Asel Asleh

Asel Asleh (6 May 1983 - 2 October 2000) was an Arab citizen of Israel and peace activist who was killed at the onset of the Second Intifada by the Israel security forces. He was 17 years old at the time of his death.
Life
From the village of Arraba in the Lower Galilee, Asleh was a prominent member of the international conflict resolution organization Seeds of Peace from 1997 until his death in 2000. Prior to his death, Asleh described himself as a "an ex-Palestinian, currently an Arab Israeli". He had many Jewish friends and was killed while wearing the Seeds of Peace t-shirt.
Death
Asleh attended a protest in his village on 2 October. Trying to disperse the protest, an Israeli Security Forces unit shot tear-gas and live ammunition at the protesters. The precise actions which led to the death of Asleh were unclear; the police officers stated that they did not know how he was killed, while his cousin said that he had seen a gun pointed at Asleh and then he heard three shots. A physician who treated the youth commented that Asleh was shot in the neck at point-blank range, and that crucial time had been lost when the police delayed the arrival of an ambulance. Officers claim he was shot when they found him lying in the oil grove. Eventually, Asleh died at Nahariya Hospital. The examination by the Or Commission reached a very advanced stage but ended when the Asleh family refused to allow the exhumation of Asel's body to extract the bullets which killed Asleh for tests.
Or Commission, the October 2000 events and further investigations
Including Asleh, 13 Arab citizens of Israels were killed. Asel's father successfully led a campaign to investigate the death of his son and others killed in October 2000. Subsequently, the October 2000 events were investigated by the Israeli-government appointed Or Commission. The Or Commission heavily condemned Israeli police for being unprepared for the protests and possibly using excessive force to disperse the protesters. Asel's father, Hassan, is head of the Committee of the Victims’ Families, which has sought to keep pressure on the official responsible for the death of Asleh and the other twelve killed in October 2000. In October 2006, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the main suspect in Asleh's killing refused a lie detector test six times. On October 24, 2000, United Kingdom MP Richard Burden gave opened a debate on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by noting Asleh's recent death and the lack of autopsy and investigation to that point.
 
< Prev   Next >