Al Aqsa Brigades kill Israeli Arab they thought was Jewish
Al-Aqsa Brigade apologized for killing George Elias Khouri in Jerusalem
Friday night. The terror group mistook the Israeli Arab for a Jewish
settler. Khouri's grandfather was killed in a terror attack in Jerusalem in
1975.

Tal Yamin-Wolvovitz and Maruan Ottamana Maariv 20 March 2004
maarivintl.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=4893
[IMRA: The French Hill neighborhood is beyond the Green Line.]

Friday night at 19:30, the Al-Aqsa Brigade a terror group connected to
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's Fatah movement killed Israeli-Arab George
Elias Khouri, in a drive-by shooting in the French Hill neighborhood of
Jerusalem. On Saturday the group apologized for the attack. "We thought that
he was settler. He was jogging in a Jewish area. In our eyes he will be a
martyr like the hundreds of Palestinians who have been killed by Israel's
conquering forces", the terror group said in a statement. The brigade also
sent a letter of apology to the deceased family.

Khouri, 20, was student at the Hebrew University and lived in the Shuafat
neighborhood in Jerusalem. His grandfather was killed in a terrorist attack
in Zion Square in Jerusalem in 1975.

Preliminary investigations found that Khouri was shot in the head.
Initially, he was in critical condition but his condition deteriorated in
the ambulance and he died before reaching the hospital.

Eye-witness Alfred Cohen told Maariv Online, "I saw a white car speeding
away and a resident of the neighborhood lying in the street with a bullet in
his head. My son and I ran downstairs and wrapped a jacket around his head
in an attempt to stop the bleeding. I'm in shock; it's such a pointless
death, a massacre".

The Al-Aqsa Brigade's announcement confirmed the police's suspicion that the
terrorists who killed Khouri intended to kill a Jew and targeted him because
of a mistaken identification. They believe that the terrorists escaped to
nearby Issawiya.
Attorney Elias Khouri, George's father, told Maariv Online how he had
learned of his son's death. "I was a friend's house when my daughter said
that the police wanted to speak with me. I sensed that something very bad
had happened. When I arrived, I received the worst possible news".

He continued, "George was a brilliant, outstanding person. This year he
began his second year studying economics at the Hebrew University. His
grades were very high and he always wanted to excel. He participated in the
model United Nations and represented his school in dialogues between
Christian, Muslims and Jews".

Elias Khouri is a well-known lawyer in Jerusalem. Among other clients, he
has represented appellants to the High Court against the settlements and
building on Palestinian land. This did not prevent him from speaking out
against terror. "This is a horrible despicable crime, not just because the
victim was my son. These acts will not bring any benefit to the Palestinian
people. This is chaos that cannot be controlled and does no good. Some is
caused by conquest; some, by a lack of awareness. It is ironic that both my
father and my son were killed by terrorists".

Palestinian sources told Maariv Online that representatives of Palestinian
Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat's office telephoned the Khouri home on
Saturday morning, condemning the attack and to express their condolences the
attack and promised to do everything possible to catch the murderers. An
uncle said, "Their condolences don't make things any better or worse for
us."

George Elias Khouri is survived by his parents, an older brother and a
younger sister.