Netanyahu Condemns Eritrean Man’s Death
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of
Israel, responding to the death of an Eritrean man who was mistaken for
an assailant, said that “no one should take the law into their own
hands.”
By REUTERS on Publish Date October 19, 2015.
Photo by Ronen Zvulun/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images.
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JERUSALEM — The gunman who carried out a deadly attack
at a bus station in southern Israel over the weekend was a Bedouin Arab
citizen of Israel from the area, the Israeli authorities said on
Monday. Bedouins have rarely been involved in armed attacks in Israel,
so the development highlighted the unpredictable and spiraling nature of
the current wave of attacks across th country.
The
bus station attack drew a violent reaction that was also roiling Israel
on Monday, after the death of an Eritrean asylum seeker who was
apparently mistaken for a second assailant. The Eritrean, identified by
the police as Haftom Zarhum, 29, was shot by a security guard in the
chaos immediately after the attack, and was then viciously beaten by a
mob. He later died of his wounds.
Graphic video images
of the beating appeared to show people kicking Mr. Zarhum and hurling a
chair and a bench at his head as he lay injured on the ground.
The
commander of the Negev police, Amnon Kalai, said on Monday that
detectives were trying to find the people who took part in the beating.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel warned that “nobody may take
the law into their own hands.”
The
popular Hebrew newspaper Yediot Aharonot wrote that Mr. Zarhum had been
running from danger, and was suspected of being an attacker “just
because of the color of his skin.”
The Bedouin gunman killed an Israeli soldier, Sgt. Omri Levi, 19, at the bus station.
As diplomatic efforts began to try to rein in the violence, Secretary of State John Kerry
said in Madrid on Monday that “clarity” was needed regarding the
arrangements at a contested holy site in Jerusalem that is revered by
Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.
Apparently
backing Israel’s assertions that it is not seeking any change at the
site, and rejecting the idea of an international presence there, Mr.
Kerry said, “We don’t contemplate any change, but nor does Israel.”
According to The Associated Press,
he added: “Israel understands the importance of that status quo. What
is important is to make sure everybody understands what that means.”
A
dispute over the site, home to Al Aqsa Mosque and Islam’s sacred Dome
of the Rock shrine, has helped fan the recent surge in
Israeli-Palestinian violence and exacerbated tensions among the Arab
minority in Israel.
Palestinian
leaders have called for an international protection force at the
contested Al Aqsa compound, and officials say France has been pressing
for a United Nations proposal that would include the presence of
international observers at the compound.
The
Palestinians have accused Israel of Jewish encroachment and of plotting
to divide the site, which is administered by an Islamic trust under
Jordanian auspices. Israel vehemently denies the charges. Under the
current arrangement, Israel is in charge of overall security, and
non-Muslims are allowed to visit the compound but not to pray there.
Mr. Kerry said that Israel, Jordan and the United States opposed the idea of an international presence.
“We
are not seeking some new change. We are not seeking outsiders or others
to come in,” Mr. Kerry said, according to The A.P. “We need to have
clarity.”
Mr.
Kerry is expected to meet in Berlin this week with Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, and later with President Mahmoud Abbas of
the Palestinian Authority and King Abdullah II of Jordan.
But the estranged Israeli and Palestinian leaders seem far from reconciliation. Mr. Netanyahu has accused Mr. Abbas of blatantly lying and helping to foment the violence against Israelis.
Hanan
Ashrawi, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s executive
committee, told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday
that the Palestinians welcomed the French initiative for international
observers.
“We
know that Israel is changing the status quo in Haram al-Sharif,” she
said, using an Arabic name for the sacred compound. “They say no they’re
not.”
International observers, she added, could perhaps “start holding Israel accountable.”
The
suspect in the central bus station attack in Beersheba on Sunday,
identified as Muhannad al-Okbi, 21, is from the Hura area of the Negev
Desert, a few miles east of Beersheba. Mr. Okbi’s mother came from the
Palestinian coastal territory of Gaza and was entitled to residency in
Israel under a family reunification clause by virtue of her marriage to
an Arab citizen of Israel, according to Shin Bet, Israel’s security
agency.
Members
of Israel’s Bedouin population have rarely been involved in political
or sectarian violence. Many Bedouins have volunteered to serve in the
Israeli military, despite a deep and longstanding land dispute between the Bedouin citizens of the Negev and the state authorities that has contributed to renewed tensions in recent years.
The
police said that Mr. Okbi had entered the bus station on Sunday evening
with a pistol and a knife; fatally shot a soldier, Sgt. Omri Levi, 19;
and grabbed his weapon.
The
assailant continued firing, wounding several other soldiers, as well as
police officers and civilians, before he was shot by the police as he
tried to flee.
Eight
Israelis have been killed in about 30 attacks this month, mostly
carried out by Palestinians armed with knives, although a few cases have
involved guns. At least 18 suspects have been killed at the scene.
In clashes with Israeli security forces this month, more than 20 Palestinians have also been fatally shot.
Many
of the attacks have been perpetrated by Palestinian residents of East
Jerusalem, and more than half have taken place inside the city.
Bedouin
leaders have condemned the Beersheba attack. “We utterly and
unreservedly condemn this despicable act and reject violence of any
sort,” Mohammed Alnabari, the mayor of the Bedouin town of Hura, said in
a statement. “We condemn this act on behalf of the entire Bedouin
society and wish to make clear that you cannot be both a terrorist and a
citizen of the country; the two are inherently contradictory.”
Source: NY Times
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