TEL AVIV — A Palestinian family from Hebron has announced in Palestinian media that it has cut ties with one of its sons who insisted on meeting with Israelis, with the last straw being his meeting with Likud Knesset member Yehuda Glick.
The Jaber family from Hebron announced that it was cutting ties with their son, Muhammad, and that it was unconnected to Muhammad’s actions after photos were circulated online showing their son hosting Glick in his home during Eid ad-Adha, which ended last week. The photos were originally posted on Glick’s Twitter account.
Muhammad’s brother said in a conversation with the Al Quds network that he and his brothers were cutting ties with their sibling and that they were innocent of the “normalization meetings he used to hold, but we didn’t announce it publicly out of consideration of our sick mother. But after hosting Glick in his home, we announce that Muhammad is not our brother and we’re free of him.”
According to the brother, “Muhammad persisted for years in meeting with Israelis despite opposition from the family who considered these meetings as a betrayal of their homeland. The entire family gave up on him and all the family members will say this. Muhammad hosts Israelis every day and the last one was Yehuda Glick, who invades the al-Aqsa Mosque every day and is hostile to the Palestinians. We reject these meetings and we refuse to shake our brother’s hand because whoever has done this is a traitor.”
The brother described Muhammad as “a cancerous growth in our body but we’ve eradicated this growth and we got rid of it and we believe that this is how we’ve asked forgiveness from Allah. All of Hebron knows my brother’s bad name and all of Hebron opposes his presence in the city.”
He said the family had been in contact with the Palestinian Authority security forces in order to stop Muhammed’s meetings, but according to him they were told by the Palestinian Authority that their brother had a permit for the meetings and is a member of the Interfaith Dialogue Committee.
Ziad Jaber, head of the extended family, said, “We oppose and condemn any connection with Israelis. We are a family of fighters who defended the city of Hebron and family members were arrested upon occupation of the city. We were among the first arrested by the occupation.”
He added, “The family will take all necessary steps to defend its pride,” but did not elaborate further.
Hebron is home to the world’s oldest Jewish community. It houses the Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, considered the second holiest site in Judaism after the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
UPDATE: The Palestinian Authority reportedly arrested Muhammad Jiber on Sunday following his meeting with Glick. Ma’an, a Palestinian news agency, reported that “it remained unclear what Jabir was being charged with.”
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