Why are police idle against violence, COVID-19 violations in Arab sector?
The pandemic is raging in Arab towns, mainly due to illegal weddings that are being held on the streets, due to the closure of wedding halls.
By JPOST EDITORIALIsraeli police officers patrol on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem, June 25, 2020.(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH90)
Last Monday, just before the school year started, 33-year-old teacher Shareefa Abu Moammar from Ramle was excited ahead of the big day and was ready to finally reunite with her students after a long break caused by the corona pandemic.Abu Moammar prepared small kits with hand sanitizer, masks and wipes for her 11th grade students. She went to the classroom and filled it with balloons and decorations. She then sent a photo to her fellow teachers and shared her excitement.But instead of going to the first day of school, Shareefa was killed by a stray bullet hours before school was set to begin. According to media reports, she was in the kitchen preparing a cup of milk for her infant daughter.According to the Abraham Initiatives organization, Abu Moammar is the 56th victim of violence in the Arab sector since the beginning of 2020.Last year, 89 Arabs were murdered – the highest number in Israel’s history, according to an Abraham Initiatives report.While a finger is mainly being pointed at Arab society and the violence there, another finger should also be pointed at the Israel Police, the body that is in charge of preventing violence and protecting Israel’s citizens.Year after year, the police are not doing enough to prevent violence in the Arab sector.The media claims that there are hundreds of thousands of illegal weapons in the hands of various organizations and individuals in the sector. Among them are rifles, rocket launchers and hand grenades.But the police have no constructive plan to combat illegal weapons and violence in the Arab sector. Every once in a while, it announces an “operation” of weapons collection, hoping that citizens will return them from their goodwill.But when someone feels unsafe, and holds a weapon because he knows that the local mafia might threaten his family – and the police are not around to protect him – why would he return it?As Arab representatives rightfully repeat, if these weapons were aimed at Jews and their use labeled as terrorism, the police wouldn’t stand by and do nothing. A wide, comprehensive operation would have been launched a long time ago.This idleness of police is also seen in battling coronavirus.The pandemic is raging in Arab towns, mainly due to illegal weddings that are being held on the streets, due to the closure of wedding halls.Videos of police officers standing helplessly next to large crowds are circulating on social media.But this is not a surprise.The chaos among police ranks has been going on for years now.On December 2 – less than three months from now – it will be two years since former police commissioner Roni Alsheich left office. And since then, the government has not appointed anyone to replace him.There are various reasons why there has not been an appointment, but the outcome is clear: The public has lost its trust in the Police, and the behavior of its officers is expanding this distrust even further.An example of that can be seen in the way the Police have handled the anti-government protests in recent weeks.For 12 consecutive weeks, thousands – and sometimes tens of thousands – gather near the prime minister’s residence, to legally protest the way he leads the country.But in recent weeks, we see police officers hitting and punching protesters, including elderly men and women.We also see how these officers are being backed by their superiors. Zion District Police chief Ofer Shumer said after one of these cases that the protesters cursed policemen and used their private names.“The protesters incite against us, use our private names and threaten to settle accounts with us,” Shumer said, forgetting that the police are not a side to this.A new police commissioner is needed now.We need someone responsible, who would put an end to this mess, regain the public’s trust and protect all groups in Israel’s fragile society.
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