Israel reviews decision to close Arab riot deaths file
AFP
Date: 09-29-05
UMM AL-FAHEM, Israel (AFP) - Arab Israelis paid their respects to some of the 13 pro-Palestinian protestors shot dead at the start of the intifada five years ago after the justice ministry announced a review of its decision not to charge any police over the killings.
Hundreds of relatives and supporters, many wearing T-shirts with portraits of the victims and carrying black mourning flags, marched solemnly through the town of Umm Al-Fahem to the cemetery where three of those shot dead now lie.
Twelve Israeli Arabs and a Palestinian were killed when police opened fire on demonstrators in October 2000, barely a month after the beginning of the Palestinian uprising, sparking riots across the north of the country.
The sense of bitterness among Israel's minority Arab community has been further stoked by a decision on September 18 not to prosecute any police over the shootings on the grounds that there was "insufficient evidence".
But officials have now announced that they are to review that decision in the aftermath of threats by rights groups to pursue the case in international courts.
"The attorney general, the state attorney and I decided to review the conclusions without being asked," the director of the justice ministry's department for police investigations, Herzl Shabiro, told Israeli television.
Relatives and Arab Israeli MPs who took part in Thursday's commemorations however said they were unimpressed by the move.
"There should be a judicial investigation with international judges because we don't trust this committee or the state prosecution in Israel," the deputy Jamal Zahalka told AFP.
"We will continue our struggle until we get justice and our rights and until they bring those responsible for the crimes in October 2000 before the courts."
His parliamentary colleague Azmi Bishara was blunter, comparing the situation to the events of Bloody Sunday in Northern Ireland where 14 Catholics were shot dead by British troops in 1972.
"This is a rotten maneuver," he told AFP. "It's like Bloody Sunday where people are still fighting for justice but we won't have to wait for 30 years."
Relatives were equally skeptical about the prospects that anyone would face punishment for the deaths of their loved ones.
Clad in black, Rushdiya Gharra said she believed that only an international court could ensure justice for her son Rami who was 21 when he was shot dead.
"I feel betrayed, a lot of anger towards the state," she said.
"How can the state kill its citizens? We will not kneel down and be afraid but continue our struggle until we get justice."
Israeli Arabs account for 1.2 million of Israel's almost seven million-strong population.
They are the offspring of some 160,000 Palestinians who did not flee or were not expelled from their land after the creation of the Jewish state in 1948.
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