Mourning period begins for East Jerusalem man beaten to death on on Salah Addin Street, East Jerusalem

Thirty-three year old Wa’el Karawi of A-Tur neighborhood was driving a Ford taxi on East Jerusalem’s Salah Addin Street. A woman in his car had West Bank identification and when the Israeli police pulled the van over at the Sawwanah barrier they tried to take her. Karawi protested on behalf of the woman in his charge and the police turned their attention toward him.

Karawi was married for 13 years, but spent most of it between prisons and hospitals. He had already suffered from bullet wounds during the second Intifada, for which he received treatment in Iran, and spent six years in Israeli prison during the first Intifada.
On the last day of his life Wa’el Tarawi went to work as usual, but with the expectation that it would be the easiest day of the week. Saturdays are generally the quietest.

But witnesses report seeing Israeli soldiers and guards beating Wa’el throughout his body and head outside the police station on Salah Addin Street. When he lost consciousness, the Israelis drug him inside. Friends in the area tried to intervene but there were too many soldiers. Eyewitnesses report that Wa’el suffered “savage blows to the head delivered with rifle butts and sticks. He fell to the ground and they took him inside.”

Wa’el’s father said that when friends of his son inquired at the police station about what had happened, the response was that Karawi died of a brain clot. “This is a lie.” He said, “They told us that his body was being held in the Russian Compound Detention Center in Jaffa Gate and upon our arrival there to take him, the Israelis abused his brothers. We waited all day until he was handed over to us at 6:00 pm.”

With her eyes full of tears Wa’el’s wife spoke of their child who will grow up without a father. She explained that their lives had already been difficult. Her husband was frequently harassed by Israeli forces with ongoing inspections and raids. His license had been revoked and reinstated, and his car towed and released. Soldiers and police levied numerous threats. “He works in the car between 4:00 and 8:00 am to avoid the police and he went to work on Saturday knowing the police would not be in the streets.”

Ms. Karawi denied Israeli allegations that her husband was ill, saying the opposite was true, that he was in good health. She asks that an honest investigation into her husband’s death be conducted.
As the news spread throughout East Jerusalem, hundreds of people began to arrive at the Karawi’s A-Tur home to pay their respects during the three-day period of mourning.