Brother of Palestinian killed in Jaffa: Police fired without provocation

In some situations (traffic violations, for example) the policeman's testimony is taken as fact. The case of the Somali refugee reported yesterday, and this case of a Palestinian laborer today are further, ample - and heartbreaking - indications that the court's assumption is mistaken. Policemen are human, too, and have ulterior motives, good or bad, of their own. Also today there's the case of a cop in London who doesn't want to guard the Israel Embassy. Being a cop isn't enough to justify his "sensitivities".

of not seeing that justice is done for this mistake are enormous. Jaffa and Tel-Aviv are one city and the man who was killed was a citizen of Israel, not the brother who came from the Palestinian territories to work for him because his chances of earning a living there are zero at present. Why were border policemen looking for illegal Palestinian workers in Jaffa? Should it not have been ordinary policemen, who should then have handed them over to the border police? Not having clearly defined borders means not having clearly defined laws to live by.

First Mr. Vodka: Your illogical, clearly biased and senseless postings serve only one purpose to Haaretz readers that yes things that happened in 1930's Germany can happen any where ,any time in the world when people like you are abundant in great numbers and # 23 what does darfur have to do with a case of police using excessive force in Israel. Are u insinuating that a people who are black skinned ,different culture and background living in a far away basket case country who kill each other for pots and pans and bread gives excuse to a civilized structured country like Israel to kill Palestinians because the Pals call their God using the same name as the people do in Darfur.the only sin of the Pals is they follow a religion that somehow connects them to other Desperately Poor nations that unfortunately are run by exploiters,colonists and butchers who use islam to govern or rather maintain power.You put 5 million Jews in a place like Darfur without US or any aid and see how they behave

"witness statements would only be of help if they identified the racial origins of the witnesses." hmmm, interesting - divide the anwers by racial origin. You want to identify (classify) answers based on racial origin. That means YOU are a racist. By the way, you should figure out what ''race (racial) really means since in this case a better word might have been is 'ethnic origin'

What's noteworthy is not this killing; these are really pretty routine in Israel. What is noteworthy is how many will defend these actions, deny what happened, pretend everything is other than what it is. At a guess, a good third of the comments fall into this catagory. ...of course, this isn't really novel either. After all, one can go to any Holocaust denial website and find the same mentality at work. Different cause, of course.

All the regular Israel critics might consider redirecting their energies of moral indignation to Sudan -- a member of the Arab League. This Arab regime has murdered 450,000 native Africans, all Sudanese citizens. So far. Go and express you righteousness in the Khartum Times.

"Stop or I'll shoot" is not a remark made in jest, against a non-threatening individual. I fail to see how the brother of the deceased can be considered a credible witness. I fail to see how "Haaretz" can be considered a credible witness.

The range of possible disciplinary actions, and criminal proceedings is growing ... We have to show both ourselves and the world - but mainly ourselves - that we are a fair, law-abiding country, where human life - all human life - is equal. we still have quite a long way to go on that unfortunately.

i pitty the shoting officer's family...he who does this can only be a monster at home...such cold blooded killers can only brood more hate towards all who are near them...

That's more accurate to make them stop so you can aim for the head.

So there it is. I was waiting for this. Police have changed the story and it turns out the police office has shot the poor Palestinian worker without any struggle. Sometimes I do not know whether to laugh or cry when human life is considered to be very cheap because you belong to a certain ethnicity.

I say to israeli servicemen, beware violence! I of course approve wise PID and his decision because he is suspecting cold blood murder! I thank the Haaretz forum for this opportunity; for those who wish to send personal opinions: e-mail to : raphaeeldavid@yahoo.com

My wife thought we always shout at people. She has no idea about Israeli mentality so I suppose that's why you concluded that our cops were shouting. As for stop and search. Let's see you do it when there are good chances you will be killed by the person you are searching. Just have a good walk in Stonebridge park at night or Harlesden in NW London. See how the coppers treat you if you're black. France is even worst. Spain beyond words. Stephen Murray should know that.

If, as "Haaretz" suggests, the police warned the Palestinian before shooting him, that only bolsters the argument that indeed the Palestinian was trying to grab an officer's gun and became a danger to the lives of police officers. I see no inconsistency between the police claim and the sequence events. only see "Haaretz" trying to put a spanner in the works,as usual, and doctor up a false sequence of events. Just when you thought journalism couldn't get any worse...

Name me one other country on earth, Anthony, that allows people who call for its destruction to receive work permits. Palestinians are officially enemy aliens. The PLO, PA, Fatah and Hamas all have constitutions and covenants calling for our destruction. They regularly attack Israelis. Explain to me why you: a) Demand these people have a "right" to work here b) Shouldn't be treated as a real danger when they are here. c) Claim a 1000 deaths but provide no proof. Oh, wait, I know the answer to c: Anti-semitism. Just deal with a & b.

The only thing you are looking for is finger pointing; while you live away from these countries, you talk like you live in them. I’m sorry to see such unawareness coming from some of you. Jumping the gun and just blaming either side. You don’t even give enough time for the story to develop….. Man! and I’m sure some of you blame Bush for going to war in Iraq

Stop using it.....Thousands per day are allowed into Israel, you will have squatters. i.e. California.

I have seen a lot of buildings what pal workers built. I have witnessed their stance to work. I can imagine how they are behaving when police come up to check them. I believe that they are sometimes trying to do such things. THNKS God they are not too successful.

witness statements would only be of help if they identified the racial origins of the witnesses. had this been a Jewish illegal market trader, they would not have been shot. "light finger on the trigger" ? Arab MK Taleb El-Sana is far too polite.

Why don't the Israeli gov sent Mr A Sana to London to learn about some itchi finger syndrmoe from the British Police fire arms units and come back with a little more respect for the people that do theyr duties to protect the likes of him!

Such a thing is horrible but it is strange it occurs 1000 times a year in Israel. How many Palestinians were killed by the police last year?

Maybe our enlightened Ahab MKs should keep thier trigger happy mouths shut till the facts come in and the Police man's actions have been verified. At least we know that if it was not an accident, the man was given plenty of warning to stop running before taking a round! This at least must make Taleb happy, no?

I travel so often to Jaffa.I see poor Palestinian's workers there.holding their food and drinks to have their brakes in the shadow.I saw many times the rude Police men shouting and curse them.Stopping them on the wall.Laugh between themselves.I don't beleive workers tried to steel the gun from the Police.Policeman shot dead this worker.Court MUST investigate!!!!!

In its treatment of Palestinians and Lebanese civilians I think it's only fair to assume that the police are also light fingered when it comes to dealing with Arabs. A country like Israel which uses cluster bombs in civilian neighbourhoods should always be regarded with suspicion as they obviously don't place too high a value on human life regardless of what they claim the Palestinians are doing.

Rowan, it's a breaking new story. I'm sure no comments were available at the time the story was put up but i'm certain they will be added as soon as they come in.

allowed before the Israeli pals and outside pal helpers begin to holler bloody murder.

The October 2000 riots were synchronized by Arab leaders with Arafat, to support his walking away from Camp David and restarting terror. That an Arab MK lies about it shows the lesson still hasn't been learned: That we are tired of 58 years of Arabs trying to destroy us. Those that are citizens ought to be helping build the country and not destroy it. We've also learned that when Arabs won't allow autopsies on the dead, as they wouldn't allow in 2000, and then invent claims, they're just continuing the propoganda that helps the West's new-Left continue to support anti-semitism. Finally, we've learned that illegal laborers who come from a people dedicated to our destruction have to be treated as if they're potential terrorists. When they stop the war, that can be reevaluated.

Would it have been too much to expect Ms Singer-Haruti to get some witness statements? Or did she perhaps do exactly that, only to have them blue-pencilled by the sub-editor?