As police besiege Bedouin town, Arabs say they — not criminals — are in the crosshairs |
Decked out in olive green fatigues and bulletproof vests, a cadre of heavily armed men stood guard at the entrance to Tarabin al-Sana on a recent afternoon. Three massive concrete blocks placed on the only paved road into town served as a warning for motorists to stop so the men could check the IDs of anyone going in or out.
Nearby, a helicopter whirred over the town’s only mosque, past a traffic circle littered with plastic bags.
As locals gathered in the mosque courtyard for prayer, Border Police officers in vans parked in front of the building kept a close eye on the worshipers.
Such scenes are not uncommon in the West Bank, where the military frequently seals off villages and towns in the wake of clashes or deadly attacks.
Tarabin, though, is not in the West Bank, but inside Israel and home to over a thousand Israeli citizens, most of whom even voted for the current government.
For the past week, though, the government has subjected the town to a large-scale police raid, spearheaded by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, following a wave of arson attacks in neighboring Jewish towns thought to have been carried out by residents of Tarabin.
Police have said the raid, part of a larger operation called New Order, is meant to stem illegal weapons smuggling and violent crime, but the results so far seem to be relatively meager.
Earlier this week, the Al-Qassum Regional Council filed a petition to the High Court of Justice urging it to order an end to the raid and the removal of the concrete barriers blocking the backroads as well as the main entrance into Tarabin.
“Would [Ben Gvir or Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] close off Jewish cities in the way they are closing off Tarabin al-Sana?” questioned former Hadash MK Yousef al-Atouneh. “It cannot be the case that there is a separate police force for Arabs and Jews.”
The roadblocks, Ben Gvir claims, are for the good of law-abiding citizens. Residents reject this, asserting that the concrete barriers amount to collective punishment and have obstructed their ability to live normal lives. The heavy police presence and frequent arrest raids are also meant to restore public safety, Ben Gvir says, though many wonder whose safety he means.
On the same week that criminal violence claimed a dozen lives in Arab towns in northern Israel, Tarabin’s sole killing came at the hands of a police officer, who fatally shot 36-year-old Muhammad Hussein Tarabin on his doorstep.
The shooting, which occurred during an operation to track down arson suspects by a “special” police unit and Border Police’s controversial National Guard force, has become a focal point for Bedouin and other Arabs already unnerved by Ben Gvir’s campaign.
In the killing’s wake, Arab politicians have called for an immediate halt to the police operation in Tarabin al-Sana and demanded Netanyahu sack Ben Gvir, turning what had been a local issue into a national one.
Tarabin’s killing has become symbolic of what much of Arab society — from its leading politicians to ordinary citizens — views as an attempt by the government, particularly Ben Gvir, to erode their rights as Israelis.
The slain man, a father of seven who worked as a plumber, hadn’t said a word to police before one of them opened fire at his chest, his family said.
Police claimed that Tarabin posed a threat, but did not detail the accusations. According to i24 news, the officer said Tarabin was holding an object that could be used as a weapon. The family says that he was not armed in any way.
According to his eldest son, Hussein, after shooting his father forces continued searching their house rather than calling for an ambulance, washed his blood from the floor and then whisked Tarabin’s body away in their vehicle.
“I heard someone knock on the door, my dad opened the door, he didn’t talk to them or anything, and they shot him in the chest,” the young boy said.
Police had raided the home of Tarabin’s older brother, Ahmad, before coming to Muhammad’s home. Officers put a sack over Ahmad’s head, handcuffed him and took him outside. While lying on the ground outside, he heard a knock on his younger brother’s door, his wife screaming from inside the house, then police forces shouting that........