Slain Israeli Arab's father begs for sanity in PA

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satell...p=1078397702269

Published: April 25, 2004 Author: KHALED ABU TOAMEH

The father of George Khoury, the Israeli Arab student who was gunned down while jogging in French Hill last month, on Sunday appealed to the Palestinian Authority and Muslim religious leaders to stop the campaign of incitement and to work towards restoring law and order.

Elias Khoury, a prominent lawyer from the Galilee who has been living in Jerusalem for 30 years, made his appeal in reaction to the arrest of three young Palestinians who have confessed to the killing of his son. The three claimed that they shot Khoury, a student at Hebrew University, after they mistook him for a Jew.

"The fact that this was a Palestinian cell is something we knew from the very beginning," said the father, who has also represented the PA in Israeli courts.

"We had no doubt that the background for this [murder] was the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. What is very painful for me here is the clear-cut evidence that there is a state of complete anarchy, disorder and chaos, in addition to the loss of values and people taking the law into their own hands in order to serve, as it were, the Palestinian cause, or supposedly God's interests."

He called on Palestinians to put an end to the anarchy and start educating their children for peace. "They cannot allow this situation to continue and get out of hand."

In response to the suspects' argument that they committed the murder in order to appease God, Khoury said: "Religious leaders need first and foremost ... to see how these young people are influenced to take religious issues and distort them in the ugliest manner. This contradicts the will of God, the Koran, and Islam because they are taking matters into their own hands."

The father said he was extremely worried by the disrespect for human life, warning that the killings were destroying the interests of the Palestinians. "There is a complete loss of human values," he stressed.

"My message first of all to the religious leaders, the Palestinian leadership, Palestinian society, and to all the enlightened who still value human life in Palestinian society is that they must all rise, gather their courage and say 'Enough is enough.'"

Khoury called for an end to incitement by the Palestinian Authority. "We must begin educating our children and these young people about the right path which has respect for human life. We must teach them how a political culture should exist and how law and order should be observed and maintained," he said.

"These people are committing crimes and damaging Palestinian interests and the religion which they claim to represent or to serve. We need Islamic leaders who will rise and say these things in a loud and clear voice. By staying silent, they only damage Islam and Palestinian society."