Senior Ra'am official Ibrahim Sarsur, who was a member of parliament from 2006 to 2015, attended the homecoming celebration staged Monday for Rushdi Hamdan Abu Mukh, a terrorist released after serving a 35-year sentence in an Israeli prison.
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Abu Makh, a member of a cell that abducted and murdered Israeli soldier Moshe Tamam in 1984, was originally sentenced to life in prison. His sentence was commuted to 35 years in 2012, by then-President Shimon Peres.
On Monday, he returned to his hometown of Baqa al-Gharbiyye, in northern Israel, where locals welcomed him with a parade, hoisting Palestinian flags, singing and dancing as he made his way to his family home.
Sarsur arrived at the town to personally welcome him home.
Moshe's niece, Dr. Ortal Tamam, told Israel Hayom that the family "didn't know this heinous murderer's sentence was commuted in 2012. I see how Arab children in Baqa al-Gharbiyye admire him like he was some sort of hero. How can the state allow for such celebrations to take place? He killed a soldier. They [the state] should revoke his citizenship and we plan to fight for it."
Right-wing NGO Im Tirzu condemned the "disgraceful celebration that all but dances on the graves of those murdered. This cannot be tolerated.
"The law states that anyone expressing sympathy, support or encouragement for acts of terror is punishable by up to five years in jail. This event did not take place in Syria or in the Gaza Strip but in Israel. We call on the public security minister to take action, and we urge the interior minister to exercise his authority and revoke this heinous killer's citizenship without delay," the group said in a statement.
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