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The Unresolved Case of
the Murder of Dr. Naela Kara’inThe Unresolved Case of the Murder of Dr.
Naela Kara’in
According to many
Palestinian Jerusalemites, Dr. Naela Hamdan Ayed Kara’in was a leader
without leadership status. She received two advanced degrees from
universities in the United States, including one from Harvard University
and a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University in public health. Upon
returning to Palestine, she committed herself fully to serving the
Palestinian people. Dr. Naela Kara’in was involved in, among other things,
improving health care in Palestine. She contributed actively as a public
health consultant to the development of the Palestinian National Health
Plan. She also worked diligently with the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Because of these and other contributions to the public welfare of
Palestine, Dr. Kara’in has come to be known as the “Angel of Jerusalem,”
reflecting both her attachment and commitment to her city, Jerusalem. It
is a testament to what she meant to Palestine and to Jerusalem that
prominent Palestinians such as Mr. Faisal Husseini and Dr. Sari Nusseibeh
attended her
funeral.
Who Killed Dr. Kara’in and
Why?
On February 11, 1999, between
10:00 and 10:30 AM, Dr. Kara’in was stabbed to death at #11 Elisha Street
in West Jerusalem. The autopsy report indicates that she had been stabbed
once in the heart with a fatal twist of the knife. After being alerted by
a bystander, the Israeli police found her corpse lying in an open,
normally busy alley in the Musrara neighborhood.47
As soon as Dr. Kara’in’s
body was found, Israeli police sources circulated various versions of the
crime. In an early morning broadcast, Radio Israel announced that the
murder had been committed for nationalist reasons. Later in the morning,
however, the Israeli police speculated that the murder might have been
committed because of robbery or even a family dispute. These speculations
were subsequently discounted, when
five hours after the murder, the police
announced the arrest of a suspect named Mohammed Sha’lan. According to the
police, Mr. Sha’lan, who is a Palestinian resident of the West Bank
village of Abu Dis, surrendered to the Israeli police at the Ma’ali Adumim
checkpoint on the outskirts of Jerusalem. At the checkpoint, Mr. Sha’lan
allegedly confessed to the murder of Dr. Kara’in, claiming that he thought
she was a Jew.48
Mohammed Sha’lan’s lawyer,
Ibrahim Abu ‘Atta, who represented Mr. Sha’lan when he was remanded in
custody, also confessed to the murder in Mr. Sha’lan’s name. The lawyer
said that Mr. Sha’lan had committed the crime because of “private family
problems” and that Mr. Sha’lan was sorry about the loss of life.49
From the perspective of the
State of Israel, Mr. Sha’lan’s admission to and apology for the murder is
strong evidence in favor of conviction. In fact, on the 18th of Nov. 1999
an Israeli Court in Jerusalem sentenced Mr. Sha’lan to life in prison for
Dr. Kara’in’s murder. Another man, whose name is Mohammed Hassan, was also
found to be an accomplice in the murder. He received a 3-year prison
sentence.
It is important to
point out that, despite his repeated confessions, Mr. Sha’lan, whose case
was subsequently handled by attorney ‘Awni Yaghmour, denied the charges
relating to Dr. Kara’in’s murder in front of an Israeli court on September
19, 1999. Even if he had not denied the charges, the fact that so many
questions relating to Dr. Kara’in’s murder have still not been answered
makes it difficult to accept Mr. Sha’lan’s confession at face value.
One such unanswered
question has to do with the confession itself. As Andre Rosenthal, the
lawyer representing the Kara’in family, explains,
“There are problems with
Mohammed Sha’lan’s confession. I saw the transcript of the trial of one of
the hearings. From the file I read, his story is strange, especially with
respect to one particular eyewitness. According to this story, this
eyewitness – a woman – saw Mohammed Sha’lan stab Naela Kara’in and then
walked with him up the street after the murder and simply parted ways. It
just doesn’t sound right. It is too easy – too simple – with this witness.
“Furthermore, there was
another eyewitness, a neighbor, who was on a balcony and apparently saw
some of the events but not the stabbing itself. We have to find out more
details about both of these eyewitnesses.” He said: “whoever walked with
the women was not Mohammed Sha’lan.”
“Generally speaking, I’m
very unsettled about the way this investigation has been handled. I am
reluctant to believe that Mohammed Sha’lan’s confession is true.”50
Aside from the confession,
another unanswered question has to do with the reason Mr. Sha’lan turned
himself into to the Israeli authorities instead of the Palestinian
authorities. As already mentioned, Mr. Sha’lan is a resident of Abu Dis, a
West Bank village under the rule of the Palestinian Authority. Some
Palestinians have suggested that it would have made more sense for Mr.
Sha’lan to turn himself into the Palestinian Authority rather than the
Israeli police, especially if he had really mistaken Dr. Kara’in for a
Jew. If he had done so, Palestinians point out that there would have
existed at least the opportunity for any outstanding issues to be resolved
between the Sha’lan family and the Kara’in family. Indeed, when “mistakes”
of this kind occurred during the Intifada – that is, when Palestinians
mistakenly killed other Palestinians thinking they were Jews – they were
often resolved internally within Palestinian society at either the family
or clan level.
A third unanswered question
has to do with a contention that Mr. Sha’lan was at his home in Abu Dis
when Dr. Kara’in was murdered. According to the brother of Mr. Sha’lan,
Mohammed did not leave the family’s house in Abu Dis until approximately
2:00 PM – four to five hours after Dr. Kara’in was killed. Other members
of the Sha’lan family have corroborated this statement.51
Mr. Sha’lan’s brother
has also stated that Mr. Sha’lan was being recruited to work with the
Israeli General Security Services. In Mr. Sha’lan’s brother’s view,
connections with the Israeli intelligence services suggest that Mr.
Sha’lan may not be psychologically or emotionally stable.52 To other
Palestinians, connections with the Israeli intelligence services also
suggest that Mr. Sha’lan may not have genuinely wanted to kill a Jew for
maintain. Whatever the case may be, in
the opinion of the Sha’lan family, the Israeli authorities have fabricated
a story in which a member of their family has been wrongly implicated. In
the family’s view, there is not even the remotest connection between Mr.
Sha’lan and the killing of Dr. Naela Kara’in.53
Neither the Sha’lan family,
the Kara’in family, nor attorney Andre Rosenthal have stated publicly who
they think killed Dr. Naela Kara’in. Like many Palestinians, however, they
have raised difficult questions about Dr. Kara’in’s murder that deserve
honest answers.
The
Kara’in family does not necessarily want financial compensation from the
Israeli government for the murder of Dr. Kara’in. What they want is the
truth. They want to know who killed their beloved family member, and why.
As in all the other cases documented in this report, the truth is vitally
important. Without knowledge of who attacked Dr. Kara’in as well as other
innocent Palestinian civilians, it will continue to be very difficult for
Palestinian victims of terrorism to recover compensation. It is the
Israeli authorities that carry the burden of providing the victims and
their families as well as the wider Israeli and Palestinian communities
with precisely that knowledge.
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