The Knesset called yesterday for a judicial inquiry into the fatal shooting by police of a resident of the Kfar-Salemeh slum quarter of Tel Aviv last Thursday. Interior Minister Yosef Burg appointed an examining judge.
The victim, Shimon Yehashua, a 29-year-old Oriental Jew, allegedly opened fire first on police who were summoned to the quarter to quell a disturbance there. The incident touched off a wave of vandalism and defacements against Ashkenazic Jews in Tel Aviv which spread this week to Jerusalem.
The inquiry was supported by all Knesset factions. But during the debate, Likud MKs accused the Labor Alignment of exploiting the incident for political reasons. The Laborites accused Mayor Shlomo Lehat of Tel Aviv, a member of Likud, of “selectivity” in enforcing demolition orders.
The trouble arose in Kfar Salameh when municipal workers were sent to demolish an extension to a dwelling occupied by a large family who allegedly added a room without the required permit. Family members and their neighbors pelted the workers with rocks and burned tires in the street.
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