On Saturday, a 22-year old Arab-Israeli was shot to death by Israeli police. He had banged on the window of a police van with a knife. Officers got out and shot him in the back as he ran away.
This attack, as one might predict, kicked off another round of violence. Where the man was killed, in Kafr Kanna, north Israel, Arab-Israelis have been particularly violent.
Today, we went to the Arab city, hearing there would be more standoffs and attacks.
We arrived just before sundown. With no action, we stopped with our Arab fixer and driver at a local cafe. Inside, a group of teenagers were drinking energy drinks, playing cards and smoking hookah pipes.
After sitting there for a while, a group of kids walked by the cafe. They were carrying a Hamas flag and had scarves hanging around their necks. When we got outside, we couldn’t believe how young these boys were: anywhere from six to 10 years old at the most.
One of the boys ran over to me. He was smiling and speaking to me in Arabic. I smiled back, saying, “Do you speak English?” He broke into some clichéd lines from movies. Even putting out his hand to give me a fist bump.
My fixer explained I am Canadian, a journalist, here to cover the conflict. Then things changed. As my fixer started translating in my ear, he warned me that the boy, who couldn’t be older than eight years old, just told his friends he was going to stab me in the neck.
He then pulled out a filed down screwdriver. Then, through translation, another boy yelled, “He is an Israeli Jew! We will kill him.” Even without translation, I got the point and felt the anger and started walking back, getting away from the group as my fixer stood there and got angry at the boys for their bad language.
Two hours later, we were at the bottom of the main street where Israeli police had set up a staging area. They had soldiers with tear gas guns, men on riot horses and the ‘skunk’ cannon (mentioned in an earlier post).
At the top of the hill, 20 to 30 young people started gathering. Using our camera, we could see those same young boys taking part. They set tires on fire, piled stones across the road and broke signs.
Finally, having had enough, the police charged. Led by their heavy horses, they charged into the blockade. Smashing through, volley after volley of tear-gas canisters were pumped into the group. The water cannon sprayed the group and the police followed closely behind.
When it was done, four boys were in custody, grabbed roughly by police, handcuffed and taken away to waiting vans. I looked around for those little kids who threatened me before but they weren’t around. In the craziness, they must have disappeared into the neighbouring woods.
