Fatal police shooting prompts strike by Israeli Arabs

Schools and businesses were closed in protest throughout Arab communities in Israel on Sunday after the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old Arab man by Israeli police that sparked violent demonstrations over the weekend.

Israeli Arab leaders called for the strike Saturday as thousands protested the death of Kheir Hamdan, who was shot Friday by police after they say he attacked them with a knife. In the streets of Kafr Kanna, a northern Israel village, demonstrators threw rocks and firebombs, and blocked roads with burning tires. Demonstrations spread throughout Israel over the weekend as the incident tapped into long-standing grievances held by Israel’s Arab minority over police and government policies.

Video footage posted Saturday from the scene raised questions as it appears to show Hamdan pounding on a police vehicle, but then backing away before an armed officer shoots him. Police say they originally entered Kafr Kanna seeking to arrest a man who had fired a stun grenade at them.

Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonowitz defended the shooting and said that police felt they were in danger.

Justice ministry authorities have launched an investigation into the shooting, which was denounced by Hamdan’s family as a “killing in cold blood.”

According to initial findings reported Sunday, the shooting officer said he was aiming for the hand in which Hamdan was holding a knife in order to neutralize him. However, the shot hit Hamdan in the waist and ruptured an artery, causing him to bleed to death.

Rauf Hamdan, Kheir’s father, told Israeli news media that his son wasn’t holding a knife. “They could spray us with tear gas or shoot us in the legs, but they have no heart,” he said.

Protests continued Sunday on a somewhat smaller scale. Several hundred Arab students held protests at universities around the country, and burning tires were placed on the road into Nazareth, temporarily blocking the way into the city.

In Kafr Kanna, protesters burned tires and clashed with police into the evening, despite reported requests from Hamdan’s family to stand down. Police detained about 20 people. No injuries were reported there or in other places.

Fear of further violence led police to cancel several sporting events, including a soccer match between the teams of the Arab town of Sakhneen and the Jewish city of Petah Tikva scheduled for Monday.

Some demonstrators have called for a third intifada against Israel. In recent weeks, Israeli security officials have held a series of discussions over concerns that Palestinian violence could spread to the West Bank, as well as to Israel’s Arab communities.

On Sunday, police declared a heightened state of alert and reinforced troops were deployed at flashpoints throughout the country. Police commissioner Yohanan Danino called accusations against police “unfounded and irresponsible” and urged restraint until internal affairs could complete its investigation.

However, a statement from Adalah, an advocacy group for Arab minority rights in Israel, called the police account of the shooting “false” and demanded an immediate criminal investigation. The organization linked the incident to comments made last week by Aharonowitz, who defended the fatal shooting of a Palestinian man who killed two Israelis in Jerusalem.

“We will not tolerate disturbances and rioting,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday, promising action against those who “throw stones, block roads and call for the establishment of a Palestinian state in place of the state of Israel.”

In a move likely to draw more controversy, Netanyahu said Sunday he instructed the interior minister to evaluate “revoking the citizenship of those calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.”

Finance Minister Yair Lapid urged lawmakers and public figures on both sides to tone down the rhetoric and act responsibly rather than exploiting the situation for “political gain.”

A ministerial committee on legislation had planned to discuss a proposed bill that would allow terminating the term of a lawmaker supporting armed struggle against Israel, a proposal aimed at legislators from the Arab minority. This discussion was ultimately postponed in favor of another controversial bit of legislation, a bill extending the country’s civil laws to Israelis living in the West Bank.

Supporters of the bill, which was approved by the committee, say it will equalize legal rights for all Israeli citizens. But critics say it is a precursor to annexing the settlements.

Israeli civil law does not apply in the West Bank, which is governed by military law rather than legislation passed by the Knesset. According to the bill, laws passed in the Knesset would be republished as a military regulation so as to apply to Israeli settlers, bringing their social rights on issues such as labor law on par with Israeli citizens without changing the legal status of the West Bank.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether the bill would apply to Palestinians. Extending Israeli law to the entire West Bank would constitute a de-facto annexation.

In a Facebook post, co-sponsor Orit Struck welcomed the initial approval of the bill. “Settlers are not second class citizens,” wrote the lawmaker, herself a resident in the Jewish settlement in Hebron.

Opposition legislator Dov Khenin slammed the bill and the government he said was “breaking new records of heating the situation” on a daily basis. The law, he said, signals that “Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government is not a partner for dialogue or peace.”

In another sign of political divisions within Netanyahu’s government, Minister of Environmental Protection Amir Peretz announced his resignation from the cabinet Sunday, one day ahead of a planned cabinet vote on the next budget.

Citing “lack of progress in the diplomatic process” with the Palestinians and a budget he called “anti-social,” Peretz criticized Netanyahu and called for his replacement. His resignation from the cabinet will take effect Tuesday, although he will keep his seat as a coalition lawmaker.

Opposition leader Isaac Herzog welcomed the resignation and said it “heralds the beginning of the end of Netanyahu’s final government.”

Sobelman is a special correspondent.