Murder of Yafim Weinstein

Last updated

Yafim Weinstein
Died2009
Cause of deathMurder
NationalityIsraeli
OccupationCab driver
Known forBeing murdered in a terrorist attack

Yafim (or Yefim) Weinstein was a 54-year-old Israeli man murdered in 2009.

Contents

Murder

Weinstein, a resident of Nazareth Illit, was a cab driver. He was murdered while delivering pizza in a terrorist incident by Islamist militants who identified with Al Qaeda. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Investigation

Eight suspects were arrested in Nazareth in 2010 in a combined operation by the police and the national security services that uncovered a "cell" inspired by Al Qaida and the recorded speeches of Osama bin Laden to illegally acquire arms and launch violent attacks on Jews and Christians. [5] [6]

Arrests and convictions

In 2010, Ahmed Ahmed (21), was arrested for on charges of murder. Ghaleb Ranim (26) and Haider Ziadna (22) were arrested and charged as accomplices to murder. All three were from Nazareth. The three were apprehended as part of a group, or "cell", of 7 men discovered when Ahmed and Ranim traveled to Somalia with the goal of training at an Al-Qaida camp. [7] [8] Ahmed and Ranim had flown Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and then to Kenya, where they were arrested and deported to Israel. When asked at his indictment whether he was motivated by hatred for Christians and Jews, Ahmed responded, "Long live Osama Bin Ladin". [9]

The group was influenced by the imam of Nazareth's Shihab a-Din mosque, Abu Salim, convicted support for the terror organization Al Qaida, and of inciting to violence and terrorism and violence. [10] [Institute for National Security Studies 1] [11] Raleb Ganaem, Haidar Zidana, and Ali Ahmed Ali were convicted of murder and sentenced to prison; Ali was sentenced to life in jail. [9] Ganaem and another defendant were convicted of abducting and robbing a pizza delivery man in an act "connected to his being Jewish." They ordered a pizza from a pizzeria in Upper Nazareth, waited in ambush for the delivery man and then stabbed, abducted and robbed him. They left him bound and bleeding. [9]

Related Research Articles

In its war on terrorism in Yemen, the US government describes Yemen as "an important partner in the global war on terrorism". There have been attacks on civilian targets and tourists, and there was a cargo-plane bomb plot in 2010. Counter-terrorism operations have been conducted by the Yemeni police, the Yemeni military, and the United States Armed Forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omar Abdel-Rahman</span> Egyptian Islamist militant (1938–2017)

Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, , commonly known in the United States as "The Blind Sheikh", was a blind Egyptian Islamist militant who served a life sentence at the Federal Medical Center, Butner near Butner, North Carolina, United States. Formerly a resident of New York City, Abdel-Rahman and nine others were convicted of seditious conspiracy in 1995. His prosecution grew out of investigations of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

al-Haramain Foundation

Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation (AHIF) was a charity foundation, based in Saudi Arabia. Under various names it had branches in Afghanistan, Albania, Bangladesh, Bosnia, Comoros, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Tanzania, and the United States, and "at its height" raised between $40 and $50 million a year in contributions worldwide. While most of the foundation's funds went to feed poor Muslims around the world, a small percentage went to Al-Qaeda, and that money was "a major source of funds" for the terrorist group. In 2003, Saudi authorities ordered Al-Haramain to shut down all overseas branches, and by 2004 Saudi authorities had dissolved Al-Haramain. However, US intelligence officials believed it had reopened branches under new names.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ghriba synagogue bombing</span> 2002 Islamist suicide bombing of a synagogue in Tunisia

The Ghriba synagogue bombing was carried out by Niser bin Muhammad Nasr Nawar on the El Ghriba synagogue in Tunisia in 2002.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fazul Abdullah Mohammed</span> Comorian-Kenyan member of al-Qaeda

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed was a Comorian-Kenyan member of al-Qaeda, and the leader of its presence in East Africa. Mohammed was born in Moroni, Comoros Islands and had Kenyan as well as Comorian citizenship. He spoke French, Swahili, Arabic, English, and Comorian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah</span> Egyptian al-Qaeda member (1963–2020)

Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah was a high-ranking Egyptian member of al-Qaeda. He has been described as al-Qaeda's most experienced operational planner and was said to be the second-in-command in the organization at the time of his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maktab al-Khidamat</span> 1984–1989 organization fighting the Soviets in Afghanistan

The Maktab al-Khidamat, also Maktab Khadamāt al-Mujāhidīn al-'Arab, also known as the Afghan Services Bureau, was founded in 1984 by Abdullah Azzam, Wa'el Hamza Julaidan, Osama bin Laden and Ayman al-Zawahiri to raise funds and recruit foreign mujahideen for the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. MAK became the forerunner to al-Qaeda and was instrumental in creating the fundraising and recruitment network that benefited Al-Qaeda during the 1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdullah Yusuf Azzam</span> Palestinian Islamic scholar and jihadist (1941–1989)

Abdullah Yusuf Azzam was a Palestinian jihadist and theologian. Belonging to the Salafi movement within Sunni Islam, he and his family fled from what had been the Jordanian-annexed West Bank after the 1967 Arab–Israeli War and pursued higher education in Jordan and Egypt before relocating to Saudi Arabia. In 1979, Azzam issued a fatwa advocating for "defensive jihad" in light of the outbreak of the Soviet–Afghan War, and subsequently moved to Pakistan to support the Afghan mujahideen.

Safar bin Abd al-Rahman al-Hawali al-Ghamdi is a scholar who lives in Mecca. He came to prominence in 1991, as a leader of the Sahwah movement which opposed the presence of US troops on the Arabian peninsula. In 1993, al-Hawali and Salman al-Ouda were leaders in creating the Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights, a group that opposed the Saudi government, for which both were imprisoned from 1994 to 1999.

Salafia Jihadia is a Salafi Jihadist militant group based in Morocco and Spain. The group was allied with al-Qaeda and Moroccan Islamic Combatant Group (GICM).

Refa'i Ahmed Taha or Refa'i Ahmed Taha Musa or Ahmed Refa'i Taha, alias Abu Yasser al-Masri was an Egyptian leader of a terrorist component of al-Gama'a al-Islamiyya, having succeeded "The Blind Sheikh" Omar Abdel-Rahman in that role after the latter's arrest in 1993 and imprisonment for life in 1995. He was one of 14 people subjected to extraordinary rendition by the CIA prior to the 2001 declaration of a War on Terror.

Adel Mohammed Abdel Magid Abdel Bari is an Egyptian terrorist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al-Qaeda involvement in Asia</span>

It is believed that members of Al-Qaeda are hiding along the border of Afghanistan and northwest sections of Pakistan. In Iraq, elements loosely associated with al-Qaeda, in the Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad organization commanded by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, have played a key role in the War in Iraq.

Ahmad Salama Mabruk, known as Abu Faraj al-Masri, was a senior leader in the Syrian militant group Jabhat Fateh al-Sham and was previously a leader in Jabhat al-Nusra and the Egyptian Islamic Jihad militant groups. He was present alongside Abu Muhammad al-Julani at the announcement of the creation of Jabhat Fateh al-Sham. He was one of 14 people subjected to extraordinary rendition by the CIA before the 2001 declaration of a War on Terror.

Jaljalat is an armed Sunni Islamist group operating in the Gaza Strip taking inspiration from al-Qaeda. In September 2009, the organization revealed it had attempted to assassinate former US president Jimmy Carter and Quartet Middle East envoy Tony Blair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Najibullah Zazi</span> Afghan member of Al-Qaeda (born 1985)

Najibullah Zazi is an Afghan-American who was arrested in September 2009 as part of the 2009 U.S. al Qaeda group accused of planning suicide bombings on the New York City Subway system, and who pleaded guilty as have two other defendants. U.S. prosecutors said Saleh al-Somali, al-Qaeda's head of external operations, and Rashid Rauf, an al-Qaeda operative, ordered the attack. Both were later killed in drone attacks.

<i>Inspire</i> (magazine) Online Jihadist magazine published by Al-Qaeda

Inspire is an English-language online magazine published by the organization al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). The magazine is one of the many ways AQAP uses the Internet to reach its audience. Numerous international and domestic extremists motivated by radical interpretations of Islam have been influenced by the magazine and, in some cases, used its bomb-making instructions in their attempts to carry out attacks. The magazine is an important brand-building tool, not just of AQAP, but of all al-Qaeda branches, franchises and affiliates.

The Egyptian Islamic Jihad, formerly called simply Islamic Jihad and the Liberation Army for Holy Sites, originally referred to as al-Jihad, and then the Jihad Group, or the Jihad Organization, is an Egyptian Islamist group active since the late 1970s. It is under worldwide embargo by the United Nations as an affiliate of Al-Qaeda. It is also banned by several individual governments worldwide. The group is a proscribed terrorist group organization in the United Kingdom under the Terrorism Act 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade</span> Islamist militant group active in the Gaza Strip

The Sheikh Omar Hadid Brigade, also known as Islamic State in Gaza, is an Islamist militant group affiliated with the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant that was reportedly active in the Gaza Strip around 2015. Its goals have consistently matched those of the Islamic State, in that it seeks to establish the al-Sham caliphate. As such, it opposes all forms of Palestinian nationalism while also supporting the elimination of all Jews and other ethno-religious 'infidels' from the region.

On 14 July 2017, three Arab-Israeli men left the Temple Mount, and opened fire on Israeli border police officers stationed near the Gate of the Tribes which is close to the Lions' Gate. Two Israeli border police officers were killed and two more were injured in the attack. All three attackers were shot and killed by Israeli police after fleeing back into the complex.

References

  1. "20-jarige vrouw mogelijk door terroristen vermoord" Archived 2014-09-03 at the Wayback Machine , israeltoday.nl, 2 May 2014.(in Dutch)
  2. "Barak outlaws Nazareth group with links to al-Qaida" Archived 3 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine , jpost.com, 26 July 2011.
  3. Katz, Yaakov (26 July 2011). "Barak outlaws Nazareth group with links to al-Qaida". Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on 3 September 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  4. Miskin, Maayana. "Nazareth Imam Convicted of Inciting Terror; An influential Nazareth imam has been convicted of inciting to terrorism, and founding a Salafist group with Al-Qaeda ideology". Israel National News. Archived from the original on 20 July 2014. Retrieved 7 September 2014.
  5. "Shin Bet arrests eight Israeli Arabs for illicit arms trading; The investigation into this case last month led police to arrest suspects in murder of Nazareth taxi driver Yafim Weinstein, Eli Ashkenazi" Archived 3 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine , Haaretz.com, 15 July 2010.
  6. Azriel, Guy (28 June 2010). "7 Nazareth residents indicted for attacks against Jews, Christians". CNN. CNN. Archived from the original on 9 September 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  7. Shay, Shaul (2014). Somalia in Transition since 2006. Transaction. ISBN   978-1412854382.
  8. "Israel arrests seven with al-Qaida ties". UPI. 29 June 2010.
  9. 1 2 3 "Nazareth Arabs Convicted of Jewish Cabbie's Murder" Archived 14 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine , israelnationalnews.com, 29 November 2012.
  10. "Nazareth Imam Convicted of Inciting Terror" Archived 14 July 2014 at the Wayback Machine , israelifrontline.com, April 2012; accessed 20 November 2014.
  11. CBN. "Israeli Arab Terror Cell Busted". Christian Broadcasting Network. Christian Broadcasting Network. Archived from the original on 9 September 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.

Sources

  1. Schweitzer, Yoram (9 December 2013). "Is Salafist Jihadism Making Inroads into the Israeli-Palestinian Arena?". Insight. 494. Archived from the original on 29 November 2014. Retrieved 8 September 2014.