Elwyn nonprofit marks death of Halak with special-needs campaign
Israel Elwyn, a nonprofit that provides support services for adults and children with special needs, is launching a “Safety for All” campaign on Monday to mark the 40th day since the death of Eyad al-Halak.
On May 30, Halak, 32, a special-needs student from east Jerusalem, was shot by Border Police officers in the Old City on his way to Jerusalem’s Elwyn Al-Quds Employment Training Center, where he had gone every day for the last seven years.
In a statement after the shooting, the police said officers had noticed a “suspicious object” in his hands. According to police reports, Halak fled from the officers to a nearby garbage room, where he was shot at seven or eight times. The coroner’s report said he was hit by two of the bullets.
The shooting occurred despite Halak’s job coach yelling to the officers, “He has a disability.”
According to Israel Elwyn, due to Halak’s intellectual and developmental disabilities and the lack of communication between the police officers and him, the incident ended with a tragic and unnecessary death.
Together with Halak’s family, Israel Elwyn is launching the information day in three languages – Arabic, Hebrew and English – to help prevent such occurrences in the future.
“The campaign was developed to raise societal awareness and place on the public agenda the need for police, decision makers and the general community to recognize the basic rights of everyone to a safe and secure environment,” Israel Elwyn CEO David Marcu said.
Among Monday’s activities are a social-media campaign in which the public will be asked to post a printed page with the slogan “Safety for All” to social-media platforms, with the hashtag #Safety_for_All.
In addition, Israel Elwyn will hold informational events focusing on Halak’s personal story and the issue of personal safety, and several activities in his memory will take place. Marcu will plant an olive tree in the central square of the Sabbah Employment Training Center in Jerusalem.
“The untimely passing of Eyad, of blessed memory, was a blow to all of us and a source of great pain,” Marcu said. “This senseless and tragic death was largely due to a lack of awareness of the unique needs of persons with autism and intellectual disability.”
“I truly hope that Eyad’s death will be the last incident of this kind and will bring about a real change of awareness and recognition of those who are different among relevant officials in general and police officers in particular,” he said.