Palestinians in Israel killing each other at alarming rates. Is the state to blame?
Weapons in Arab communities found to be coming from the Israeli army
On October 15, Mahmoud Moufid Igbariyya left a mosque following evening prayers, entered his car and was fatally shot seconds later by a passing vehicle.
The 35-year-old resident of the 1948 area town of Umm al-Fahm became the 75th murder victim this year.
1948 areas refer to land Palestinians still live on land in which the Israeli state was created in 1948.
Palestinian citizens of Israel constitute only a fifth of the population but make up 80 per cent of those killed in 2019. Israel refers to them as “Israeli Arabs”.
A wave of demonstrations has swept Israel in recent weeks demanding greater police engagement inside Palestinian communities.
The problem, however, goes beyond a pattern of police negligence.
“This is a result of years of social, economic discrimination against the Palestinian community within Israel and the lack of educational and welfare services,” Israeli Arab lawmaker Yousef Jabareen said.
The rising murder rate stems from an increase in organized crime inside Palestinian communities.
The lack of economic opportunities seems to be pushing Palestinian citizens of Israel toward a life of crime.
In Israel, nearly 50 per cent of Palestinian households live below the poverty line compared to roughly 13 per cent of Jewish families, according to the Israeli research institute Adva Center.
Israel police statistics estimate around 400,000 illegal weapons circulating the streets.
“We are only two million, which means a quarter of us are armed,” Raya Mana’a, an activist from the Arab town of Majd Al Kurum, told Gulf News.
Mana’a, citing a report from Israeli television channel KAN, said that 75 per cent of weapons is coming from the Israeli army.
“They know we’re not going to point them toward the IDF or police. They know very well that we’re going to point these weapons towards each other,”Mana’a said.