This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/5702

Jihad Terrorist Killer Of Israeli Father And Baby Son To Appeal Murder Conviction

April 3, 2013

Murderer to Appeal Verdict in Asher Palmer Road Terror Attack
The PA Arab terrorist who hurled the rock that killed Asher Palmer and baby son Yonathan on Highway 60 is appealing his murder conviction. Chana Ya'ar

The PA Arab terrorist who hurled the rock that killed Asher Palmer and his baby son Yonathan on Highway 60, convicted Tuesday of first degree murder, is appealing the conviction, having admitted to throwing rocks at Palmer's car but saying he did not intend to kill him.

The verdict against Wael Salaman Mohammed el-Arjeh, a cab driver from the town of Halhul, near Hevron, resident of Mt. Hevron, was handed down by a military court in Ofer Prison on two counts of murder. He was also convicted on 25 counts of attempted murder in cases of hurling rocks at Israelis on other occasions.

Arjeh, the driver in the attack that involved a gang of six, two of whom were in the car at the time, faces a sentence of life in prison in connection with an incident that at first police believed to have been a motor vehicle accident.

But first responders at the scene knew better, and made sure to videotape the evidence.

The huge rock that had smashed through Palmer's windshield, clearly seen through the broken glass, plus the fact that Kiryat Arba resident appeared not to have his gun by his side, told a tale that made no sense to his would-be rescuers.

A subsequent CT scan of Palmer's head corroborated the visual evidence and added more facts that clarified for police what had happened as they tried to figure out why Palmer's car seemed to crash off the road.

It was later discovered that Arjeh had hurled the rock at Palmer's car in a drive-by road terror attack, causing Palmer to lose control of his vehicle, which crashed and led to his death and that of his infant son.

"I'm very surprised by the verdict. The court didn't deal with this as a case of hurling an object or inflicting damage on a travelling car - which are crimes in Israeli law," Khaled Araj, the defense lawyer told the BBC. "They took this route instead, going for the most serious charge which can carry the maximum penalty. I think the court came under extreme pressure from the settler movement to reach this verdict."

The other perpetrator who was in the terrorist car is named Albo, and his case comes up in court next month.

The verdict is seen as a long-awaited recognition by the courts that rock-throwing in certain circumstances can indeed be considered premeditated murder.

There have been a number of similar numerous murderous attempts by PA Arabs over the past year to kill Israeli motorists on the roads of Judea and Samaria.

Last month a rock throwing road terror attack in Samaria a few days before the Passover holiday left a 2-year-old toddler in critical condition. Her mother and two older sisters were also seriously wounded, although not as badly as baby Adelle, who has undergone numerous surgeries in the fight to save her life.

A similar rock throwing attack by an Arab teenager in Samaria nearly killed a baby in December, but the rock missed the infant, crashing instead on the seat just a few inches away.

As is often the case, mainstream media in Israel did not report on the incident, and international media ignored it altogether.

The incidence of such attacks has been growing, and in the past several month there have been reports of rock throwing on the roads of Judea and Samaria nearly every week.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/166734

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Lawyer: Palmer Murder Verdict 'Landmark'


Court decision makes clear that rocks are a deadly weapon. Sentencing due Thursday.

Gil Ronen

The lawyer who represented the Palmer family in the trial of Wael Arja, the terrorist who headed the gang that murdered Asher and Yonatan Palmer, hailed the military court's decision Wednesday as a landmark decision. The court convicted Arja of murder and determined that the gang threw rocks at Asher Palmer's car with intent to kill.

Attorney Adrian Agassi said, "Today we witnessed a landmark decision by the military court here in Judea and Samaria, who convicted Wael Arja, the ringleader of a band of terrorists, who for a long period of time used terrorist tactics by throwing rocks from a moving car, to oncoming vehicles. It was a method which was deliberately thought of by them in order to cause maximum damage."


"The three judges that these were continuous attempts of murder and that it wasn't a random kind of an incident," explains Yehudit Tayar, who has been accompanying the trial since its first session and strengthening the Palmers throughout it.

Jeff Daube of the Zionist Organization of America, who has also been present at many of the sessions, noted that Asher Palmer was an American citizen and that the ZOA is rallying congressmen, senators and officials in the State Department and Department of Justice to enforce U.S. laws and go after Arab terrorists who are responsible for the murder of American citizens.

Sentencing is due Thursday and Attorney Agassi said that he hopes the court will hand down consecutive life sentences for the murders of the father and son. Such a sentence could have a deterrent effect on rock throwers, he said.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/166736

This item is available on the Militant Islam Monitor website, at http://www.militantislammonitor.org/article/id/5702