city:kafr qasim

  • Palestinian citizen of Israel killed by Israeli police in Kafr Qasim clashes
    June 6, 2017 10:42 A.M. (Updated : June 6, 2017 12:42 P.M.)
    http://www.maannews.com/Content.aspx?ID=777512

    BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) — A Palestinian citizen of Israel was shot dead by Israeli police during clashes in the Palestinian-majority town of Kafr Qasim in central Israel on Monday night.

    Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said in a statement on Tuesday morning that clashes erupted shortly before midnight when police detained a local man who was “wanted for questioning.”

    Local youth threw stones at the police officers during the detention, and a “suspect” was also detained.

    According to local news outlet Arab48, police officers fired tear gas, stun grenades and rubber-coated steel bullets at the crowd, which it said had gathered to denounce police failure to properly handle the high level of crime in Kafr Qasim.

    Clashes continued into the night outside of the local police station, Rosenfeld said, adding that “as a result of a life-threatening situation,” a private security guard fired towards the protesters. Official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that at least two Palestinian citizens of Israel were injured during by gunshots.

    One of the men — whom Israeli police spokeswoman Luba al-Samri identified as 21-year-old Muhammad Taha — was evacuated in critical condition to the Beilinson hospital in Petah Tikva, where doctors later declared him dead.

    Rosenfeld also reported that Kafr Qasim protesters set fire to three police vehicles, while Israeli news outlet the Jerusalem Post reported that a police officer was “slightly wounded.”

    Taha’s funeral is scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, while the High Follow-up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel called for a general strike in all Palestinian-majority municipalities in Israel that same day.

    “““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““““
    Israeli Police Kills A Palestinian In Kafr Qassem
    June 6, 2017 10:27 AM
    http://imemc.org/article/israeli-police-kills-a-palestinian-in-kafr-qassem

    Israeli police officers shot and killed, on Monday evening, a young Palestinian man in Kafr Qassem, east of Tel Aviv, after the police invaded the town, and resorted to excessive use of force against the residents, amidst accusations that the police are not providing security to the Arab citizens of the country facing increasing levels of organized crime, and violence.

    The Arabs48 news website has reported that the slain Palestinian, Mohammad Taha , 27, was shot by the police with three live rounds in the head, from a close range, without posing any threat to them, and died from his wounds at the Beilinson Israeli medical center.

    After shooting the young man, the police imposed curfew and abducted dozens of residents, before moving them to detention and interrogation centers.

    #Palestine_assassinée

  • 58 ans après, le président israélien commémore le massacre de Kfar Qassem, qu’il qualifie de « crime terrible ». Environ 49 Arabes avaient été tués par des soldats israéliens. Il a rendu hommage aux victimes et commémoré l’événement en tant que « membre de la communauté juive et président d’Israël » - LA Times

    http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-israel-president-arab-massacre-20141026-story.html

    In a landmark gesture to the country’s Arab minority, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin visited the town of Kafr Qasim to pay tribute to victims killed by Israeli troops in an incident that remains a gaping wound for Israel’s Arab citizens nearly six decades later.

    Six decades later, Israel president commemorates massacre of Arabs by Israeli troops
    ’A terrible crime was done here’ — Israeli president on 1956 massacre of Arabs by Israeli soldiers
    Israeli president says Arabs and Jews must get over ’difficult and deep-rooted hatred’
    In a landmark gesture to the country’s Arab minority, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin visited the town of Kafr Qasim to pay tribute to victims killed by Israeli troops in an incident that remains a gaping wound for Israel’s Arab citizens nearly six decades later.

    The first Israeli president to do so, Rivlin attended the annual memorial ceremony held for what has long been called the “Kafr Qasim massacre,” laying flowers at a monument engraved with the victims’ names.

    “I have come here today as a member of the Jewish people and the president of the state of Israel to stand before you, the families of the slain and injured, to mourn and remember,” Rivlin said. “The brutal killing in Kafr Qasim is an anomalous and sorrowful chapter in the history of relations between Arabs and Jews living here,” said the president.

    “The state of Israel has recognized the crime committed here. And rightly, and justly, has apologized for it,” said the president. “I too am here today to say a terrible crime was done here … the murder of innocents,” said Rivlin, who said future generations must be educated about the tragic events and the lessons that must be learned.

    His predecessor Shimon Peres apologized during a 2007 visit to the town.

    Like other Palestinian communities that became part of the state of Israel in 1948, Kafr Qasim was under military rule until 1966, with a nightly curfew starting at 9 p.m.

    Fearing a surprise move by Jordan on the first day of the Sinai campaign in October 1956, Israel’s military moved up the curfew in eight communities near the border with Jordan to 5 p.m. but word was late in reaching local leaders and didn’t make it to villagers working the fields.

    In seven villages, the matter was resolved peacefully. In Kafr Qasim, the results were tragic. Acting on a commander’s orders, troops shot dead dozens of civilians who unknowingly violated the curfew. As many as 49 people were killed, including women and children. Several soldiers disobeyed the orders and refused to shoot.

    The prime minister at the time, David Ben-Gurion, used military censorship to hush up the bloodbath but two lawmakers used their parliamentary immunity to disclose it in a debate in Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, and the case was investigated and brought to court.

    I have come here today as a member of the Jewish people and the president of the state of Israel to stand before you, the families of the slain and injured, to mourn and remember.
    – Israeli President Reuven Rivlin
    Two years later, eight commanders and soldiers were sentenced to jail for periods of between seven and 17 years. Coining a phrase that would become a guiding principle in military and legal doctrine, Judge Binyamin Halevy called the order an “expressly illegal command,” one marked with a “black flag” that soldiers must refuse to follow.

    Despite the harshly worded ruling, those sentenced were pardoned after a year by the state’s president.

    In his remarks Sunday, Rivlin did not confine his words to the past but also spoke of the troubled present, saying that Jews and Arabs are destined to live together, even if this is the choice of neither.

    Israel is the “national home of the Jewish people, who returned to their land” but also will always be the homeland of its Arab citizens, who are “part and parcel of this land,” Rivlin said.

    “I am not naive. There is no point in denying or ignoring the reality of relations between the communities,” Rivlin said. Still, despite what he called “difficult and deep-rooted hatred,” Rivlin said he believes it possible to establish trust between Arabs and Jews in Israel “for the simple reason that none of us … have any other choice.”

    The affable Rivlin, a former lawmaker for decades, became Israel’s 10th president in July. Despite lifelong membership in right-wing parties and objection to a Palestinian state, Rivlin has emerged as a strong voice for civic equality and against racism in Israeli society.

    Recently, he teamed up with 11-year-old George Amireh, a Christian Arab boy from Jaffa to make a joint video urging mutual tolerance and empathy, after seeing the boy’s own video protesting bullying peers that went viral.

    The president also referred to continuing friction in Jerusalem and urged Arab citizens and leaders to take a strong stand against violence. “All that live here today must stand up and speak out against … those who try to plunge us into the abyss,” he said.

  • 29 octobre 1956, massacre de Kafr Qasim :
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kafr_Qasim_massacre

    The Kafr Qasim massacre took place in the Israeli Arab village of Kafr Qasim situated on the Green Line, at that time, the de facto border between Israel and the West Bank on October 29, 1956. It was carried out by the Israel Border Police (Magav) and resulted in 48 Arab civilians dead, including 6 women and 23 children aged 8–17. Arab sources usually give the death toll as 49, as they include the unborn child of one of the women.

    The border policemen who were involved in the shooting were brought to trial and found guilty and sentenced to prison terms. The Israeli court found that the command to kill civilians was “blatantly illegal”. Two officers were sentenced to 17 and 15 years imprisonment, later reduced to 5 years, and served a short term.