http://www.timesofisrael.com/soul-searching-in-israel-after-mob-beats-eritrean-misidentified-as-terrorist/
Soul-searching in Israel after mob beats Eritrean misidentified as terrorist
The recent wave of terror attacks has led to fear and panic but the
events in Beersheba Sunday night brought things to a whole new level
By Josef Federman October 20, 2015, 2:19 am 4
Haftom Zarhum, 29, died of his wounds on October 19, 2015 a day after
he was shot and beaten by a mob that mistook him for an assailant in
the terror attack in Beersheba on October 18 in which IDF soldier Omri
Levy, 19 was killed. (Courtesy)
JERUSALEM (AP) — The death of an Eritrean migrant who was shot and
beaten by a mob that mistakenly believed he was a Palestinian attacker
set off a round of soul-searching Monday amid the jittery atmosphere
sweeping Israel in a wave of unrest.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the vigilantism. Some
critics accused Israel’s leaders of fostering the charged climate,
while others called for the swift prosecution of the crazed mob.
“It is a disgrace to Israeli society, and those that carried out this
lynching need to be found and brought to justice,” said Yaakov
Amidror, Netanyahu’s former national security adviser.
“Even if it was the terrorist himself, by the way, after he was shot,
after he was neutralized and lying on the floor, you need to be an
animal to torment him,” he told Israel Radio.
Eight Israelis have been killed in the past month in the attacks,
mostly stabbings, on city streets. At least 42 Palestinians have been
killed — including 20 identified by Israeli authorities as attackers;
the rest were slain in clashes with Israeli forces.
Amid the seemingly random attacks, Israelis have stocked up on mace
and pepper spray, and some public officials are openly carrying
personal weapons and encouraging the public to do the same. Security
has been increased, and especially in Jerusalem.
The violence has led to fear and sometimes outright panic.
Following an attack at Jerusalem’s bus station last week, a swarm of
security forces and armed civilians ran along a central road in search
of a second assailant following a false alarm. Elsewhere, an Israeli
man stabbed a fellow Jew after mistaking his dark-skinned victim for
an Arab. Palestinians in Jerusalem say they are afraid of being shot
if perceived to be a threat.
But Sunday night’s mob scene at the bus station in the southern city
of Beersheba took things to a new level.
Police and rescue workers attend the scene of shooting and stabbing
attack at the central bus station in Beersheba, on October 18, 2015.
(Photo by Meir Even Haim/Flash90)
The violence began when an Arab with a knife and gun killed a soldier,
stole his weapon and opened fire, wounding nine people before being
killed by police.
In the mayhem, Haftom Zarhum, an Eritrean migrant in his late 20s, ran
into the station to seek cover, police said. A security guard,
mistaking Zerhom for an attacker, shot him.
As the young man lay on the floor, a mob cursed him, kicked him and
hit him with objects. Security camera video showed Zarhum in a pool of
blood as he was rammed with a bench and kicked in the head by
passers-by, while an Israeli officer and a few bystanders tried to
protect him. Helater died at a hospital.
“It doesn’t matter if it was a terrorist or not. It was a man lying on
the ground that couldn’t move. I couldn’t sleep at night from seeing
him, his blood,” Meir Saka, a passer-by who tried to protect the
Eritrean, tearfully told Channel 10 TV.
An Israeli identified only by the first name Dudu told Israeli Army
Radio that he regretted participating in the attack.
“If I would have known he wasn’t a terrorist, believe me, I would have
protected him like I protect myself,” he said. “I didn’t sleep well at
night. I feel disgusted.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a Likud faction meeting at
the Knesset on Monday, October 19, 2015 (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
Meeting lawmakers from his Likud Party, Netanyahu condemned the
vigilante violence and sent his condolences to Zarhum’s family.
“We are a law-abiding country,” he said. “No one should take the law
into their own hands.”
Police said they were reviewing the security video to identify the
mob. As of late Monday, no arrests had been announced.
Critics said the shooting was the result of the charged atmosphere.
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, for instance, has openly called on all
licensed gun owners, like himself, to carry their weapons to help back
up overstretched security forces.
“The death of an asylum seeker at the hands of security guards and an
angry mob is a tragic but foreseeable outgrowth of a climate in which
some Israeli politicians encourage citizens to take the law into their
own hands,” said Sari Bashi, director for Israel and the Palestinian
areas of Human Rights Watch.
Hanan Ashrawi, a top Palestinian official, accused Israeli leaders of
whipping up the public.
“They are creating a mentality of lynch mobs and of course feeding the
culture of hate and racism,” she said.
Others questioned whether Zarhum’s ethnicity had been a factor. “Just
because of his skin color,” said a headline in the Yediot Ahronot
daily.
There are about 34,000 Eritrean migrants in Israel. They say they are
fleeing persecution and conflict in their homeland, one of the world’s
worst violators of human rights.
Israel says they are merely economic migrants looking for work, and it
refuses to give them refugee status. But it does not deport them
because of the danger they face at home.
Many Israelis fear the influx threatens their country’s Jewish
character, with one right-wing lawmaker famously calling migrants a
“cancer.” Africans frequently complain of racial discrimination in
Israel.
“The young Eritrean man is clear testimony to foreignness. He
sustained critical injuries in a war not his own. Alone,” Danny Adino
Ababa, an Israeli journalist of Ethiopian origin, wrote in Yediot.
Zerhom worked at a plant nursery in southern Israel and had been in
Beersheba to renew a work visa, said his employer, Sagi Malachi.
“He was a modest man, quiet, and he tried to do his job as best as he
could,” Malachi told The Associated Press. “It is heart-breaking. All
in all, I think that he was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
A friend, Goitom Haile, said Zerhom had worked in various farming jobs
for four years. He had saved his money and dreamed of returning to
Eritrea to reunite with his family in the next few months, Haile said.
“He was a good man, like a brother,” he said.
The current unrest began last month with clashes at Jerusalem’s most
sensitive holy site, a hilltop compound revered by both Jews and
Muslims. The spot is known to Jews as the Temple Mount, home to the
biblical Temples, and today is the location of the Al-Aqsa Mosque,
Islam’s third-holiest site and an important symbol for Palestinians.
The clashes were fueled by rumors among Palestinians that Israel is
trying to change a longstanding status quo that allows Jews to visit
but not pray on the mount. Israel denies the allegations and has
accused Palestinian leaders and social media of incitement.
Palestinians say the violence stems from anger over the Jerusalem holy
site and nearly 50 years of occupation, as well as a lack of hope.
Jibril Rajoub, a top Palestinian official, praised the Palestinian attackers.
“These are individual heroic acts. I appreciate them. I salute
everyone that has done this. We bow in front of them,” he told
Palestine TV.
At the same time, he called for passive resistance. “Do you know what
the meaning of having tens of thousands sitting in the streets without
throwing a stone? We want the world to hear our voice,” Rajoub said.
Received on Mon Oct 19 2015 - 21:41:57 EDT