Name George Khoury | ||
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George Elias Khoury (1983 - March 19, 2004, Arabic: جورج إلياس خوري , Hebrew: ג'ורג' אליאס ח'ורי) was an Israeli Arab Christian murdered by a Palestinian terrorist while jogging in the neighborhood of French Hill in Jerusalem. Khoury, son of Elias Khoury, a prominent lawyer, was a law student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
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The Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the military branch of the Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the attack. According to the New York Times, the "Palestinian gunman mistook him for a Jew." Khoury's father said, "I am against all violent attacks against innocent civilians whether it be against Israeli civilians or Palestinian civilians."
Fatah apologized and offered to declare him a martyr for the Palestinian cause. Ibrahim Kandalaft, Arafat's adviser on Christian affairs, eulogized Khoury on behalf of the PA chairman, describing him as a shaheed (martyr) of the Palestinian cause. But the victim's mother interrupted him by declaring that her son was an "angel, not a shaheed."
George's grandfather, Daoud Khoury, was also assassinated in an attack in Jerusalem, when a booby-trapped refrigerator exploded at Zion Square.
Khoury was buried in the Christian cemetery on Mount Zion. He is survived by his parents, an older brother, and younger sister.