Possible Revenge Killing Of Palestinian Teen Sparks Jerusalem Clashes
By Batsheva Sobelman, Los Angeles Times
JERUSALEM — Tensions mounted in Jerusalem as a local Palestinian teenager was found dead early Wednesday in what some fear may have been a reprisal attack for the killing of three Jewish Israeli teenagers abducted in the West Bank.
The burned body of the victim, identified by family members and police as 17-year-old Mohammed Abu Khdeir from the Palestinian neighborhood of Shuafat in north Jerusalem, was found in a forested area west of the city.
Police began searching for the teen after his family reported him missing when he hadn’t come home early Wednesday morning, Israeli media reported. Separately, police received a call from friends who said that the teen was forcefully shoved into a car.
A relative of Khdeir, who identified himself only as Mahmoud, told Israel Radio that the teen was sitting on a fence outside his house among other friends around 3:45 a.m. on Wednesday, waiting for early morning prayers and a pre-dawn meal at a nearby mosque before starting the daily fast of Ramadan.
He said Khdeir’s friends saw a car make a U-turn near the mosque, when someone called the teen over and then forced him into the car. Friends reported seeing two or three people in the car at the time. They chased the vehicle, he said, but it managed to drive away. His friends called the police immediately, Mahmoud said.
“The police know who did this,” he told Israel Radio, adding that a description of the car, pictures, and a license plate number were available to police.
Additional details are currently under a court-imposed gag order barring Israeli media from reporting them.
Jerusalem Police Chief Yosi Parienti said the investigation of the case was ongoing and that all motives were being explored. He urged residents to act with restraint and to refrain from jumping to conclusions.
Large numbers of police were deployed around Palestinian neighborhoods in the area in an attempt to maintain order.
A few hours into the investigation, the motive for the boy’s killing remained unknown. However, politicians and residents quickly mobilized in response to the killing.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas demanded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly condemn the killing of the Palestinian teen as he had the kidnapping and killing of the three Israeli teens. Abbas drew fierce criticism from Palestinians for his strongly worded statement decrying the abductions of the three Israeli teens.
Abbas’ spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh was more confrontational, telling the official Palestinian news agency, WAFA, that Israel is fully responsible for the killing and must arrest the perpetrators.
Netanyahu ordered a swift investigation to find “who is behind the reprehensible murder and what the motive was.” In a statement, he urged all sides not to take the law into their own hands.
The details of the boy’s death grimly echo the killings of Eyal Yifrah, 19, Gilad Shaar, 16, and Naftali Fraenkel, 16, whose funerals Tuesday were attended by tens of thousands gripped by their dramatic story and tragic end.
As news of the Palestinian teen’s death spread, clashes continued Wednesday afternoon as residents threw stones, burned dumpsters and tires and fought with security forces who arrived on the scene in northern Jerusalem and in Shuafat.
The U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem on Wednesday issued a security warning for U.S. citizens, calling for “situational awareness” and for people to avoid demonstrations. The consulate general was “monitoring the situation closely,” the message said.
Tensions were already boiling over in Jerusalem on Tuesday night, as mobs of young extremists seeking revenge for the Jewish teenagers’ deaths attacked Palestinians during protests that turned into violent riots in downtown Jerusalem.
Police extricated the Palestinians and arrested 48 people.
AFP Photo / Ahmad Gharabli
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