Sameh Zaitoun, a 63-year-old Palestinian man from the West Bank city of Hebron who converted to Judaism, was fatally shot Thursday morning by reserve soldiers at a bus station near the Elazar settlement in Gush Etzion.
According to suspicions, he was shot after a knife was found in his bag during a check, which he presumably carried solely for self-defense and did not use at the time of the shooting.
According to Hebron Jewish community speaker Noam Arnon, Zaitoun, who also went by David Ben Avraham, decided to join the Jewish people following the path of his grandfather, Eid al-Zaitoun, who saved about 25 Jews during the 1929 Hebron massacre.
"He sought to undergo a formal conversion process, but the Israeli conversion authorities are unwilling to accept a petition from an Arab resident of the Land of Israel," he said. "He tried repeatedly, to no avail. Ultimately, he was accepted into a conversion program at Rabbi [Nissim] Karelitz’s conversion court in Bnei Brak. After a lengthy and thorough process, he completed the conversion, received approval, and was given the name David Ben Avraham in Israel."
In December 2019, Zaitoun was released from jail in Hebron, where he had been held for 58 days after being arrested by the Palestinian Authority. He testified that he was arrested following his conversion to Judaism and was beaten during his detention.
"They put me in a government building in Hebron with other people, and the guards told everyone that I had converted and that I am Jewish," he recounted. "Prisoners attacked me repeatedly, strangled me and hit me very hard."
Later, Zaitoun was placed in solitary confinement, where he remained until his release.
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Signs of abuse on Zaitoun's body after his release from Palestinian jail
(Photo: Haim Faraj)
Muslim clerics attempted to persuade Zaitoun to renounce his conversion. "I refused outright," he said. "I chose to be part of the Jewish people, and I have no intention of going back. I suffered greatly, they gave me bread as hard as stone and a little bit of potato. Even a mouse couldn’t get full on that. They didn’t give me water; I fainted three times and then they took me out of solitary confinement and to the hospital."
According to Arnon, "David studied Judaism at the Meir Institute and with rabbis in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh. He expected to be accepted as a citizen in the State of Israel, but the Israeli authorities rejected and ignored him.
“Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority and Hamas terrorists abused him, imprisoned him, tortured him, harassed him and did not give him a moment of rest. He repeatedly reached out to all Israeli authorities, but they presented him with a wall of indifference and estrangement. Not only did he not gain Israeli citizenship (to which every Jew, as well as converts to Judaism, and non-Jewish children and grandchildren, from anywhere in the world, is entitled), but he also did not receive a permanent entry permit or the right to work in Israel, and could not earn a living."
"On the other hand, the Arabs around him and his family also harassed them and did not allow them to live with dignity," Arnon added about Zaitoun's tragic story.
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"Jewish friends in Hebron, Jerusalem, Beit Shemesh and other places tried to help him, supported him financially, and tried to help him stabilize his life, but to no avail. He lived between two worlds: the Muslim world that abused him, and the State of Israel that turned its back on him with cold and cruel indifference."
"David Ben Avraham, a righteous convert who yearned to connect with the descendants of Abraham, our forefather - 'the father of converts,' fell along the way, without having realized his aspiration," added Arnon.
Meanwhile, a military police investigation has been initiated, and the reserve soldier who fired the shot is being interrogated under warning. The IDF stated that "during operational activity, an IDF force fired at a Palestinian who aroused suspicion at the Elazar junction in the Etzion Brigade area, a hit was identified, and subsequently, the Palestinian's death was confirmed. Immediately upon receiving the report about the serious incident, the Military Prosecution ordered the opening of a military police investigation."
In a separate incident, Muhammad al-Qatari, a young Palestinian from the al-Amari camp near Ramallah, was also shot to death after participating in clashes with the IDF overnight.
Since Wednesday, nine Palestinians were reported killed across the West Bank: Zaitoun, al-Qatari; three terrorists eliminated in Jenin; and four terrorists eliminated in Tulkarm.