Israeli president rues Arab killings in 1956

Forty-nine Arabs were killed by Israeli forces in 1956 in the central Israeli village of Kafr Qassem, for violating a wartime curfew. At the start of the Suez Crisis on October 29, 1956, the Israeli government had imposed a curfew in several Arab villages along the border with Jordan, anticipating the neighboring country to enter the war on Egypt's side. The dead included 19 men, six women, 17 boys and six girls.

"A terrible crime was committed here," President Reuven Rivlin told the victims' families in a ceremony on Sunday. "The brutal killings in Kafr Qassem are an anomalous and sorrowful chapter in the history of the relations between Arabs and Jews living here," he added.

The president, whose post is largely ceremonial, stopped short of an outright apology, calling it "unnecessary" as former President Shimon Peres had already issued one in 2007 during a visit to the village.

"The state of Israel has recognized the crime was committed here and, rightly and justly so, has apologized for it," Rivlin said.

The president's visit to Kafr Qassem comes at a time of renewed tensions between Arabs and Jews living in east Jerusalem and the West Bank. Last week, a Palestinian from east Jerusalem rammed his car into a group of people waiting at a railway station, killing a three-month old baby.

The president urged the country's Arab leaders to speak against violent protests against Israeli authorities.

"The Arab population in Israel, and the Arab leaders, must take a clear stand against violence and terrorism," Rivlin stressed.

Around 1.4 million Arabs live in Israel, most of whom are the descendents of some 160,000 Palestinian Arabs who chose to stay in Israel when the Jewish state was established in 1948.

shs/rc (dpa, AFP)