Minister issues first apology for Umm al-Hiran death
In Bedouin city of Rahat, Uri Ariel apologizes ‘deeply’ if errors during home demolition led to police killing teacher
Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel on Monday apologized to the Bedouin community for the death of a local teacher in which the man had been at first accused of attempting a nationalistic terror attack.
Visiting the Bedouin city of Rahat, Ariel, of the right-wing Jewish Home party, referred to the January incident in Umm al-Hiran in which local resident Yaqoub Mousa Abu Al-Qia’an and police officer 1st Sgt. Erez Levi were killed.
“If there was a mistake in Umm al-Hiran, I apologize deeply,” said the minister. “We will wait for the results of the Police Internal Investigations Department probe, but there are voices attesting to grievous mistakes that were made — I want to pass on my apologies to the family.”
Ariel asked whether it would be possible to make a visit to Abu Al-Qia’an’s family and apologize to them in person.
This was the first apology by an Israeli official over the incident.
The incident took place in the early morning of January 18 when police arrived to demolish houses in the unrecognized village, which the state was seeking to remove in order to clear the way for a new Jewish town.
As officers converged on Umm al-Hiran, Abu Al-Qia’an, 47, a teacher and father of 12, packed a few belongings into his SUV and drove from his house, telling friends that he did not wish to witness its destruction. Soon afterward, the vehicle rammed into a group of officers, killing Levi, 34. Abu Al-Qia’an was fatally shot by police.
In the aftermath of the incident, activists and others said police had used excessive force, pointing to what they see as institutionalized racism against Arabs.
According to reports in Hebrew-language media in February, the Justice Ministry’s Police Internal Investigations Department found no evidence to support the claim that the incident in Umm al-Hiran was a terror attack, and also determined that police officers did not act according to protocol. One report on the right-wing Channel 20 said that officers shot at one another and almost caused a friendly fire accident.
But police said the Internal Investigations Department had yet to complete its investigation. “The information given to the public includes disinformation and many inaccuracies, something that has happened, unfortunately, many times since the incident,” police said in a statement. “We recommend waiting for the release of the official investigation’s findings and not to be moved by these statements or any others.”
A police spokesperson could not confirm when the investigation would end.
In the immediate aftermath of the incident Public Security Minister asserted that Abu Al-Qia’an was a nationalistically motivated terrorist, inspired by the Islamic State group.
Although he subsequently admitted it was “possible” he was mistaken, Erdan said he would only apologize if a report by the ministry’s Internal Police Internal Investigations Department showed he was mistaken.
Last month family members of Abu Al-Qia’an urged the minister to apologize.
“The truth is starting to become clear, we have all waited for this,” Amal Abu Sa’ed, a widow of Abu Al-Qia’an, told Army Radio. “Erdan made a mistake and we are requesting an apology. Only strong people can apologize.”
