The wave of murders in Israeli Arab cities isn’t normal
The vehicle where two men were found shot dead in a suspected revenge murder in the Israeli Arab town of Kafr Qassem
Kholod Alzinati writes in Haaretz on 8 September 2025:
Since the day I came back from the funeral of Walid Badawieh, the father of three who was shot to death as he left a mosque after prayers, I’ve been carrying a heavy feeling that’s impossible to explain with words. It’s not just my personal pain over the death of man I knew and cherished; it’s a symbol of an ongoing loss, a collective cry of an entire community that is being forced to live with the knowledge that death is lying in wait around every corner.
In Lod, a mixed Arab-Jewish city with a rich history, tradition and culture, for a long time the color black has been not just the color of mourning, but a symbol of protest and fury, a daily reminder that lives here are worth less.
I can’t get the voices of Walid’s family from the funeral out of my head. His sister whispered to me: “Now we understand the real meaning of the black.” His mother said with pain in her voice that the city has lost her son, and his wife Houda vowed to stay strong and raise their children. Words of farewell of a shattered young family, of orphaned children. A horrible fracture of a community that is once again saying goodbye to a person cut down by violence.
Walid was a father who found happiness in raising his children, a devoted friend who left behind only good. The fact that his life was cut short in a city filled with security forces and police stations only reinforces the feeling of abandonment. The police are here, but aren’t really present. When the victim is Jewish, they show up, and arrests happen within hours – but when it comes to an Arab victim, the excuses come out, silence and indifference rise up.
The abandonment of Walid and the other victims of crime is the state’s continued failure when it comes to the Arab community. The murders are not “private criminal incidents” – they are the direct result of institutionalized neglect, a law enforcement system that enables violence to flourish, and a government that doesn’t see our lives as something of value.
How can we believe that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir cares about our blood being spilled? That he doesn’t smile a little when he hears about another murder in the Arab community?
We demand real change, no more empty promises. We must demand the immediate dismissal of the failed minister Ben-Gvir and the establishment of a special ministerial committee, headed by the prime minister, which will take true responsibility for dealing with the crime and violence. A committee that will set goals, where the failure to meet them will result in severe consequences – for the police and for the decision-makers themselves.
This struggle is not just for Walid, or his children, who will grow up without a father, or his wife, who is now a young widow. It’s a struggle for all of us, Jews and Arabs alike, who live in a city that has become a black stain on the map. Walid’s memory needs to be a living monument not just for the personal pain, but also for the public struggle.
We must not accept the present situation. We must not accept the twisted logic that presents our lives, the lives of Arabs, as if they are less important than the lives of others. We must demand much more, a government that cares, one where it doesn’t feel like its lack of action stems from racist considerations.
We must not remain silent over the lack of law enforcement, the discriminatory policies, and the feeling that death here has become something normal. Because it’s not normal, it’s not supposed to be normal.
This reality is not a predestined fate, and we will no longer accept it. We demand our safety back.
Kholod Alzinati is the Community Cohesion Projects Manager at The Abraham Initiatives, a Jewish-Israeli and Palestinian-Israeli organization that advances social inclusion and equal rights for Israel’s Palestinian citizens.
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