Thirteen Arabs died in riots that broke out shortly after Ariel Sharon, then an opposition member of the Knesset, made a widely publicized visit to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. Most of the Arabs were killed by police gunfire as they tried to suppress the violence mainly in the Galilee and Iron Valley districts in the north.
The unit that specializes in investigating allegations of errant police behavior has concluded that there is no evidence to sustain criminal charges against officers who were involved in putting down the riots.
Among the senior officers exonerated of any wrongdoing were Alec Ron and Moshe Waldman, heads of the northern district police command. Ron and Waldman ordered police sharpshooters to take aim at rioters who were throwing rocks at police and civilian targets.
Another controversial police official Guy Reif was also cleared of any wrongdoing. The unit said that the actions of Reif, who shot at some of the rioters’ lower bodies, and apparently killed a number of rioters, were justified to put down the rebellion.
The Orr Commission, set up by the government of then Prime Minister Ehud Barak to investigate the killings of the Arab rioters, had implicated Reif in the deaths of two Arab rioters. The commission concluded that, that in some instances, Reif used live fire without sufficient justification.
Arab response to the investigatory unit’s findings was extremely critical. MK Azmi Bishara said, “the blood of our sons does not run free…From the first moment its was clear that the investigatory unit was sweeping the crimes under the rug instead of investigating them.”
Bishara said Israel’s Arab community would respond harshly to the unit’s decision not to press charges. He said he would recommend a general strike of all Arab villages in protest.
MK Mohammed Barakeh said the State of Israel “murders its citizens with its own hands.” Barakeh threatened to lodge a complaint against police officials in the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
An Arab civil rights group, Adullah, said it will attempt to involve international civil rights organizations in an effort to prosecute police officers who were involved in putting down the Arab riots.
A group representing the families of those killed in the riots accused Israel of being a state that practices “apartheid” with separate laws for Arabs and Jews. “Israel tramples on the law, has contempt for the entire world, and does not hesitate to tread on human rights,” the group said.
The unit that specializes in investigating allegations of errant police behavior has concluded that there is no evidence to sustain criminal charges against officers who were involved in putting down the riots.
Among the senior officers exonerated of any wrongdoing were Alec Ron and Moshe Waldman, heads of the northern district police command. Ron and Waldman ordered police sharpshooters to take aim at rioters who were throwing rocks at police and civilian targets.
Another controversial police official Guy Reif was also cleared of any wrongdoing. The unit said that the actions of Reif, who shot at some of the rioters’ lower bodies, and apparently killed a number of rioters, were justified to put down the rebellion.
The Orr Commission, set up by the government of then Prime Minister Ehud Barak to investigate the killings of the Arab rioters, had implicated Reif in the deaths of two Arab rioters. The commission concluded that, that in some instances, Reif used live fire without sufficient justification.
Arab response to the investigatory unit’s findings was extremely critical. MK Azmi Bishara said, “the blood of our sons does not run free…From the first moment its was clear that the investigatory unit was sweeping the crimes under the rug instead of investigating them.”
Bishara said Israel’s Arab community would respond harshly to the unit’s decision not to press charges. He said he would recommend a general strike of all Arab villages in protest.
MK Mohammed Barakeh said the State of Israel “murders its citizens with its own hands.” Barakeh threatened to lodge a complaint against police officials in the International Criminal Court in the Hague.
An Arab civil rights group, Adullah, said it will attempt to involve international civil rights organizations in an effort to prosecute police officers who were involved in putting down the Arab riots.
A group representing the families of those killed in the riots accused Israel of being a state that practices “apartheid” with separate laws for Arabs and Jews. “Israel tramples on the law, has contempt for the entire world, and does not hesitate to tread on human rights,” the group said.