Palestinian citizens of Israel have called on Israeli authorities to declare a state of emergency after yet more Palestinians were killed in mystery murders over the weekend.
The head of Israel’s Union of Local Authorities, Haim Bebas, sent a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanding a state of emergency following the growing violence, crime and murders in the Arab society.
Gun violence within Palestinian communities in Israel has reached epidemic proportions. 64 Arab citizens have been killed this year. Israeli police failure to crackdown on organized crime and collect unauthorized weapons amounts to institutional racism. https://t.co/MiZomDmvC2
— Jamil Dakwar (@jdakwar) September 21, 2019
Bebas urged in his letter:
“It is not possible to wait until a new government is formed.”
In 2019 alone, 67 Palestinian citizens of Israel have been murdered, reaching a record-breaking number of annual deaths.
Over the weekend, four Palestinians were shot dead in what many locals perceive to be a lack of oversight and accountability on murders amongst the minority community.
Ongoing protest by Israeli Arabs in Um Al Fahm city in North Israel, against increase of crime and violence in Israeli Arab communities pic.twitter.com/yxkekp9uf0
— Local Focus – Security Alerts (@LocalFocus1) May 25, 2019
In May, Palestinian Knesset Member Ahmad Tibi lashed out at the Israeli police following the death of a 33-year-old citizen.
“The value of an Arab citizen’s life is smaller than that of a Jewish citizen,” the chairman of the Hadash-Ta’al coalition told Galatz army radio.
“The Israeli police force is professional and strong. When it invests, it succeeds, like in Netanya and Nahariya. The allegations of lack of cooperation in Arab society are excuses that the state disseminates,” he added.
(Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, PC, Social Media)
