Mother of slain Kafr Qasim man says son died 'like a man'
Saraya Taha, the mother of Muhammad who was in riots that broke out following the arrest of a resident of the city, harshly criticizes the conduct of the security guard who shot him dead: 'He could have shot him in the legs but decided to kill him.'
Hundreds of people from across the Arab community continued to arrive at Kafr Qasim on Friday to comfort the family of Muhammad Taha, 27, who was killed on Monday night by a civilian security guard in a riot outside the city's police station.
The riots began around 11:30pm, when a police force stopped a resident of Kafr Qasim at the entrance to the city for a random check. The check revealed the resident, a municipal employee, was wanted for questioning, and the police sought to arrest him.
Police say he resisted arrest and attacked the policemen. About 50 people managed to help him escape, but the police force managed to apprehend the suspect a few minutes later.
Police said the guard opened fire because he felt his life was in danger.
Taha disagreed with that assessment: "I don't understand by what right he did such a thing. What surprised me was that the people in charge in the country claim that this was self-defense, even though my son wasn't holding a weapon or a knife.
"Before the incident, my son was at the mosque. He decided to go the city hall and see the situation. He went inside and threw himself to death for the city's residents. But the guard shot him in the head without thinking. I'm proud that my son died like a man. Thank God."
The mother concluded: "We have men whom we're proud of. Thank God that they supported us. All of them are like my sons.I want to thank everyone who supported us from the entire Arab society."
Muhammad's wife, Sarra Taha, said her husband was "like gold": "He had a very good heart, and he would help everyone. He didn't like to hurt others."
She added: "I believe in fate. If we don't continue with the struggle tomorrow, they'll kill someone else. The time has come for the police to leave the city. We don't want them. Since they came in, the percentage of violence and murders has risen."
Sarra said that she was the last person to speak with her husband: "He called me and said, 'The city is burning.' I asked him, 'What do you want to do?' and he answered, 'I want to be alongside the residents.'
"He ended the call, and when I called him back after a minute, he was no longer available. It was as if he felt he would not come back to us and wanted to part with me. That's what drove me crazy."
