Reuven Aviram
Brother of terror victim tells killer: 'I came to look you in the eye'
The brother of one of the victims murdered in the Panorama Tel Aviv attack provides testimony in the trial of the Palestinian terrorist, asks the court to hand down a harsh punishment; 'my mother cries every day.’
Alexander Aviram, the brother of Reuven Aviram who was murdered by a Palestinian in a stabbing attack in Tel Aviv last November, testified Tuesday at the trial of the Palestinian terrorist responsible for his death.
During his testimony, Alexander addressed his brother's killer directly, tell him, "I came here to look you in the eye and remind you of the pain you've caused to a whole lot of families."
The brother then asked the court to sentence the murderer—Raed Khalil—to a harsh punishment.
The two men killed by the terrorist in the Panorama building in Tel Aviv
Khalil, from the town of Dura, carried out a stabbing attack in Tel Aviv which left two people killed, including 51-year-old Reuven and Aharon Yisayev, 32, from Holon and injured several more. He was found guilty of two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder. His sentencing hearing is scheduled to take place on Tuesday.
"It is wrong to kill, it's even wrong to think about it," Alexander said before bombarding the terrorist with a list of emotional questions. "The man took a knife into his hand with the intent to kill a person because that person was Jewish. Our entire community is from Uzbekistan, where we lived amongst 20 million Muslims. We would have never expected (that an Uzbek Muslim would try to kill us). We lived with each other in peace. Why did you drag this down down? We gave you the ability to rise up. Why have you sunk so low?"
Raed Khalil, the murderer (Photo: Motti Kimchi)
The brother continued, saying "Reuven was 51, healthy, full of life, and was taking a short break from work when he was stabbed repeatedly by the terrorist. He was killed, and my sister and I searched for him for several hours before finding out what happened. His son found out that his father was lying in the morgue only after receiving a video of him via whatsapp. I had to go to the morgue to identify him. My mother couldn't make it today, and she cries every day."
The Palestinian terrorist worked in the Panorama building at a kebab shop from where he took one of the knives before starting his murderous rampage. According to the indictment, he carried out the attack because he wanted to become a Palestinian martyr.
