Arab Arrested in Stabbing of W. Bank Mayor
Security forces arrested a Palestinian suspected of stabbing the Israeli-appointed mayor of a West Bank town and demolished his cinder-block house today in the Jalazoun refugee camp.
Villagers said soldiers arrested Khamis Jawdat Faraj, 26, late Thursday night. The army confirmed the arrest and said Faraj had stalked the mayor and stabbed him as an act of Palestinian nationalism.
It took 30 minutes for a large, yellow bulldozer to destroy the three-room house where Faraj lived with his 60-year-old mother. Only an almond tree, a plum tree and a rose bush were left standing in the yard after the demolition.
“They are destroying our house--I don’t know what for,” said the suspect’s mother, Nozha Faraj, who watched the army operation from next door.
Mayor Recovering
Faraj was arrested in connection with the stabbing Tuesday of Hassan Tawil, the 74-year-old mayor of Al Birah. Tawil was stabbed in the chest but was reported recovering.
Underground leaflets issued by leaders of the 6-month Arab uprising in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip have repeatedly called for Israeli-appointed officials like Tawil to quit their posts.
Arab news reports, meanwhile, said the army arrested two Palestinian reporters and a writer in a continuing crackdown on Arab journalists.
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