Police deploy in force
צילום: רוני שיצר
Arab funeral: Police our big enemy
No riots during funeral for Arab man shot by police, but some youths hold up harsh anti-police signs. Relatives of Nadim Malham, killed by police, ask for restraint, but one family member says: Police our big enemy
No violence during funeral: The funeral procession for Arab-Israeli Nadim Malham, killed by police Thursday, ended without incident Friday.
The ceremony in the northern village of Arara was attended by hundreds of local residents, community leaders, Arab leaders, and Arab Knesset members.
Emotions run high at funeral (Photo: Ilan Klein)
Earlier, police deployed 2,000 officers along the Wadi Ara highway for fear of riots in the wake of the funeral. Senior officers, including Police Chief Moshe Karadi, were also on hand.
One of Nadim Malham's relatives, Hassan Malham, dismissed the police presence, remarking that "the police were the ones who caused the commotion, so they shouldn't deal with cliches regarding the maintenance of law and order. Suddenly they brought 2,000 cops to the area in order to divert public discourse from the crime they committed."
Another relative, Mahmoud Malham, said: "The Israel police are a big enemy of ours, we need unity and plenty of strength…what happened to us could happen to all of you." However, he also asked those in attendance to exercise restraint and be patient.
Many youths who arrived in the area held up harsh anti-police signs, including: "18 murdered since October, we won't forget or forgive," "A bullet to the leg – recommended. A bullet to the stomach – highly recommended. A bullet to the heart – a commendation," and "Israel police are cold-blooded murderers."
However, Malham's relatives who were present at the funeral repeatedly vowed that the funeral will end peacefully and asked Arab politicians not to exploit the incident.
"We're calling on the leaders to honor the event and not use the incident for election propaganda," one relative said.
Arab, Jewish municipal heads meet
Shawki Khatib, who heads the Arab-Israeli Supreme Monitoring Committee also spoke at the ceremony and said "we don't have too much time and won't give you too much time to think about how to deal with the problems of Arab-Israelis."
"We have to start listening to their problems. We are only at the beginning of the debate and we must change the policy," he said.
Earlier in the day, Arab and Jewish municipal heads from the Wadi Ara area met and signed a joint document where they express their regret over what they characterized as Malham's tragic death.
The leaders called for an independent body to be set up to look into the incident and added "we are determined not to allow the events of the past to again take over our lives," referring to the October 2000 riots.
