March 10, 2013

(JTA) — A suburb of Paris made the killer of Israeli minister Rehavam Ze’evi an honorary resident.

Bezons awarded the title last month to Majdi Al-Rimawi, according to the March edition of its official newsletter, Bezons Infos. The motion to recognize Rimawi passed unanimously at a special council vote of the municipality, which is northwest of Paris and nearly eight miles from the city’s center.

“He is imprisoned for more than 10 years in an Israeli prison. His crime? Defending his city and its inhabitants, calling for the application of international law for the establishment of Palestine in the 1967 borders as recognized by the United Nations and Jerusalem as its capital. For this he was sentenced in 2002 [sic] to life in prison… More than 80 years!” proclaims the newsletter article.

The article does not mention the 2008 conviction of Rimawi, a member of the terrorist organization Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, for the murder of Ze’evi in Jerusalem in 2001. Rimawi was one of four shooters who waited for Ze’evi, Israel’s minister of tourism, outside a hotel in Jerusalem. 

Bezons Mayor Dominique Lesparre was quoted as calling the vote to honor Rimawi “a strong political act.” 

The inscription on the plaque prepared by Bezons, which has a population of approximately 28,000, referred to Al-Rimawi as a “political prisoner,” according to Palestinian Media Watch.

ADVERTISEMENT: Visit OneHappyCamper.org to find a Jewish camp and see if your child qualifies for a $1,000 grant.

Click to write a letter to the editor.

This article was made possible by the support of readers like you. Donate to JTA now.