Israeli authorities have linked the murder of an Arab police officer from Bethlehem to a mounting campaign by Palestinian nationalist elements to intimidate Arabs believed to be collaborating with Israel.
Meanwhile, demonstrations, stonings and gasoline bomb attacks on Israelis continued in the West Bank and East Jerusalem Tuesday and one incident was reported in an Arab village in Israel.
The body of the murder victim was found Tuesday morning at the Akbat Jaber refugee camp, south of Jericho in the West Bank. His hands and legs were cuffed, his mouth was covered with a strap and his body showed signs of a beating.
The victim’s name was not released, but he was identified as a member of the Bethlehem police force. While security sources say the murder could have had a criminal rather than political motivation, it seemed most likely to be a warning that collaboration with Israel will not be tolerated.
Police Minister Haim Barlev urged local Arab police officers to understand that they must help maintain a decent quality of life in the administered territories under any circumstances.
The murder occurred a day after the mass resignations of almost all Arab employees of the civil administration’s income tax department in the Gaza Strip.
Arab women demonstrated Tuesday in most towns and villages in the territories on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
There also were violent protests in Nablus, Tulkarm, Ramallah, Kalkilya, Gaza, East Jerusalem and the Israeli Arab village of Kafr Kasim.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
