Peres tells Arab town he is ashamed of Jerusalem 'lynch'

President visits Majd ek Karum in Galilee, tells residents perpetrators of brutal J'lem attack must be brought to justice; Education Minister Sa'ar says issues of violence, racism must be addressed in school system.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Shimon Peres 370 (photo credit: Wikicommons)
Shimon Peres 370
(photo credit: Wikicommons)
It was not an easy time for President Shimon Peres on Tuesday when he visited the all-Muslim Arab town of Majd el- Kurum in the northern Galilee on the day after the Jewish teenager who last Thursday viciously beat 17-year-old Jamal Julani of Ras-el-Amud, refused to express remorse and said he would do it again..
Peres, who in the past has condemned those who strike out at Jews for no reason other than the fact that they are Jews, this time had to deal with a role reversal.
“I am full of shame and outrage at what we witnessed over the weekend in Jerusalem. Jamal Julani was beaten up for no reason other than because he is an Arab. This is an intolerable incident of violence that we must uproot from our midst,” Peres said.
15-year-old Jerusalem youth suspected of lynch
15-year-old Jerusalem youth suspected of lynch
“The perpetrators must be brought to justice and every effort must be made to bring Arab and Jewish youth together,” he said.
Peres who was visiting Majd el-Kurum for Id el Fitr was welcomed by Council Head Mohamed Mana, council members and hundreds of residents.
He was particularly interested in meeting Imam Mohamed Kiwan and other Muslim spiritual leaders from the Galilee in order to convey the sorrow he feels for the injuries and the humiliation to which Julani was subjected, and to work out with them some kind of modus operandi for getting youth to understand that violence is not a vehicle for solving problems.
Prior to the incident in Jerusalem, Peres had been approached by the concerned Muslim leadership with the request that he use his influence to curb the violence that is seething across the country.
Thursday’s incident was, in his opinion, more than violence born out of frustration and boredom. It was blatant racism.
The lawyer of the youth who came close to beating Julani to death has denied that there was any racist motive in what his client did. In an interview on Israel Radio, he said anyone would have reacted to the derogatory comments about one’s mother in much the same way, regardless of who it was that said it. He was adamant that racism was not the reason that his client beat up Julani