Case seeks to set precedent

Tahani Qanbar, 22, sits dejectedly in her in-laws small concrete home in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Jebel Mukaber. Outside, her four children chase each other despite the heat. They seem too young to understand that their father, Fadi, isn’t coming home, or that they may owe the Israeli government a large sum of money.

In January, her husband Fadi Qanbar, drove a white truck into a group of Israeli soldiers who had just gotten off a bus at a nearby popular promenade that has sweeping views of the Old City of Jerusalem. According to video from the scene, Fadi hit the soldiers, killing three female cadets and one man, and then began driving in reverse, apparently trying to kill more soldiers. He was shot and killed by both soldiers in the area and civilians.

The attack resonated among the Israeli public for several reasons. The soldiers killed were not combat soldiers, but officer cadets. One, Erez Orbach, 20, was autistic and had volunteered for the army. And the site is popular with many Israelis.

Now the state has filed suit against Fadi’s family, seeking $2.3 million in damages from the widow and her four children. It is the first time that Israel has sued the families of attackers. The prosecution is demanding compensation for the costs of the burials of the soldiers, as well as the payments it makes to the bereaved families. In addition the prosecutor mentioned “loss of earnings for the lost years, loss of pension and pension rights…and compensation for the pain and suffering that reflects the cruelty of the acts and the great suffering of the murder victims.”

“The primary claim behind the lawsuit filed, following the terrorist attack that resulted in the death of Israeli soldiers, is meant to reimburse the state’s coffers for any expenses incurred following such incidents.” Efrat Oren, the spokesperson of Jerusalem’s District Attorney’s Office told The Media Line.

If the family does not pay this sum, the debt will be passed on to Fadi’s children.

“I am in shock when I think about all that is happening,” Tahani Qanbar told The Media Line in an exclusive interview. “Fadi loved his children and was very attached to his family. If he only knew that his children would pay the price, he would have never done what he did.”

The family lawyer, Muhammad Khalil, explained that the Israeli government are experimenting with different tactics to push the boundaries and measure the reactions of the international community; with the intent of cementing such procedures in the judicial system.

“The suit filed is one of great significance, it is out of the ability and jurisdiction of a private lawyer. These cases require a number of lawyers that specialize in international and Israeli law,” Khalil told The Media Line.

Money is already tight. After Israeli police demolished the family’s small home, as is common after an attack, Tahani and her children Ezz, 7, Jana, 6, Ghazal, 3, and Muhammad, 1, moved in next door with her in-laws.

The only income for the family is from Fadi’s father Ahmed, who gets a pension of just over $700 per month. When The Media Line visited the home, Ahmed appeared unwell, staring into space. While most of the family was born in Jerusalem, and have the blue Jerusalem ID card that gives them access to Israeli health care and social security, Fadi’s mother Manwah was originally from the West Bank. She said that Israel forced her to return her blue ID card.

“They took my Israeli I.D. and twelve others from our family,” she told The Media Line. “That means I now have zero rights and the pension I was going to receive in my old age has been canceled. It is the first time Israel has ever demanded that a family pay such an enormous amount. Not one international organization or human rights association has attempted to make contact and help us, we don’t know what to do.”

She also said that she does not support her son’s actions.

“I had no idea that Fadi was going to do this,” she said. “In the last conversation we had, he told me to get lunch ready. Then a few minutes later I heard he had carried out an attack. If I had known what he was going to do, I would have tied him down.”