Angry Palestinians closed several main roads outside and inside Jenin Governorate, north of the West Bank, on Sunday, and attacked Palestinian security vehicles in protest against the killing of a university student by his colleagues at the Arab American University in the city.
The incident, which provoked anger and concern about the high rate of violence in the Palestinian territories, was blamed by a Palestinian security official on the failure to take decisive judicial measures.
Mahran Khalilieh, 21, was killed on Saturday in a violent fight that broke out in the vicinity of the university among a number of students. He was stabbed to death, while three others were injured in the quarrel that began on Thursday and resumed two days later.
The security forces announced that they had detained all those involved in the dispute, while Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh pledged that the PA would take the necessary measures to prevent the recurrence of such acts.
Reactions continued until late Sunday, and gunmen opened fire on private property at the southern entrance to Jenin, and in the village of Masliya, the birthplace of one of the suspects in the incident.
Marwan Khalilieh, a relative of the victim, said during a telephone interview with a local television program: “Killing has become a normal thing. Everyone dares to kill because there is no real punishment or deterrent… We believe that we must take steps to stop the crime in the governorates of the homeland.”
Palestinian police spokesman, Colonel Louay Erzeigat, acknowledged the weakness of the rule of law, but said in a radio statement: “The reasons for the spread of violence in our society are due to culture and education at home.”
He added that the failure to take decisive judicial measures against anyone who commits crime in Palestinian society, and the “leniency in ending problems with a cup of coffee,” contributed to the increase of violence.
