Ben-Gvir calls to demolish Haifa-area grave of Izzedine al-Qassam

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called on Tuesday for the immediate demolition of the Haifa-area grave of Izzedine al-Qassam, a Syrian who carried out attacks against Jews in Mandatory Palestine during the 1930s.

The Gaza-based Hamas terrorist group later named its armed wing, as well as its rockets, after him.

Al-Qassam was buried in the Muslim cemetery in the former Arab village of Balad al-Sheikh in 1935, which is currently within the jurisdiction of the city of Nesher.

“Issue a demolition order tomorrow morning,” Ben-Gvir told Nesher Mayor Roy Levi during a meeting of the Knesset’s Internal Affairs and Environment Committee.

“I assume the police will enforce, secure, and act. We must send a very clear message: arch-terrorists, even in death, will not serve as symbols here,” said the minister.

Newly appointed committee chairman Yitzhak Kroizer of Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit party scheduled the hearing on the grave’s removal as the first discussion of his new term, according to Walla! News.

“We must remove the disgrace and moral stain that the father of terrorism, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam, is buried on state land. Therefore, I will hold the first hearing in the Interior Committee on the removal of the grave of the arch-terrorist,” Walla! quoted Kroizer as saying in its Aug. 5 report, a day after his appointment.

“Our demand is to move his grave or use it as a bargaining chip in negotiations to return the kidnapped. Alternatively, he will be buried in a cemetery for terrorists,” Kroizer continued, referring to the hostages being held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Kroizer told JNS on Tuesday that he first learned of the tomb of Izzedine al-Qassam during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran.

“I visited the city of Nesher and spoke with the mayor, asking what I could do to help grow the city and its population. He told me the municipality cannot expand eastward, across the main road between Nesher and Haifa, because of the grave,” said Kroizer.

The lawmaker described Izzedine al-Qassam as a pioneer of terrorism in pre-state Israel, active between 1925 and 1935. Originally from Syria, he fled after targeting the local authorities there, later forming terrorist groups in the Land of Israel and carrying out attacks until he was killed by British forces in 1935.

“Hamas’s ‘military wing’ and the rockets they fire toward Israel are named after him,” said Kroizer.

He told JNS he had confirmed with the Israel Land Authority that the land on which the cemetery is located is partially owned by a Jewish businessman from Nesher, and by the city itself.

“He wanted to build offices but received threats from the Waqf. They called me to ask for help, and we will help them to build what they want. The mayor of Nesher asked for permission from the government to start building there. The Waqf took him to court. They went to the High Court, who said the Waqf has no claim to this land,” said Kroizer.

Kroizer explained that his goal is to remove the tomb from government-owned land and potentially use al-Qassam’s remains as a bargaining chip in a hostage-for-ceasefire deal with Hamas.

“On Oct. 7, the nukhba terrorists wore a green headband as an homage to Izzedine al-Qassam. They slaughtered, burnt and raped our people and I think the least we can do is remove that tomb and use it in a hostage deal,” he added.

According to the Walla! report, the High Court rejected a 1995 petition on behalf of victims of terrorism requesting that the inscription on the gravestone be removed or altered, on the grounds that it constituted encouragement of terrorism. The grave has been vandalized multiple times over the years, and has been used by Israeli Arabs for nationalist purposes, including the laying of wreaths by Knesset members from the Joint List during ceremonies to mark Nakba Day in 2016.