A Jordanian soldier who was convicted of killing seven Israeli school girls some two decades ago has been released from prison after serving his sentence. Family members of the victims leveled harsh criticism at his release, saying that the family members of the murderer, Ahmad Daqamseh, received him with festivities, praising the man who committed the heinous crime. The incident took place on March 13, 1997, during an Israeli school field-trip in the border area in Jordan. The Jordanian soldier who was stationed at the scene, opened fire at the group of Israeli schoolchildren, killing seven of them, before other Jordanian soldiers seized him and rushed to help the victims. a five-member Jordanian military tribunal found Corporal Daqamseh guilty of Murder. He would have faced the death penalty but the tribunal said Daqamseh was mentally unstable and was sentenced to life in prison, which is equivalent to 20 years under Jordanian law. One of the survivors of the attack, Keren Mizrahi, said he wasn’t punished enough.
“He wasn’t punished enough. It’s not even a life sentence. I think he should have been sentenced for much more and not be released with such festivities. He didn’t serve his punishment in my opinion. It does not satisfy me nor the families and the memory of my friends,” said Mizrahi.
Israeli officials condemned the release of Daqamseh, saying that Jordan was making a serious mistake by allowing a terrorist to go free, as well as allowing his family and friends to celebrate his release. Meanwhile, the mother of Ahmed Daqamseh said she was thankful for her son’s release, while praising all those who supported her son and family during his incarceration.
“Whether he deserved it or not, he was imprisoned. It was out of our hands, it was his fate. Thank God, and God bless those who stood with us throughout the entire period,” said Kamleh Daqamseh, Mother of Ahmed Daqamseh.
Ahmad Daqamseh is now in his family home in the village of Ibdir near the city of Irbid in northern Jordan. Daqamseh, who became a hero to a strong opposition movement in Jordan led by the Islamists and nationalists who vehemently opposed the country’s peace treaty with Israel in 1994, said upon his release that he expected the Hashemite Kingdom to reconsider its peace treaty with Israel, while calling on his fellow countrymen to “get rid of the Israelis,” whom he said “have no humanity.”