Date Posted: Tuesday, September 02, 2003

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak was criticized for his role in the death of 13 Arab-Israelis in October 200.

JERUSALEM, Sept 2 (MASNET & News Agencies) - Government prejudice and police incompetence lay at the heart of events which led to the deaths of 13 Arab Israelis killed during protests in support of the Palestinian uprising three years ago, an official inquiry found Monday.

The long-awaited findings of the Orr Commission, a three-member panel, also criticized former Labor prime minister Ehud Barak, who in broadcast remarks at the time gave police a "green light" to put down the demonstrations, for failing to show sufficient awareness about the Arab sector "which created the possibility of widespread riots breaking out," but did not recommend action against Barak, drawing Arab accusations of a whitewash.

Regarding Israel's treatment of its Arab minority, the commission of inquiry found that police used excessive force in quelling the Arab demonstrations and that Israel's leaders badly underestimated the community's anger after decades of systematic discrimination, reports the Associated Press (AP).

As well as criticizing several senior police officials, the 800-page report recommended that former interior security minister Shlomo Ben Ami never again hold any public security posts, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"The events were the results of deep-seated factors which created the combustible atmosphere among the Israeli Arabs," the report said.

"The state and its various governments failed in dealing with in a thorough and comprehensive way the problems of the existence of a large minority within the Jewish majority.

"The government treatment of the Arab sector was characterized by prejudice and neglect."

The report said that the state had failed to "budget resources on an equal basis to the [Arab] sector [and] ... did not do enough to promote equality in the Arab sector and did not act to uproot the phenomenon of discrimination."

"At the same time, not enough was done to enforce the rule of law in the Arab sector."

The panel called on the government to outline a plan of action and a timetable for narrowing gaps between Jews and Arabs, reports the AP.

The report also accused police of displaying an attitude of "prior hostility" towards the protestors and having no idea of how to deal with riots.

Lethal weapons, particularly live fire and rubber bullets should never have been used, except in specific conditions where life was in danger, it said. In most incidents where life was lost that was not the case, the report added.

"The committee determined that it is important that it be pointed out in a completely non-ambiguous way that the use of live fire, including live fire by snipers, is not a means of dispersing large crowds by police."

The report found that police used excessive force.

"In regard to rubber bullets, the committee found that this means is not appropriate for use because of its dangers. It was determined that the police must take this weapon out of their inventory," it added.

Stopping short of recommending prosecution, the report cleared the way for an election comeback by Barak, who was defeated by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the 2001 election, reports Reuters news agency.

"We regret that the commission was affected by political considerations," Shawki Khatib, chairman of the Israeli-Arab monitoring committee, told reporters.

Sharon said his Cabinet would discuss the report as soon as possible, reports the AP.

Families of the Arab-Israeli youths shot dead on Monday accused the report of failing to bring to account the people behind the killings.

Although the report criticized Barak, Ben Ami and several other senior police officials, it was cold comfort for the families of the victims, who had hoped for justice to be meted out to those who pulled the trigger.

"Barak got off almost clean. He should have been sternly censured, at least, and been barred from returning to politics," said Hassan Aasla, whose 17-year-old son was among those gunned down by Israeli police.

"The last three years have been filled with unending pain and sadness," said Aasla. "We asked that the committee investigate the murder of 13 citizens of this country, but we asked in vain.

"Those who killed our sons will pay for what they did, under local or international law," Aasla added.

"You cannot hide the fact there was a murder and there were murderers," he told reporters shortly after publication of the two-volume document.

"We demand that all those responsible, from the lowest to the highest, be brought to justice."

However, Asalla saw some hope in the findings: "I see this as the first stage in a long process to bring those responsible for the murder of our children to justice."

Harsh criticism of the commission's findings was also expressed by Arab Israeli MP Azmi Bishara, one of 10 Arab lawmakers in Israel's 120-member parliament who was himself singled out in the report for "incitement".

Bishara criticized the report for not going far enough to recommend punishment for police officers and Israeli leaders.

"The commission didn't deal with all the policies of racism against Arab citizens," he said.

“Thirteen citizens were killed and the police did not investigate even one suspect,” said Bishara, criticizing the fact there was no recommendation to bring any of the culprits to justice

"As citizens of this country we have the right to go and demonstrate and express solidarity with people under occupation without getting shot and killed.

"The problem is how the police force in this country deals with this as if it were an act of war," he said.

"We knew the committee wouldn't do anything," said Hawla Gharra, 18, whose elder brother Rami was killed during the riots.

"The man who killed my brother was Jewish and it was a Jewish committee, so we knew it wouldn't do anything. They forgot we are Palestinians but we haven't forgotten."

There was disappointment that no action was taken against Barak and also anger over the charges of incitement leveled at Arab Israeli leadership, Adalah lawyer Marwan Dalal said.

"The report has cleared Barak of almost all responsibility, particularly for ordering the police to open the road and confront the demonstrators by all means," he explained.

"On top of that, the community is being blamed through [the report] blaming the political leadership ... All this gives negative signs to the Arab community."

Arab Israeli MP Abdul Malik Dehamshe said that if the findings of the report did not prevent a recurrence of such events, the work of the commission would have failed.

"The question is: does this [report] prevent the next October 2000 or will there be another massacre? Will it change 55 years of discriminatory policy towards Arabs?" he asked.

"I am not sure there is a positive answer in this report."

Despite the failure of the commission to punish the guilty, Rami Gharra's family is determined to continue the struggle for justice, even though the next step is unclear.

"I don't know what we are supposed to do now. The government won't do anything," said Abdul Rahman Samara, 34, one of the young man's uncles.

"All the same it was good we did it so that the world will know what is going on here."

Some Arabs became citizens of Israel when the Jewish state was created in 1948 in part of British-ruled Palestine. They now constitute 18 percent of Israel's population and often complain of discrimination and a paucity of public funding, reports Reuters.

Largely sympathetic to their Palestinian brethren, Israeli Arabs, combined with three years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting, have had wedge of suspicion driven between the country’s Arabs and Jews.

The Orr Commission was set up in the wake of widespread anger over the protests which came just a month after the start of the Palestinian uprising, or Intifada, in September 2000.

The commission's recommendations are not legally binding, but carry strong weight, reports the AP. Findings in 1983 into the Sabra and Shatilla massacres in Lebanon forced Sharon to resign from his post as defense minister.