Family of autistic Palestinian killed by cop attend Jerusalem anti-overhaul rally

The family of an autistic Palestinian man who was shot and killed by a Border Police officer three years ago attended a protest Saturday night in Jerusalem against the government’s planned judicial overhaul, days after the cop was cleared of wrongdoing over the killing.

Iyad Halak, 32, was fatally shot in May 2020 while headed to his special education school in the Old City. Later saying they mistook his phone for a gun, the officer and another cop chased after Halak, who did not understand the situation and was spooked by the police and their calls for him to halt.

The cops eventually cornered Halak in a garbage room, where the officer shot him twice as he lay on the ground.

The Jerusalem District Court acquitted the officer last week, accepting his position that he felt he was in danger and had to make a rapid decision in moments. He had been charged with reckless manslaughter.

At Saturday’s demonstration, Halak’s sister Joanna read verses from the Quran to commemorate him, speaking from behind a podium draped with an Israeli flag.

As she got up on stage to speak, some members of the crowd chanted, “Iyad was murdered — we won’t forget.”

אחותו של איאד אל חלאק ז"ל על הבמה בירושלים.
כך נראית מחאה דמוקרטית.
כך נראית תקווה.
???? https://t.co/Q4xlVDwXDW pic.twitter.com/U0f1HGt4cF

— ישראל פריי (@freyisrael1) July 8, 2023

Speaking with demonstrators during the protest, Halak’s parents said they regularly visit his grave to “ask forgiveness.”

“All our work was invested in him and in the end a policeman came and shot him,” his father was quoted as saying by the Haaretz daily. “He helped us with work at home. At school they said there hadn’t had a kid that special for 35 years.”

A couple of hours before the protest, police arrived at the Halak family home and questioned his parents over their plans to take part in the rally, according to Haaretz.

It was unclear why the family was questioned or how the police knew of their planned participation, as only a handful of protest organizers were aware of it.

Along with Saturday’s rally, part of the ongoing mass demonstrations against the coalition’s plans to dramatically weaken the judiciary, protests against Halak’s death were also a regular feature at 2020 protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu outside the premier’s official residence in Jerusalem.

At the time, the shooting drew comparisons to the death of George Floyd in the US and prompted a series of demonstrations against police violence. The uproar crossed Israeli-Palestinian lines and drew Jewish protesters as well, and Israeli leaders expressed regret over the shooting.

Following Thursday’s ruling, demonstrators protested against the acquittal in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa.