Arabs stage Jaffa protest: 'Police is terrorism'
Dozens of protesters congregate in Jaffa to protest shooting death of 22-year-old local resident last year; protesters decry fact that cop who killed man was never punished, adding, 'We will not be intimidated, Arab blood is scorned.'
"We'll sacrifice our lives for Mahdi," chanted demonstrators as they made their way from Jaffa's famed Clock Tower towards the headquarters of the Tel Aviv District Police.
"Rest, O martyr, we will continue the struggle" and "We shall not be intimidated, police is terrorism" were also chanted during the protest.
A Jaffa resident who participated in the rally said, "It has been several months now and no progress was made. We want to know what's to be done to the cop who murdered a man in cold blood. He should be punished and has no place in the police."
"We have not calmed down. We will continue the struggle until we are told when the cop will be indicted. The current situation shows the scorn towards Arab blood," he stated.
A-Saadi, 22 years old at the time of his death, was shot and killed during a police chase in July of last year. At around 4:30am Saturday morning, police received a report of gunfire on Yefet Street, with the window of a butcher shop having been smashed.
Policemen who were patrolling nearby were called to the scene. When they arrived, they noticed several masked men trying to escape via motorcycles.
Police began chasing after them, and eventually shot at them in an attempt to get them to stop, injuring two in the process.
One of the men, a-Saadi, suffered serious wounds to the upper body and later succumbed to his wounds and passed away.
The attorney who represents the family of the deceased said that "there was no reason to open fire (on the suspect) because he did not pose any danger to the officers. In my opinion, this was a wrong and unnecessary shooting that led to the loss of human life for no reason."
In the 24 hours after the shooting, a wave of Arab protests broke out in Jaffa, with cars torched, the windshield of a police cruiser smashed and several streets blocked off.
