By Abdel-Raouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM — Thousands of Arab residents of the northern Israeli town of Kafr Kanna on Saturday staged a protest against the killing of an Arab by Israeli police after allegedly trying to assault an Israeli policeman with a knife.
The protestors waved Palestinian flags, pictures of Al-Aqsa Mosque and photos of Khair al-Din Hemdan, 22, who was killed by Israeli police after standing in the way of a police car that came to Kafr Kanna to arrest another Arab resident of the town.
Around 2,500 Arabs joined the protest on Saturday, Israeli police said on Twitter.
“The young man tried to attack a policeman with a knife,” police added.
It noted that policemen fired some rounds in the air at first, but had to shoot on Hemdan when their lives became at risk.
It said the Arab resident died of his wounds at a hospital this morning.
“The whole thing started when a police patrol car arrived at night to arrest an Arab man,” Mujahid Awawdeh, the head of the Kafr Kanna council, said. “Khair al-Din Hemdan was at the scene and got into an argument with police, who shot him dead from a range of one meter,” he added.
Around 100 protesters had pelted policemen with rocks on Saturday, Israeli police said.
“Anti-riot police are working on halting the rock-throwing,” police added on Twitter.