Free Republic

Professor Shimon Shamir, a member of the Or Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the October 2000 riots, sharply criticized the Police Investigations Department (PID) for closing the files of the 12 Israeli Arabs and one Palestinian shot to death by policemen during the riots without calling for a single indictment. "Israeli society needs a police investigation department which is both efficient and credible," Shamir said during a lecture sponsored by the Konrad Adenhauer Program for Jewish Arab Cooperation at Tel Aviv University on Monday. The lecture was entitled "The Arabs in Israel - Two Years after the Or Commission Report."...

Former police northern district commander Alik Ron said Monday that the members of the Or Commission were those most guilty of obstructing the investigation into the killings of 13 Israeli Arabs during the riots of October 2000. On Sunday, the Police Investigations Department (PID) in the Justice Ministry announced it had failed to find any policemen responsible for the killings, and therefore no indictments would be filed. Two years ago, the Or Commission had ordered an investigation to determine whether "there is reason to take criminal or other procedures against anyone involved" in any of a series of incidents, most...