Murdered in Beit Jala
by Brian Wood
January 19, 2002
Unknown Palestinians in the town of Beit Sahour murdered an Israeli settler named Avi Boaz, 72 of Har Gilo, last week. He was abducted in Beit Jala, close to his home, and taken 2 miles to Beit Sahour where his bullet-riddled vehicle was found, his body inside. Mr. Boaz had lived in the small settlement, built on the same hill as Beit Jala, for the last 35 years. He had very good business and personal relations with people in Beit Jala, making his death all the more tragic.
He was killed probably killed in response to the assassination of Tanzim leader Raed Carmi in Tulkarem, though the motive is unclear at this point. The Israeli governmental order to kill Carmi was carried out at a time when Palestinian attacks on Israelis had ceased for nearly a month. In the same time, Israeli military killed 23 Palestinians in 20 separate military raids. Further, Carmi’s assassination brings the total of Palestinians murdered in extra-judicial killings by Israel in the last 16 months to 82.
The reaction of people in Beit Jala was unanimously opposed to his killing and many were outraged. He was elderly, walked with a cane, and had numerous Palestinian friends in the area. Moreover, he was a supporter of the Palestinian cause. He demonstrated this in economic ways, purchasing all his needed items—groceries, household wares, and furniture—from shops in Beit Jala. The day before he was killed he had his hair cut in the town. Through relations with Palestinians in his area of residence he also spoke very good Arabic.
At the time Mr. Boaz was killed, he was in a vehicle with a Palestinian man named John from Beit Jala, who was helping Mr. Boaz collect construction supplies to refurbish his home. John was doing the labor for the project as had been the case in the past. He is part of a family that owns a hotel where Mr. Boaz and his wife spent many hours. The killers of Mr. Boaz badly beat John and he was hospitalized for some time.
The word on the street is that the Tanzim killed him though the investigation is still underway and no one has been charged. Like hundreds of Palestinians murdered by Israeli military and civilians and dozens of Israelis murdered by Palestinians in the last 16 months, little but retribution and revenge is rendered in return. This and thousands of other acts are labeled crimes in other parts of the world but are here absorbed into the politics of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, left to fester in the hearts and minds of those left behind, perpetuating and escalating the conflict.