Second Arab Dies from Mob Violence; Kidnap Suspect in Another Case Escapes

A 42-year-old Arab from Silwan village became the second fatal victim of Jewish mob violence in Jerusalem this week.

Izzat Halahla died Thursday of injuries inflicted by Jews enraged over the murders of teen-agers Ronen Karamani and Lior Tubol, whose mutilated bodies were found Monday in a ravine in the northern outskirts of the city.

Halahla was severely beaten earlier in the week by Jews who charged through the city, randomly attacking Arabs or anyone they thought was an Arab, including Jews.

No arrests have been made in connection with his death or in the fatal shooting Monday evening of a 25-year-old Arab woman, Aziza Jaber, as she drove near the Jewish township of Kiryat Arba adjacent to Hebron.

Although tempers seemed to be subsiding, tension still ran high in the capital. A Jewish gang attacked an Arab van in the southern outskirts Thursday, chasing its passengers and setting the vehicle on fire.

Law-enforcement officials were embarrassed, meanwhile, by the escape Thursday from a Jerusalem police detention center of an Arab kidnap suspect.

Jamal Abadiya, 24, of East Jerusalem was taken into custody for the attempted kidnapping of two Jewish teen-agers who hitched a ride with him last month. The youngsters escaped unharmed.

The suspect, who was arraigned this week, was employed in construction work at the detention center, which is contrary to regulations.

He was left unsupervised in a room where a large hole had been cut in the wall for an air conditioner.

The prisoner slipped out into the street and escaped, while a guard nearby saw nothing.

The escape was detected a half-hour later. Police Inspector General Ya’acov Terner assigned two senior officers to head search teams for the fugitive, and appointed another to head up an investigation of the escape.

Abadiya once served a three-year sentence for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a boy.