The Nazareth Israeli District Court approved on Thursday a settlement
reached between the State of Israel and the families of eleven Israeli
Arabs killed by the Israeli police in 2000. The settlement did not
include filing any charges against the policemen responsible for the
death of the residents.
Israeli will pay compensation to eleven out of thirteen families of residents killed in October 2000 without incriminating or filing charges against policemen.
The agreement was signed by the families of eleven casualties and the Israeli prosecution, and was approved by the Central Court in Nazareth on Thursday morning, the Arabs48 news website reported.
Two families, who are not included in the deal, said that they did not file for compensation because they wanted the officers responsible for the death of their sons to be prosecuted, before they file for compensation.
The Israeli Ministry of Justice issued a statement saying the the state is not responsible for the death of the Arab residents and that it agreed to pay compensation “not because it admits its guilt, but because it wants to end the case”.
The Adalah Center (The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel) stated that the main position and demand of the center and the families is to file charges against the officers responsible for the shootings, “Compensation is a secondary issue in this case”, the center reported.
The compensation case was filed in September 2005, and was not discussed by the court.
Israeli online daily Haaretz reported that under the terms of the out-of-court settlement, the state will pay an undisclosed sum of money agreed upon by the parties.
According to Haaretz report, the plaintiffs demanded Israel to payout each family the amount of 50.000 NIS for burial expenses, and the amount of 418.000 for each family for loss of income.
They asked the court to rule on the amount to be paid in compensation for their suffering and grief as a result of the loss of their loved ones, Haaretz reported.
The events took place as Arab residents of Israel protested for at least ten day across the north for several days against the Israeli practices after outbreak of the second Intifada in the Palestinian territories late September 2000.
13 residents were killed, and the Arab community in Israel said that the Israeli security forces and policemen used excessive violence against the protesters.
