# Killing of Ahmad Abu Murkhiyeh

Ahmad Abu Murkhiyeh (Arabic: أحمد أبو مرخية, 1996/1997–2022) was a Palestinian man who was beheaded, and his body was found in Hebron in October 2022. Although police did not publicly ascribe a motive, his killing has been considered an anti-LGBT hate crime. His death led to outrage in Palestine and Israel and has been cited in discussions of LGBT rights in Palestine and the difficulties that LGBTQ Palestinian asylum seekers face in Israel.

## Asylum in Israel

Abu Murkhiyeh was originally from Hebron in the West Bank. His family claimed that he had lived and worked in Hebron and Jordan at the time of his death. However, The Times of Israel reported that people who knew him said that his family had physically abused him for years, and Israeli LGBTQ organizations reported that he had fled to Israel in 2020 out of fear for his life.
According to Haaretz, Israel granted Abu Murkhiyeh a temporary permit to stay in Israel and apply for asylum elsewhere. An LGBTQ organization helped him apply for asylum in Canada. While in Israel, Abu Murkhiyeh continued to feel unsafe. He received threatening, homophobic phone calls and, at one point, was recognized and beaten by a day laborer from the West Bank.
Abu Murkhiyeh stayed at multiple shelters for LGBTQ people, moving from one to the other and sometimes sleeping on the street due to limited shelter capacity. Because of restrictions for Palestinian asylum seekers in Israel, he was unable to work legally and had to do low-paying restaurant jobs. In December 2021, his temporary permit was extended by Israel four days after it had expired. In the interim, he was fired from his job. Although Israeli law changed to allow Palestinian asylum seekers to work in June 2022, Abu Murkhiyeh struggled to find steady employment.

## Death

In early October 2022, Abu Murkhiyeh's head and torso were found near his family's house in Hebron. He had been beheaded. It is unknown how he came to be in the West Bank; some of his friends in Israel suspected he had been kidnapped. Some sources reported that the suspected perpetrator had recorded and broadcast the killing on social media; others reported that videos of the crime scene were shared on social media.
Although the police arrested an acquaintance of Abu Murkhiyeh, they did not publicly reveal a motive. According to The Times of Israel, the killing was a "a gruesome manifestation of homophobic hatred" that was "motivated [...] by Abu Murkhiyeh’s sexual identity". The Jerusalem Post reported that his friends in Israel believed he was killed due to his sexual orientation. The BBC reported that his family "described the claims about the motive as rumour".
On October 8, the suspect's family pledged to pay 50,000 Jordanian dinars to Abu Murkhiyeh's family; as of October 31 the suspect was under arrest but not yet indicted.

## Aftermath and reactions

Abu Murkhiyeh's killing sparked outrage in the West Bank. His family released a statement calling his death a "heinous, unprecedented crime". A local Palestinian radio station said that the killing: "crossed every single red line in our society, whether in terms of morals, customs, or basic humanity."
The Palestinian LGBTQ community in Israel was "shaken" and "scared" by his death. Knesset member Ibtisam Mara’ana wrote in an op-ed that: "Ahmad’s murder does not interest the public in Israel or the Palestinian Authority. But it permeates the souls of Arab and Palestinian LGBTQ people, and they wonder who is next in line." His friends and supporters held memorial services in Israel. Elem, an Israeli LGBTQ organization who worked with Abu Murkhiyeh, stated: "We will never stop fighting so that others like you can live freely like any other human being." The US ambassador to Israel, Thomas Nides, condemned the killing on Twitter.
The BBC's article about Abu Murkhiyeh's killing states: "Homosexuality is rejected within the most socially and religiously conservative parts of both Palestinian and Israeli societies." After CAMERA filed a complaint, the BBC added: "but gay people in Israel can freely lead their lives".
News articles about Abu Murkhiyeh's killing have highlighted limited LGBT rights in Palestine, and the OHCHR mentioned his death in a report about Human rights in Palestine. His death has been referenced in op-eds that criticize the LGBTQ community in the US for supporting Palestine. Additionally, his story has been used to illustrate the difficulties faced by LGBTQ Palestinians who seek asylum in Israel, including financial insecurity and safety concerns.