Israeli police kill Arab citizen in Haifa

By Zain Khalil

JERUSALEM (AA): Israeli police on Monday killed a young mentally-disabled Arab man in Israeli city of Haifa over his allegedly stabbing a police officer.

The police claimed in a statement that “it received a report from a woman in the Wadi Nisnas neighborhood in Haifa that her son was roaming the street angrily with a knife.”

Israeli police, according to the statement, tried to stop Munir Anabtawi, 33, but he stabbed a policeman with a knife, wounding him lightly, prompting the police to shoot him.

But Anabtawi’s family denied that their son was carrying a knife, saying that he suffered from psychological disorders and was getting treatment.

“They killed my brother in cold blood, we will not be silent,” Munir’s sister told Israeli Yedioth Ahronoth, adding: “He was ill and needed treatment, they should stop lying.”

“Instead of the police helping us, they killed him. It is failed police that know nothing but to kill those suffering from psychological problems,” she said.

She said that Munir asked his mother for money, but she hadn’t at that time. So, he went down to the street, behaving angrily.

She added that as a result, her mother called the police, asking them to make sure that Anabtawi would not pose a danger to himself and others and be transferred to a hospital.

Police officers arrived at the scene in the Wadi Nisnas neighborhood of Haifa, where they opened fire at Anabtawi in the back.

Ahmad Tibi, an Arab member of the Knesset (parliament), also criticized the Israeli police handling of the incident.

Repeating that Anabtawi suffered from psychological problems and was getting treatment, Tibi tweeted: “He was shot in the back by two policemen and was killed. He could have been controlled without shooting, according to his sister.”

He added: “Once again the names of the dead are highlighted: Mustafa Yunus and Eyad al-Hallaq, may God have mercy on them.”

On May 13, 2020, security guards at Sheba Hospital in the Tel HaShomer area, near Tel Aviv, killed Mustafa Yunus, 27, in front of his mother, who was suffering from epilepsy, for him allegedly stabbing a colleague.

That May 30, the police shot al-Hallaq, 32, who suffered from autism, while he was on his way to school in the Old City of Jerusalem.

*Writing by Mahmoud Barakat

[Photo: Ahmad Tibi, Israeli Knesset Member. Photo by Wikimedia Foundation/Commons]

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