Ten people were arrested during a demonstration on Thursday, May 14, just before the funeral of a young Arab man who was mortally shot while disarmed and lying incapacitated on the ground after having stabbed a security guard outside Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer near Tel Aviv. Hundreds attended the protest, which took place at the Arara Junction in Wadi Ara. At one point, a group of protesters attempted to block traffic on Route 65, but police detained ten while dispersing the rest.
Hadash MK Youssef Jabareen (center) stands among demonstrators in Arara on Thursday, May 14, protesting the shooting death of Mustafa Younis, 26, a young Arab man with a history of organically caused psychiatric problems, who was shot to death while disarmed and prone after he had stabbed and slightly wounded one of a number of a number of security guards who assaulted him as he attempted to leave Sheba Medical Center. (Photo: Zu Haderech)
The initial investigation by police asserts that 26-year-old Mustafa Younis had threatened two persons with a knife before stabbing and slightly wounding a security guard. Additional guards called to the scene then shot Younis five or six times, mortally wounding him when he was already incapacitated and lying on the ground.
Dr. Issim Younis, a physician working at Ha’Emek Hospital in Afula and uncle of the slain man, told reporters that Mustafa was “a psychiatric patient [with] behavioral disorders. He came to the hospital for counseling before a head operation, as well as for a psychiatric examination.” Dr. Younis claimed that his nephew only pulled out the knife to defend himself from the security guards. “A man who told Mustafa to put on a mask had argued with him and then informed security that there was a guy in the Jeep who wanted to stab him,” the uncle said. “Security stopped the Jeep and charged at him. He pulled out the knife to defend himself and they started shooting him.”
Hadash MK Yousef Jabareen (Joint List), who participated in and addressed Thursday’s demonstration said, “Mustafa wasn’t shot in a vacuum. It’s the incitement against Arab citizens and the leadership of the Arab community that legitimizes quick fingers on the trigger.”
MK Jabareen demanded that police launch an investigation into the shooting incident. “As hours go by and more details are revealed, a serious scenario of using unreasonable force emerges and the more it seems like [this was] a shooting of a man who was under restraint and helpless.” Jabareen added, “It is difficult to avoid thinking that yet another Arab youth has been shot in cold blood.”
Head of The Higher Monitoring Committee of Arab Citizens in Israel, former Hadash MK Mohammed Barakeh, said to Thursday’s demonstrators: “I too would attempt to defend myself if five security guards jumped on me.” Barakeh vowed that another protest will take place outside Sheba Hospital this coming week. He urged medical personnel from the hospital to join that demonstration. “What happened at Tel Hashomer proves the racist manner in which Arab citizens are treated,” Barakeh said “That’s why we have decided to launch a public battle.”
