Israel: Hundreds pay tribute to refugee shot by security forces

Around 2000 Eritreans and Israelis gathered on Wednesday evening, at Levinsky Park, Tel Aviv, to pay tribute to Habtom Zarhum, an Eritrean shot dead in Beersheva, on October 18. The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, represented by Fr David Neuhaus, offered its condolences and support to the kins of the young man.

On October 18, Habstom Zarhum, a 29-year-old asylum seeker, was waiting for his bus at Beersheva Bus Station when a man, after having stabbed a soldier, picked up his weapon and started shooting at the crowd, wounding many of them. Police intervened, killed the assailant, but in the all-out confusion a security agent shot at Habstom by mistake, taking him for an accomplice in the attack. Wounded, lying on the ground, the young man was attacked, insulted and hit by a raging crowd. He was eventually taken away by ambulance but died of his injuries.

On Wednesday a mourning crowd gathered at Levinsky Park to pay tribute to him. His Christian Eritrean brothers lit up candles shaping a cross on the soil, others brought wreaths of flowers. Several religious leaders spoke in front of the assembly. Fr Semreab of the Orthodox Eritrean Church addressed the Eritreans in Tigrigna language, urging them to remain firm in their faith, despite the turmoil. After him, Fr Medhin of the Catholic Gueze Church, then Fr David Neuhaus, who is in charge of the Migrants Pastoral of the Latin Patriarchate.

Fr David Neuhaus prayed in Hebrew together with the crowd, "these sad people should continue to hope", asking the Lord to allow each and everyone to continue to live without falling into despair. He implored God to "purify the hearts of those who across one evening showed so much hatred". Reminding that hatred and violence do not carry fruit, he exhorted each to keep "an open heart, full of love, for it could help us get out of this situation".

"In the name of the Catholic Church and the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, I send my condolences and express my support to all kins of Habstom Zarhum as well as to families of those killed over the last days."

* Hundreds of Israeli citizens sign petition demanding compensation for family of Habstom Zarhum

"Hundreds have already signed our petition, within hours from the moment it was launched, and signatures keep coming", say the initiators of a public
campaign demanding that the Israeli government grant a terror victim status to Habtom Zarhum, the victim of the lynching in Beersheba, and compensate
his family accordingly.

"When it was made clear that he was a completely innocent man, the State of Israel itself should have assumed immediate responsibility and do the required minimum. It turns out that our state is incapable even of that, based on a formalistic argument that "the law does not allow that". This attempt to dodge its responsibility amounts to a continuation of the lynching act, this time at the hands of heartless bureaucrats serving the State.

The petition addresses the President of Israel, the Welfare Minister, the Director of the National Insurance Institute, copying the United Nations High commissioner for Refugees. The text read: "Habtom Zarhum, an Eritrean citizen fleeing a despotic regime in his homeland and trying in vain to find a safe haven in the State of Israel, was the victim of a horrific lynching in Beer Sheva. The State of Israel bears responsibility for his death. Israeli citizens killed him brutally, Israeli citizens who became a rampaging, bloodthirsty and merciless mob. Government and "opposition" politicians, who issued explicit calls for the killing of those who do not constitute a threat, share the responsibility for his death.

The very little that the Israeli government can do is to recognize him as a terror victim and provide his family with the required support. If this cannot be done within the current law, this shameful law must be changed - at once!"

Link to the online petition: www.atzuma.co.il/compensationzarhum

Source: Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem/IPA