intifada.

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✍: @jewishistoryguy

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#judaism#jewish#history#jewishhistory#onthisday#ramallahlynching#idf#israel#secondintifada#oslo#lynching#otdjh

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Text Source:

https://military.wikia.org/wiki/2000_Ramallah_lynching

Image Source:

https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4942631,00.html