Letter of…The Israeli border guard who shot dead Iyad Al-Hallaq in May in the Old City reportedly ignored an order from his commander.
LETTER FROM JERUSALEM
The scene toured the country, even though there is no picture of it. On May 30, a young Palestinian, Iyad Al-Hallaq, autistic who visited a specialized center in the Old City of Jerusalem, aroused the suspicion of Israeli border guards. Pursued, he took refuge in a garbage room and was shot there.
His portrait was brandished in demonstrations in Palestine during the summer, and in those that have been perpetuated since June in Jerusalem, under the windows of Benjamin Netanyahu, where the slogan “Justice for Iyad” mingles with the multitude of demands that unite these opponents of the Prime Minister.
The death of Iyad Al-Hallaq took place a few days after that of George Floyd, a black American killed by a police officer in Minneapolis (Minnesota). Rarely, Mr. Netanyahu himself had called for a thorough investigation.
Pursuit
At the end of August, part of the hearings carried out by the police force were published in the Israeli press. They reveal that the border guard who killed Iyad Al-Hallaq did not obey an order from his superior, who forbade him to fire. “He didn’t attack or do anything. Clearly he was not resisting. He did not put me in danger ”, said this officer to investigators, according to the daily Haaretz.
According to these hearing reports, Iyad Al-Hallaq, 32, was spotted early this Saturday morning by a border guard stationed near the Lions Gate, an entrance to the Old City. The path is short from his parents’ home to the center where he is welcomed every day and works. The guard judges his behavior suspicious and shouts “Terrorist”, triggering a pursuit.
The officer leading it is 21 years old, and has been serving in the Old City for more than two years as part of the border guards, a paramilitary police force deployed in the West Bank and Jerusalem. “We chased him, shouting at him, but he kept running”, he told investigators. The officer shoots, aiming for the legs, and misses his target.
Iyad Al-Hallaq is looking for shelter, a place for garbage cans. The officer joined him there, accompanied by a young recruit, aged 19, fresh out of his training period (their names were not revealed). The accompanist of Iyad Al-Hallaq, arrived at the scene a few minutes after the start of the incident, according to Haaretz, told investigators that they shouted to police that the young man was disabled and harmless.
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