J’lem woman killed amid rise in Arab sector crime
Jerusalem police have arrested two suspects in connection with the killing of a woman in the east Jerusalem neighborhood of Wadi Joz late Saturday night.
Miriam al-Takruri, 21, is the latest victim in the wave of violent crime that has hit the Arab sector in the past few years.
Last Friday, brothers Salah and Safi Abu Hussein, residents of Baka al-Gharbiya, were shot and killed in the West Bank city of Tulkarm. The shooting took place six months after their mother, Aida Abu Hussein, was fatally shot in Baka al-Gharbiya.
Takruri is the 35th victim of violent crime in the Arab sector since the beginning of 2021. She is the second woman murdered since the beginning of this year.
Last week, Suha Mansour, 38, a mother of three, was killed by a masked gunman who stormed her beauty salon in the city of Tira.
Takruri was killed during a brawl between the Ajlouni and Abu Gharbiyya clans in Wadi Joz.
Her mother, Aisha, on Sunday said her daughter had just returned home from evening prayers at nearby al-Aqsa Mosque when she walked up to the window to see what was happening outside.
According to the mother, her daughter was standing near the window when she was hit by a bullet.
“I was standing behind her when she suddenly shouted that an object had penetrated her body,” the mother recalled as she pointed to a bullet hole in the window. “Then she collapsed. I opened the window and started calling for help. There were many young men outside.”
Takruri was rushed in a private car to Makassed Hospital on the Mount of Olives, where she was pronounced dead. She had been hit in the chest with one bullet, a source in the hospital said.
Takruri was hit by a stray bullet during the violent clash involving dozens of members of the two clans, eyewitnesses said.
“During the fight, the two sides used gasoline bombs, rocks, fireworks and live ammunition,” said Maher Halawani, a resident of Wadi Joz. “They destroyed many cars and set a house on fire. The poor woman was hit by a stray bullet while she was standing near the window inside her home. Her family was not involved in the melee.”
The dispute between the two clans began three days ago over ownership of a plot of land in the neighborhood, another resident said.
“We tried to arrange a sulha [reconciliation] between the rival families, but they refused,” he told The Jerusalem Post.
“On Saturday night, the clashes between the two families resumed just before midnight, but this time they were more violent; they used live ammunition,” he said. “A number of community leaders and Fatah activists who rushed to the scene to calm the situation were also attacked with Molotov cocktails and rocks.”
Four people were injured during the clashes, according to the police.
“A large police force was dispatched to the area to restore order and calm, and an investigation has been launched into the incident,” the police said. “Two suspects have been arrested as the investigation continues.”
Takruri’s uncle Jamal said he called the police two hours before his niece was killed to report the clash between the two clans.
“Forty-five minutes later, Miriam was killed, and the police still hadn’t arrived,” he said. “By the time they arrived, it was too late.”
He and other residents said the nearest police station, on Salah a-Din Street, is only a few kilometers away from the neighborhood.
The incident took place during the first week of Ramadan, during which there is often an upsurge in violence in east Jerusalem and the wider Arab community in the country.
Since the beginning of Ramadan, several family brawls have erupted in the Arab sector, including east Jerusalem.
Over the past week, clashes have erupted between policemen and dozens of young men outside the Old City of Jerusalem after evening prayers at al-Aqsa Mosque.
The men threw rocks and launched fireworks at police officers, who responded with tear gas to disperse the rioters. The rioters also attacked several Jews who were in the area, including a photographer, and damaged two police vehicles.