Scene of shooting
Ofer Amram
Palestinian’s brother: He was murdered in cold-blood
Brother of Tarqumiya resident who was shot dead by Border Guard officer in Jaffa claims he witnessed incident from up close; ‘they took him outside and shot him. There was no malfunction, no attempt to snatch the weapon; it was a deliberate murder,’ he says. Officer claims shooting was accidental, but investigation reveals he lied during testimony
Tarqumiya resident Morad Abu Raiya, who said he witnessed the fatal shooting of
his brother Iad by a Border Guard officer in Jaffa, told Ynet on Wednesday “I was a few meters from the scene; at first the officers chased after my brother and his friend, took them into the bathroom of a building and beat them severely with clubs. A few minutes later they took him outside and shot him.
“There was no malfunction, no attempt to snatch the weapon; it was deliberate murder,” he said.
Iad’s brother added: “We will sue the killing officer and we will not give up until he is put on trial, even if it costs me my life."
He said he immediately ran in his brother’s direction upon hearing the gunfire.
“But he was lying in a pool of his own blood,” Morad said. “I realized he was no longer alive.”
Morad said that he immediately phoned his parents following the incident for fear they would hear of it from a third party.
“At first I told them that he was lightly wounded; as I made my way closer and closer to Tarqumiya I told them that his condition was deteriorating; I told them he was dead only after I got home,” he recounted.
Investigation
Border Guard officer who accidentally shot Palestinian illegal worker Wednesday morning lies under investigation. Further investigation reveals that officer cocked weapon unprovoked, contrary to officer's original version that Palestinian tried to snatch his weapon
Morad said that Iad, the 8th of 12 brothers and sisters, was awaiting the birth of his child.
“It was Iad’s first day at his new job in Jaffa, and we were waiting for his child to bring us some happiness, because we have another brother who died less than six months ago from a kidney disease; but instead of rejoicing in the birth of a child I guess we are destined to live from tragedy to tragedy," he said.
A Military Police investigation revealed that the 19-year-old Border Guard officer cocked his weapon without any provocation on the part of Raiya, causing a bullet to be fired accidentally.
During the investigation, it was clarified that the officer lied during his testimony that claimed that the Palestinian tried to grab his weapon.
'Hopefully Allah will be by our side'
Morad expressed his outrage over the release of the shooting officer.
“I cannot understand how the officer, who admitted to shooting my brother, is being released instead of being punished and jailed,” he said. “We will sue the officer and the police; there are a million witnesses who were present at the scene and saw the beatings and the cold-blooded murder.
“We still don’t know how we will deal with this; hopefully Allah will be by our side,” he said.
