The Case of a Palestinian Accused of Raping a Child Proves the Strength, not the Weakness, of Israeli Democracy
Just like the case of Leo Frank—except that Frank was convicted and lynched, and Mahmoud Qatusa was exonerated.
August 2, 2019
The Case of a Palestinian Accused of Raping a Child Proves the Strength, not the Weakness, of Israeli Democracy
Just like the case of Leo Frank—except that Frank was convicted and lynched, and Mahmoud Qatusa was exonerated.
In May, Mahmoud Qatusa, a Palestinian, was arrested on charges of raping a seven-year-old girl who attended the Jewish school where he worked as a janitor. His lawyer compared his case with that of Leo Frank, a Jew from Atlanta who in 1913 was accused of raping a thirteen-year-old Christian. After Frank was convicted and sentenced to death, the governor of Georgia—because of the cloud of anti-Semitism hanging over the case—commuted his sentence to life in prison, only for a mob to break into Frank’s cell and lynch him. The comparison appeals to those fond of bemoaning the imminent death of Israeli democracy. But, writes Evelyn Gordon, the two cases are different in every important way, and Israeli democracy is as healthy as ever:
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