ORR COMMISSION REPORT (2003)

Israeli report on the violence of October 2000, following the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada, in which thirteen Israeli Arab citizens were killed while protesting. The commission was appointed by Prime Minister Ehud Barak under public pressure, primarily from Palestinians. The report was written by Theodor Orr, a Supreme Court judge; Shimon Shamir, former Israeli ambassador to Egypt and Jordan; and Hashim Khatib, a district judge from Nazareth, representing the Arab minority. It was the result of three years spent compiling evidence, including interviews with over three hundred witnesses, and it deplored the failure of all Israeli governments to deal with the social and economic inequalities facing Palestinian citizens of Israel, cited the inadequacy of police response in the past and the overreaction of police forces in October 2000, and condemned several Palestinian politicians for inciting violence. It also criticized the prime minister's office for not anticipating the possibility of the violent outbreak. It recommended the removal of Shlomo Ben Ami, minister of internal security, and criticized the National Police for the use of rubber-coated bullets and live ammunition to quell riots. The two highest ranking police officers, Rav Nitzav and Yehudah Wilk, were barred from holding high office in the National Police, and the Department of Police Investigations in the Ministry of Justice was instructed to review cases of possible unlawful manslaughter.

SEE ALSO Aqsa Intifada, al-;Barak, Ehud.