Yasser Arafat has apologised to the father of a young Arab man who was shot dead in Jerusalem in a botched attempt by the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade to murder a Jewish settler.This is noteworthy because I don't think Mr. Arafat has ever apologized to a Jewish civilian killed by terrorists, despite the political benefit that would give him in dealing with Israel and the U.S. (and maybe Western Europe, though my impression is that Europeans don't care about dead Israelis).George Khoury, a 20-year-old economics student at Jerusalem's Hebrew University and the son of a prominent lawyer, was jogging through a neighbourhood mostly populated by Jews when gunmen shot him in the head, neck and stomach on Friday night.
His father, Elias, has represented Palestinian politicians and Israeli Arabs accused of murder, and fought renowned legal battles against Jewish settlers over land ownership.
...
The Palestinian leader called Elias Khoury's home on Saturday to apologise. The al-Aqsa brigade issued a statement also expressing regret, saying the killing was a case of "mistaken identity". It said it regarded Mr Khoury as a "martyr" to the cause of Palestinian liberation.
The father called the shooting "barbaric". "Terrorism is blind, it does not discriminate between Jews and Arabs, or between the good and bad," he told Israel's army radio.
I hope the dead boy's father is not murdered for speaking out against terrorism. Could it be that this killing was not accidental after all?
[in full at 04.03.23a.htm ]
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