Please click here for a list of posts relating to the investigation of the murder of Destau Bisset, Hy”d, and click here for a list of posts relating to the Arab rioting throughout Israel in May 2021.
The dedication; Photo credit: Honenu
Thursday, June 22, 2023, 15:07 Destau Bisset, Hy”d, was murdered in Ramle during the May 2021 Arab riots at the time of Operation Guardian of the Walls. On Wednesday, June 21, two years after his murder, the Ramle Municipality dedicated a square in his name close to the crime site. Among the participants in the ceremony were Minister of National Missions Orit Struk (Religious Zionism), Knesset Member Dr. Tsega Melaku (Likud), Ramle Mayor Michael Vidal, members of the Ramle City Council, members of the Bisset family, and Honenu Director Shmuel (Zangi) Meidad and Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who are representing and assisting the Bisset family with their legal battle to bring Destau’s murderers to trial.
At the ceremony, Minister Struk said, “I thank the mayor and the council members who made the worthy decision to name this site after Destau as an expression of the entire city’s solidarity with the family and an expression of protest that to this day his murderers have not been apprehended and prosecuted. I thank Honenu for tirelessly fighting for justice for Destau, without recompense, for the sake of the principle that it is intolerable that the murderers of a Jew who came all the way from Ethiopia to Israel and was murdered only because he was a Jew, have not been penalized. There is a slight consolation in naming the site after Destau, so that his presence will always be felt here. The devotion of Destau, who hiked from Ethiopia to here, will always be [remembered] here, in a city in the Land of Israel, in a place that bears his name. We will continue to investigate, and we will not relent until the murderers are found. We will continue to raise here and in all of the Land of Israel a generation of proud descendants who will continue in the path of Destau, an educator and man of peace. We will continue to walk in the ways of Destau.”
Moshe Shete, Destau’s son-in-law, also spoke at the ceremony: “We gathered here to memorialize our loved one who was one of the greatest leaders that our community has ever had. I met Destau for the first time 21 years ago. One could see and feel the strength that emanated from him. His advice was worth its weight in gold. His love of the Land of Israel, his integrity, and his concern for the public good were always in his thoughts – and he endowed all of us with them. I remember that during one of our conversations in his living room he told me, ‘Moshe, you are an honest man, professional and strong. Don’t let anyone change your principles.’ That was Destau.”
Destau Bisset, Hy”d, a 74-year-old Ramle resident, was run over by two Arabs riding electric bicycles in Ramle in May 2021, during Operation Guardian of the Walls, and succumbed to his injuries approximately three weeks later. Eyewitnesses to the incident stated that the cyclists intentionally collided with Bisset, attempted to run over people waiting at a bus station, and then fled the scene.
Since Destau’s murder, the Bisset family has waged a determined campaign for the capture and prosecution of his murderers. Despite the length of time that has passed until now, the murderers have not been apprehended and the GSS has not acceded to the demand by the Bisset family for their involvement in the investigation. Recently, Honenu sent a letter to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on behalf of the Bisset family asking him to recognize Destau as a victim of terror.
Minister of National Missions Orit Struk speaking at the dedication; Video credit: Honenu
Moshe Shete, Destau’s son-in-law, speaking at the dedication; Video credit: Honenu