Israeli police clash with protesters over acquittal in 2020 killing of autistic Palestinian

Israeli police have clashed with demonstrators and activists in the occupied city of al-Quds as they gathered to protest against a court ruling that exonerated the regime's officer of wrongdoing for the 2020 killing of an autistic Palestinian man.

The demonstrators gathered in downtown al-Quds on Thursday night for a “protest of outrage” against the acquittal of an Israeli police officer, whose name is barred from publication by the regime, in the fatal shooting of 32-year-old Iyad Halak in the occupied Old City.

The acquitted officer, who faced charges of reckless manslaughter, killed the autistic Palestinian man on his way to a special education school. The officer claimed he mistook Halak’s phone for a gun and chased him down with another cop until cornering him, proceeding to shoot him dead.

The district court in al-Quds earlier in the day exonerated the officer of any wrongdoing and claimed he “made an honest mistake thinking he was dealing with an armed terrorist.”

Israeli media said the acquitted officer had returned to work and was slated to join a commanders’ course in the coming weeks.

Israel court acquits officer charged with killing autistic Palestinian

The court said the officer was acting in “self-defense” when he shot and killed Eyad al-Hallaq in May 2020.

Holding photos of Halak, signs reading “Palestinian Lives Matter” and waving banners calling for justice, the protesters chanted in downtown al-Quds that the killing of the 32-year-old was not a one-off event and said, “This is not a mistake, this is policy.”

The demonstration culminated in protesters blocking off the main street for around 10 minutes, sitting in the middle of the road and refusing to get up, with police starting to wrestle demonstrators to the ground and confiscate their signs and megaphones.

The group behind the protest — the “Free Jerusalem” organization — had earlier condemned the Israeli court’s ruling and publicized details about the rally on social media.

“The shameful acquittal of the police officer who shot to death Iyad Halak will not pass in silence!” the group said in its posts. “His murder was not a mistake, it was policy. A policy that Palestinian lives do not count. A policy that those wearing uniforms have a license to do as they please, including killing. A policy of occupation.”

Human rights groups accuse Israeli forces of killing Palestinians under questionable circumstances, saying the regime poorly, if ever, prosecutes those responsible in cases of wrongdoing. Investigations often end with no charges or lenient sentences, and in many cases, witnesses are not even summoned for questioning.

Rights advocacy groups have documented several cases of Israeli soldiers gunning down peaceful Palestinian protesters across the occupied territories.

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