Intellectuals call for investigation into police shooting of Arab youth

By Edo Konrad November 13, 2014 | Edit

A group of prominent Jewish and Arab intellectuals published a petition Thursday calling on the Israeli government to establish a committee of inquiry to investigate the shooting death of Khir Hamdan at the hands of Israeli police officers. Hamdan attempted trying to attack a police van, and was shot as he turned his back and began running from the police. The killing lead to widespread protests across the country, as well as a one-day general strike.

The petition states that tens of Arab citizens have been killed by the police since 2000. The signatories see that fact as a sign of a trigger-happy policy and a culture of racism within the police. According to the petition:

The list of deaths indicates the ease with which the police use weapons against Arab citizens – an unbearable ease that reflects the deterioration of professionalism and values of the police, and whose outcome is the unwarranted, brutal and illegal treatment of Arab arrestees and suspects.

The police’s brutal treatment of Arab citizens in Israel reflects the fact that the conclusions of the Or Commission were not internalized in the Israeli political establishment or in the police command, and were not implemented among the officers and policemen who work in the Arab sector. Policemen must remember that they are representatives of the government’s executive authority, and are responsible for protecting the life of Israel’s citizens, regardless of religion, race or ethnicity. They are not judges, not to mention executioners.

The signatories to the petition include journalist and former politician Yael Dayan, author Savyon Liebrecht, Dr. Ruwaida Abu Ras, journalist Oudeh Bisharat, Professor Shimon Levy, playwright Motti Lerner, author Salman Natour, playwright Joshua Sobol and author Yehudit Katzir among others.

More on the Hamdan killing:
PHOTOS: Protests in northern Israel after police kill Arab man
How police lied about the deadly shooting of Khir Hamdan
Netanyahu: Those who call to destroy Israel should have citizenship revoked

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TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

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