Lea Tsemel is an Israeli attorney who has defended dozens of terrorists over the years. Her life has been documented in a positive light through a movie called “Advocate”. The documentary was awarded a prize by Israel’s national lottery, Mifal Hapayis, of 150,000 NIS ($42,000) at the DocAviv film festival.
Greatly offended by this award, thousands of Israelis canceled their subscriptions to Mifal Hapayis, costing them about one million NIS.
Together with Im Tirtzu, The Choosing Life Forum of Bereaved Families called on Mifal Hapayis to cancel the award. The Choosing Life Forum protested at the offices of the national lottery, spilling red paint on the floor and saying that giving this prize was like spitting in the faces of the bereaved families and the Israeli victims. They handed out fliers with a quote from Tsemel after a terrorist lynch on two IDF soldiers in Ramallah, in the year 2000: “What lynch? As if you could really think it was that.”
Tsemel has defended Abdel Aziz Salha, who was charged with this lynch, as well as many others. Another terrorist she is defending is Arafat Irfaiya, who raped and killed nineteen year old Ori Ansbacher earlier this year.
Ultimately, Mifal Hapayis announced that they would cancel the prize.
Read more: Jewish News Syndicate
