Palestinian Victims' Families Demand Justice 16 Years After Killing

August 21 marks the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity for Victims of Terrorism, established by a United Nations resolution. On this occasion, Palestinian families who have lost relatives to violence remain haunted by false accusations and a persistent lack of justice from Israel.

Moira Jilani, widowed 16 years ago, still lives in the home in the occupied Shu'fat neighborhood of East Jerusalem where she once awaited her husband's footsteps returning from work each day. The 45-year-old was shot dead by an Israeli border officer on June 11, 2010, while driving his truck through the Wadi al-Joz area. Witnesses said Ziad was caught in the middle of a clash between Israeli forces and Palestinian youths throwing stones. A stone shattered his windshield, causing him to veer into a group of police officers, lightly injuring two. He was then shot in the back as he exited the vehicle and struck twice more in the head at close range.

Despite investigations by Israeli human rights lawyers who noted that the officer, Maxim Vinogradov, had posted online about wanting to kill Arabs less than two weeks earlier, the case against him and his commanders was closed for lack of evidence. Neither faced trial. Moira says she and her daughters have lived with the aftermath of Ziad being labeled a "terrorist." "Israel has brainwashed people into thinking Palestinians are terrorists," she said. "But it's the Palestinians who are threatened and killed who are the victims. To me, the ones holding the guns are the terrorists."

Hussein Abu Khdeir, father of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, recounted how his 16-year-old son was abducted by three Israelis at 4 a.m. on July 2, 2014, outside their home in Shu'fat, then beaten and burned alive in a forest in West Jerusalem. The killing was seen as retaliation for the earlier murder of three Israeli teens. The ringleader, Yosef Haim Ben-David, received a life sentence, while his two juvenile accomplices were sentenced to life and 21 years in prison. Still, Hussein insisted: "They admitted killing my son for terrorist motives. So when people talk about victims of terrorism, is Mohammed not a victim?"

In October 2025, 55 Israeli lawmakers, including 11 cabinet ministers such as Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, were reported to have signed a letter urging clemency for Jews convicted of killing Palestinians. This infuriated Hussein: "There is no justice under the Israeli government. If a Palestinian burned an Israeli alive, their house would be demolished and the whole family jailed. But those who did this to my son are being lobbied for by the government for release."

Cases like Ziad's and Mohammed's are part of a long list of Palestinian killings that remain unaddressed. Ahmed Erekat was shot dead at a checkpoint in 2020 on the day of his sister's wedding, initially falsely accused of a car-ramming attack. Iyad Hallaq, a young autistic man, was killed the same year in Jerusalem's Old City; the officer who shot him was acquitted in 2023. Awdah Hathaleen, a community activist, was shot dead by settler Yinon Levi in July 2025; this was the first time since 2019 that an Israeli settler was indicted for killing a Palestinian. Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed by Israeli forces in 2022 while covering a raid, wearing press gear; four years on, no soldier has been charged.

According to research by Yesh Din, only about 3% of Israeli settlers investigated for crimes against Palestinians in the West Bank from 2005 to 2024 were convicted; 93.8% of investigations were closed without charges. Since October 2023, Israeli forces have killed more than 1,100 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 242 minors, according to B'Tselem. Arson attacks and property destruction against Palestinians have become increasingly common.

Yair Dvir, a B'Tselem spokesperson, commented: "Israel's military law enforcement system is not a real mechanism to find truth and ensure accountability, but a cover-up mechanism designed to create the appearance of an investigation. In reality, these investigations protect perpetrators and allow Israel to continue its policies without disruption."

Tahseen Elayyan, deputy director of the Palestinian human rights organization Al-Haq, argued that the "terrorist" label is a mechanism of impunity: "It is one of the ways the Israeli occupation strips Palestinian victims of the protection of international law. If the occupation wants to evade this protection, the easiest way is to say they are terrorists. That is the shortest path to shield perpetrators from accountability."

Moira still feels the stigma in others' eyes whenever she wears her headscarf. She has joined the Parents Circle, a group connecting Palestinian and Israeli families who have lost loved ones to political violence, to cope with grief together. "I still love him. I think I love him more now than before, because when you look back, you see everything he did for you," she said. "He opened my eyes to what is happening in this place, and left me seeing. And I am still seeing."