NIS 5,000 reward for info on Katzrin teen's murderer

By RUTH EGLASH
A non-profit organization announced Thursday that it is offering NIS 5,000 for concrete information leading to the capture of the killer of Ta'ir Rada, 13, who was found stabbed to death in the bathroom of the Nofei Golan High School on December 6. "This murder is connected to everyone in this country," said Tamara More, director of Lean: Prevention of Youth Violence, which for the past two years has been working to stamp out violence in schools and among the country's youth in general. "It is only a matter of time until another murder takes place in another Israeli school," she said. More said that the organization, which relies solely on private donations, has witnessed a dramatic rise in the number of violent incidents among students since it began its activities. "Everyone is hiding from the problem," she explained. "Principals continually deny there is violence in their school because they do not want to compromise the good name of the institution." Staffed by volunteers, Lean claims to be the only organization involved in the battle against youth violence, and provides protection and counseling for children and youth who fall victims to such violence. The organization also runs a Guardian Angels program, which provides bullied students with a special hot line for immediate assistance. In schools where this program is active, violence has been significantly reduced, said More. "Murder is obviously the extreme, but from our experience we have seen that there is violence of some description in every school," she said. Since Rada's murder, Lean volunteers have been in touch with students at the Nofei Golan High School and have uncovered several incidents of violence there, despite claims otherwise by the school's teachers and Katzrin residents, More said. Last week, the police extended the remand of Roman Zadarov, 29, who had been working as contractor at the school. He is the third suspect to be arrested in connection with the murder; two other men were released from police custody due to lack of evidence.