Arabs fuming day after general strike held over Rahat deaths
By ARIEL BEN SOLOMON
Israeli Arab citizens are still fuming a day after a general strike and violent protests on Tuesday over the death of two Arab men in incidents involving Israeli police. Jafar Farah, the director of the Mossawa Center – The Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel, told The Jerusalem Post in an interview on Wednesday that “there is a feeling that any officer can do what he wants to Arab residents.” Farah accuses the Jewish public for having “a lack of solidarity,” claiming that if two Jewish citizens were killed by the police – something that you never hear of – there would be strong pressure for action against the police. These kinds of events create more violence and conflict, deepening “the growing tensions between Arabs and state institutions,” he said. Every few months there is a an episode with the police where an Arab is killed or injured, he said. Sami al-Jaar, 20, was shot dead by officers during a drugs raid which triggered protests in the southern town of Rahat on Thursday.
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