37 Years Later: Bereaved family demands removal of monument to terrorist

Leah Ziv-Farag, the widow of Yaakov Farag, who was murdered in December 1988 while guarding the lands of the Samaria community of Har Bracha, has appealed to Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth to remove a monument commemorating her husband's killer. After killing him, the assailant took his weapon and continued firing at IDF soldiers. Farag left behind a pregnant widow and young children who would never have the opportunity to grow up with their father. The memorial to Hamdan al-Najjar stands near the site of the murder, according to the family, which is demanding its immediate removal. In a letter sent on behalf of the family, Ziv-Farag described the pain she and her children have endured for more than 37 years and the additional anguish caused by the commemoration of the man who killed her husband so close to the scene of the murder. “It is difficult to put into words the feelings of a family whose loved one was murdered in a particular place, only to find a short distance away a monument commemorating the person who took his life," she wrote. “A monument is a symbol. It conveys a message to future generations. What message do we want to pass on to our children? Do we commemorate someone who took a life, or the man who was murdered while defending his home, his land and his family?" Knesset Member Tzvi Sukkot has joined the call, citing the IDF's recent efforts to remove monuments commemorating supporters of terrorism throughout Judea and Samaria. Sukkot, chairman of the Knesset Education Committee and its subcommittee on Judea and Samaria, has called on the IDF to act urgently to demolish the monument. “There is no justification for commemorating the murderer of a Jew, certainly not at the site of the attack where he took the life of a man who simply wanted to protect his country's land," Sukkot said. “The fight against the commemoration of terrorism must be consistent and determined to the end."