Israeli officials snub funeral of Arab teen

Family members of Nimr Abu Amar say the feel 'insulted' after Israeli officials failed to pay their respects to the Arab teenager killed while working for Israel's defence ministry.

MENA

2 min read

The New Arab

27 October, 2016

The teenager was shot by an Egyptian policeman near the border fence [AFP]

While hundreds gathered for the funeral of 15-year-old Nimr Abu Amar on Wednesday, an Arab-Israeli who was shot near the Egypt-Israel border, Israeli government officials failed to attend.

The teenager was killed while repairing the border fence near Mount Harif in southern Israel with members of his family.

Despite Abu Amar and his family members having been contracted by the Israeli Defence Ministry to repair the fence, government officials snubbed the funeral which was held in a Bedouin village in the Negev.

According to Haaretz, the boy's father Bassem said he was "disappointed that no one from the army or the Defence Ministry came to the funeral".

A cousin of the slain teenager said that he "felt insulted" by the snub.

"If this had been a Jew there would have been a response to the shooting. It’s inconceivable that no one has spoken to us. I would have expected one of the ministers to come."

"It's contempt for us. We're talking about a family that contributes to the state, and no representative has come to the house of the mourners and no one has taken responsibility".

Investigations have thus far revealed that the boy was shot by an Egyptian policeman who thought that Abu Amar was a smuggler. It is believed that Israeli authorities had failed to inform their Egyptian counterparts of the repair work.