Tawfik Jamal told an urgent meeting of the Knesset Internal Affairs Committee that he "made a mistake" when he careened his car into a Jewish neighborhood on the eve of Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar.
Jamal denied accusations that he had been drunk, and that he had been playing his car stereo excessively loud. In fact, he denied having been listening to music at all, and said the past five days had been a difficult experience for him.
"I am ready to sacrifice myself for forgiveness," he claimed. "All I wanted was to get home. A mistake happened. I want to ask for forgiveness. I underwent a difficult experience and was made into a murder and fascist."
Arab MK Verbally Attacks
The meeting began to disintegrate into a screaming match when Arab Knesset Member Mohammad Barakeh (Hadash) blamed the riots on what he called radical Jews who he said were encouraged to settle in the city by "political elements sitting around this table." Barakeh also claimed that Jews had tried to burn down an Arab home with tenants inside it several months ago, with the full support of Mayor Shimon Lankry.
Knesset Member Effie Eitam stopped him, calling him "an instigator" and telling him, "You have been arrested. Your dirty mouth was the fuel of the riots."
And so the verbal clash of the Arab and Jewish legislators continued where the
"The thief doth fear each bush an officer," said Barakeh.
"This is a contemptible provocation," declared Eitam.
"You came to celebrate the transfer of Arabs from
Shas MK: Continuation from Last Simchat Torah
Shas MK David Azoulay, a resident of the city, blamed the Arab police officers for not immediately taking control of the situation when the incident first occurred. Azoulay said Jamal and other Arabs ran into Jamal's house and began hurling rocks at the Jews in the street below, as well as at the police "who went up and down but did not call on them to turn themselves in."
The Shas lawmaker added that it was not the first such incident, but rather a continuation of similar provocations that began at the end of the holiday of Simchat Torah last year, and the year before.
However, he added, "The problem is that the street is heated up, and harming the Jews on Yom Kippur Eve is not a regular thing. More than 200 masked people chant 'Allah Hu Akbar (Arabic for G-d is Great) and 'Itbah al Yahud' (slaughter the Jews) and the police are not present in the area."
Azoulay, who had requested the Knesset session, demanded that the Israel Police carry out an investigation, and that the findings be submitted to the Knesset Committee.
Sitting next to Azoulay was Arab MK Abas Zkoor (United Arab List-Ta'al), also a resident of the city. He disputed the grim assessments and insisted that the spirit of co-existence is still alive. Zkoor told the lawmakers that Arabs in
But Azoulay pointed out that Jews who have no personal security do not really enjoy coexistence with Arabs.