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Umm al-Fahm resident Saham Agbaria

Arab Israeli to PM: 'Don't speak about me'

Woman mentioned in PM Netanyahu's speech on violent crime in Arab towns in Israel demands he stop mentioning her 'in his ceremonies'; '(PM) promised to handle murder investigation and help us but disappeared. He's been no help, he's all bluster,' says Umm al-Fahm woman.

In the inauguration of a Jisr az-Zarqa police station Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned a meeting he had had with Saham Agbaria, an Arab Israeli woman whose family members were murdered and who then spoke at the Knesset, greatly moving the prime minister. The woman, an Umm al-Fahm resident, demanded Netanyahu "not use (her) story in his ceremonies."

 

 

"When he spoke to me in the Knesset in 2012, he promised to handle the murder investigation and help us but I've seen neither hide nor hair of him since. He's been no help, he's all bluster. I felt our case has been buried since my conversation with the prime minister," she added.

 

The incident in question happened in 2012, when masked men broke into her family's home and shot three of her sons to death. The murders were never solved and the killers never found. The same year the Knesset held a discussion on violence, after which Netanyahu conversed with Agbaria. He promised her to personally handle the murder case. Last year the prime minister also put out a video in which he spoke about his encounter with her.

 

Umm al-Fahm resident Saham Agbaria demanded PM Netanyahu cease using her name
Umm al-Fahm resident Saham Agbaria demanded PM Netanyahu cease using her name

 

When Netanyahu spoke about Agbaria on Tuesday, he said, "After the minister of public security and the commissioner began their terms we met and I told them one of the first items on their agenda was ensuring law and order for our Arab citizens. I was already taken aback then by calls of distress I received. They are suffering, they are crying out and they want change. I later attended an event that rattled me—there's no other word for it—in the Knesset. Sitting next to me was a young Muslim woman, whose husband was murdered and younger children were threatened. She sat next to me and shook."

 

"She told me, 'Help me, prime minister, we're living in fear.' That had an immense impression on me because it's true, because Arab society is part and parcel of the State of Israel. There are no two states, there can't be one state and then another where it's the Wild West with violence and murders," the prime minister said.

 

After the ceremony, Agbaria was perplexed. "I don't understand, if our matter is so important, why hasn't he handled the murder case? We've been living in fear ever since. Our lives have been in danger because the killers are still loose. The prime minister is dancing on our conversation," she objected.

PM Netanyahu consoled Agbaria in 2012 (Photo: Gil Yohanan)
PM Netanyahu consoled Agbaria in 2012 (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

 

The Zait family, also from Jisr az-Zarqa, whose son Muhammad Zait was murdered several months ago, similarly professed disappointment with the police. Muhammad's mother said, "My son is dead and buried and still no one can say who murdered him. The police station they opened will help with nothing. As long as the killers are out there, our lives are in danger. Even after his murder, we' still in danger."

 

"My son's children are asking after their father. They still can't come to terms with the fact he's dead. They keep saying, 'We want to die so we can be buried next to dad, we miss him,'" she lamented.

 


פרסום ראשון: 11.22.17, 18:55
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