Editing Ami Popper

{{Short description|Israeli mass murderer (born 1969)}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name              = Ami Popper
| birth_date        = {{Birth year and age|1969}}
| birth_place       = [[Israel]]
| conviction        = [[Murder]] (7 counts)
| conviction_penalty = [[Life imprisonment]]; commuted to 40 years imprisonment
| conviction_status = [[Incarcerated]]
| occupation        = 
| native_name       = עמי פופר
| native_name_lang  = he
}}
'''Ami Popper''' ({{langx|he|עמי פופר}}; born 2 June 1969 in [[Rishon Lezion]]) is an Israeli mass murderer and [[Jewish terrorism|Jewish terrorist]]<ref>[[Ronen Bergman]], [[Mark Mazzetti]]: [https://archive.today/20240516100414/https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/16/magazine/israel-west-bank-settler-violence-impunity.html The Unpunished: How Extremists Took Over Israel. After 50 years of failure to stop violence and terrorism against Palestinians by Jewish ultranationalists, lawlessness has become the law], [[The New York Times]], 16 May 2024</ref> who committed the '''Oyoun Qara massacre''' on 20 May 1990, killing 7 [[Palestinians]] at a bus stop in [[Rishon Lezion]], [[Israel]]. Popper was arrested and charged with 7 counts of murder for which he was sentenced to [[life imprisonment]],<ref name=Maan>[http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?id=771574'Friday marks the 26th anniversary of the Oyoun Qara massacre'], [[Ma'an News Agency]] 19 May 2016.</ref> later commuted to 40 years.

==Background==
Ami Popper was born in 1969 in [[Rishon Lezion]], [[Israel]], and had served in the [[Israel Defense Force]] (IDF) until he was [[dishonorably discharged]]. Reportedly, Popper was punished for inappropriate use of weapons during his military service, where he had attempted to commit [[suicide]], for which he was [[imprisoned]].

==Murders==
On May 20, 1990, Popper stole IDF uniform trousers, an [[IMI Galil]], and five box magazines full of ammunition from his brother, an active duty soldier.<ref name=Kubovich>{{cite web |title=After bullying Katsav, Jewish terrorist Ami Popper moved to new prison |url=http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/after-bullying-katsav-jewish-terrorist-ami-popper-moved-to-new-prison.premium-1.470211 |website=[[Haaretz]] |date=2012-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131014231925/https://www.haaretz.com/news/national/after-bullying-katsav-jewish-terrorist-ami-popper-moved-to-new-prison.premium-1.470211 |archive-date=2013-10-14 |url-status=live |last1=Kubovich |first1=Yaniv}}</ref><ref name=Raanan>Raanan Ben-Zur,[http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3354022,00.html 'Ami Popper to be transferred after harassing Katsav in jail'], [[Ynet]] 15 October 2012.</ref> At around 6:15&nbsp;a.m., Popper spotted a group of [[Palestinian Arab]] workers from the [[Gaza Strip]] at a bus stop in Rishon Lezion, who were waiting to be picked up from their laboring jobs in Israel. Suspecting they were Arab, he demanded to see their identity cards, and after confirming they were Arabs he ordered them to line up in three rows, on their knees. A group of passengers in a passing car with Gaza plates were also stopped and forced to kneel with them.{{citation needed|date=January 2022}} Popper then opened fire with the Galil rifle, killing 7 Palestinians immediately and a further 10/11 were wounded badly, before leaving the scene in his car. Palestinian reports allege that, on arriving at the scene, [[Israel Police|Israeli police]] proceeded to beat up the surviving victims.<ref name=Maan/><ref>Eitan Y. Alimi, Hank Johnson, 'Contentious Interactions, Dynamics of interpretations and Radicalization: The Islamization of Palestinian Nationalism', in Dr Stefan Malthaner, Dr Lorenzo Bosi, Dr Chares Demetriou (eds.), [https://books.google.com/books?id=89ncAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT174 ''Dynamics of Political Violence: A Process-Oriented Perspective on Radicalization and the Escalation of Political Conflict''], Ashgate Publishing o.174</ref> Within an hour, he was arrested.

;The seven Palestinians workers Popper murdered were:
*Abed al-Rahim Muhammad Salem Breika (23 years) from [[Khan Yunis]].
*Ziad Moussa Muhammad Sweid (22 years) from [[Rafah]];
*Zayid Zeidan Abd al-Hamid al-Umour (23 years) from Khan Yunis.
*Suleiman Abd al-Razeq Abu Anzeh (22 years) from Khan Yunis.
*Omar Hamdan Ahmad Dehliz (27 years) from Rafah;
*Zaki Muhammad Muhammadan Qudeih (35 years) from Khan Yunis;
*Youssef Mansour Ibrahim Abu Duqqa (36 years) from Khan Yunis.<ref name=Maan/>

Palestinians throughout the territories protested, resulting in clashes between protesters and [[Israeli security forces]]. While suppressing the protests, a further seven people were killed, including a 14-year-old boy.<ref name=Maan/> After a week of clashes, 19 Palestinians were killed, while around 700 more suffered injuries.<ref name=Maan/> Prime Minister [[Yitzhak Shamir]] dismissed the murders as an act of no political significance since Popper was "deranged", however the court found Popper [[Sanity|sane]] and fit to stand trial.<ref>[[Ian Lustick]], [https://books.google.com/books?id=dD-1Nm6NTHQC&pg=PR7 ''For the Land and the Lord: Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel''], [[Council on Foreign Relations]] (1988), 1994 p.vii</ref> Popper first told police that his attacks were a reaction to the [[First Intifada]], later claiming to have been distraught because his girlfriend had decided to leave him. He also stated that he had been [[rape]]d by an Arab when he was 13 years old and had committed these killings out of shame and a desire for revenge.<ref>{{cite book|title=Jewish Terrorism in Israel |author=Ami Pedahzur, Arie Perliger|publisher=Columbia University Press}}</ref> Two days later rabbi [[Meir Kahane]] held a celebration of his deed in Rishon LeZion.<ref>[[Nur Masalha]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=vgGJo3wR6sQC&pg=PA160 ''Imperial Israel and the Palestinians: The Politics of Expansion''], Pluto Press 2000 p.160.</ref>

==Conviction and aftermath==
Popper was charged and convicted of seven acts of murder in March 1991, and he was sentenced to seven terms of [[life imprisonment]]. While in prison Popper became devoutly religious, and in June 1993 he married a [[History of the Jews in Canada|Canadian-Jewish]] woman from a family of [[Kach and Kahane Chai|Kach]] activists. Popper and his wife were granted [[conjugal visit]]s, and they had three children. In 1999, his sentence was reduced to 40 years imprisonment by a [[Presidential pardon|presidential amnesty]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Jewish Israeli seeks 'pardon' like Palestinian prisoners |url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-israeli-seeks-pardon-like-palestinian-prisoners/ |website=[[The Times of Israel]] |date=2013-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190602140619/https://www.timesofisrael.com/jewish-israeli-seeks-pardon-like-palestinian-prisoners/ |archive-date=2019-06-02 |url-status=live |last1=Shmulovich |first1=Michal}}</ref><ref name=APAP>Ami Pedahzur, Arie Perliger, [https://books.google.com/books?id=X5D5vKGjU2EC&pg=PA151 ''Jewish Terrorism in Israel''], Columbia University press 2009 p.151-</ref> Popper was initially imprisoned in [[Maasiyahu Prison]], and was placed in the Torani cellblock, a special cellblock for religious inmates. Prisoners there pray three times a day and spend most of the day studying the [[Torah]] and other sacred texts. At one point, his cellmate was former minister [[Shlomo Benizri]]. After Benizri's release, Popper's influence in the Torani bloc grew, and he began harassing former President [[Moshe Katsav]], serving a seven-year sentence for rape and other sexual offenses, as Katsav had refused Popper's request for a pardon while he was president. According to the [[Israel Prison Service]], Popper had verbally abused Katsav and sent other inmates to harass him. In October 2012, Popper was transferred to the maximum-security [[Ayalon Prison]].<ref name=Kubovich/><ref name=Raanan/> [[Right wing]] and [[Orthodox Judaism|Orthodox]] politicians in Israel have demanded his release along with other Israeli prisoners who were convicted of murder or other violence committed against Palestinians, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners who committed murder or violence against Israelis.

On 17 January 2007, while on a 48-hour [[furlough]] from prison, Popper was involved in a [[car accident]] he caused by crossing a solid line, hitting oncoming traffic. His wife and one of his sons were killed in the accident. Popper himself was moderately injured. Police reported that Popper's driver's license had expired in 1999,<ref name=ynet>{{cite web |title=Wife, son of Arab workers' murderer die in accident  |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3354022,00.html |website=[[Ynet]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207205145/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3354022,00.html |archive-date=2022-12-07 |url-status=live |last1=Ochion |first1=Meir |publisher=YnetNews.Com}}</ref> and that he was driving illegally without a license. Initial reports indicate Popper's children were not wearing seatbelts in the backseat.

Popper later remarried and then divorced. In May 2013, he married his third wife, a woman known only as "M" who had previously made headlines by allegedly allowing her [[Child abuse|children to be abused]]. The couple was married in a small ceremony in [[Jerusalem]], after Popper was granted a prison furlough.<ref>{{cite news |title=Match made in hell: Ami Popper weds mother of abused kids |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4381764,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230327174544/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4381764,00.html |archive-date=2023-03-27 |url-status=live |work=[[Ynetnews]] |last1=Doron |first1=Yaron |access-date=27 July 2014}}</ref> Popper's family has been the recipient of financial support from the Israeli [[NGO]] [[Honenu]], and indirectly from tax deductible U.S. donations, according to journalist [[Uri Blau]].<ref name =Blau>[[Uri Blau]], [http://www.haaretz.com/settlementdollars/1.689683 'Haaretz Investigation: U.S. Donors Gave Settlements More Than $220 Million in Tax-exempt Funds Over Five Years'], [[Haaretz]] 7 December 2015.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|33em}}

==External links==
*[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/271830.stm Middle East Israeli killers' sentences reduced] February 4, 1999, [[BBC]]
{{Massacres against Palestinians}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Popper, Ami}}
[[Category:1969 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Israeli mass murderers]]
[[Category:Israeli people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:Israeli prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:People of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by Israel]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Israel]]
[[Category:People from Rishon LeZion]]
[[Category:Male murderers]]
[[Category:Law enforcement controversies]]
[[Category:Zionist political violence]]
[[Category:First Intifada]]