The Or Commission was the Official Commission of Inquiry that was nominated by the Israeli government to investigate the events of October 2000, in which 13 Palestinians living in Israel were killed by Israeli police during demonstrations and confrontations that erupted throughout the Galilee.

Supreme Court Justice Theodore Or led the commission together with Judge Hashem Khateeb and Prof. Shimon Shamir.

After hearing hundreds of hours of testimony, the Or Commission reached no conclusion regarding the death of Asel.

Seeds of Peace Statement on the Or Commission (October 2, 2001)

Asel’s hundreds of friends and fellow Seeds deserve to know the truth. We deserve to know what happened. There can never be closure for his family which has been robbed of an intelligent, sensitive, caring, committed son.

Or Commission | Police Testimony (English)

Justice Theodore Or: “To summarize what you saw regarding the injury and death of the boy: you actually don’t know what happened, you don’t know how he was shot, you don’t know anything?”

Or Commission Report | Excerpts (English)

The Or Commission Report has 57 sections, with more than 800 pages. This summation covers the introduction and sections regarding the means used to disperse disturbances, especially at Lotem/Arabeh on October 2, 2000.

Or Commission Report | Summary (English | Hebrew)

This official summation of the Or Commission Report was published in Ha’aretz on September 2, 2003.

News Articles

Washington Post | Israeli bullet ends a life in two worlds (October 5, 2000)

At age 17, Asel Asleh was the kid with the 1,000-watt smile, an extroverted, trilingual computer junkie with a gift for gab, a glittering future and, for an Arab, an almost unheard of network of close Jewish friends whose mothers he invariably charmed.

Associated Press | Young ‘Seed of Peace’ dies in Mideast clashes (October 6, 2000)

Asel Asleh owned 30 bottle-green T-shirts, all with the same logo the words ”Seeds of Peace” and an olive branch that announced to everyone he met that he fervently believed Arabs and Jews could live together.

Cox News | Peace group members mourn one of best, brightest (October 6, 2000)

In the prominent youth group Seeds of Peace, Asleh’s wide smile, dark political humor and bilingual skills helped Jews and Arabs talk to each other.

Salon | Asel is gone (October 7, 2000)

After a popular, peace-loving Israeli Arab teen is shot dead by police, his family and friends—both Jewish and Arab—wrestle with what his loss means for Israel.

Portland Press Herald | Maine ‘Seeds of Peace’ Youth Shot To Death By Israeli Soldiers (October 10, 2000)

He was so committed to Seeds of Peace that he was wearing one of the organization’s T-shirts—with its olive branch logo—when he was shot.

New York Times | Police Killings of Israeli Arabs Being Questioned by Inquiry (June 15, 2001)

A formal inquiry this month into the police killing of 13 people in violent protests by Israeli Arabs in October has raised questions about several of the shootings, particularly whether the police needed to fire live ammunition.

Slate | Ned Lazarus Diary Entry No. 5 (November 9, 2001)

“I felt really bad seeing him lying there. It didn’t have to happen.” It didn’t have to happen. Those words haunt me.

New York Times | Police Used Excessive Force on Israeli Arabs, Panel Says (September 2, 2003)

Criticizing police tactics that included the use of sniper fire to disperse crowds, the report concluded that Israel “must educate its police that the Arab public is not the enemy, and should not be treated as such.”

Ha’aretz | Main suspect in October 2000 killing refused lie detector test six times (October 18, 2006)

A police officer suspected of killing an Israeli Arab during the October 2000 riots refused to turn up for a polygraph examination five times in a row. The sixth time, when he did show up, he refused to answer more than one question and eventually left without being tested.

Ha’aretz Editorial | The PID is not convincing (October 18, 2006)

The PID’s behavior was flawed throughout their investigation of the suspects of the October 2006 killings, and at times, it looked like a whitewash.

Jerusalem Post | Seeds of Peace alumni rally for October riots victims (January 30, 2008)

Demonstration was signal to Arab community of Israel that Jews just as outraged by Mazuz’s decision, one protester said.

Ynet (Hebrew) | ‘As Zionists, closure of the October case is dangerous for democracy’ (February 5, 2008)

Jewish youth demonstrate in front of the Ministry of Justice in Jerusalem, in protest of the Attorney General’s decision not to file charges against the officers.

Al Jazeera | ‘And then the night came down’ (October 6, 2010)

Families of Palestinian-Israelis killed at the start of the second intifada are still fighting for justice a decade on.

The Guardian | ‘In our teens, we dreamed of making peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Then my friend was shot’ (January 13, 2022)

At a summer camp for kids from conflict zones, I met my brave, funny friend Aseel. He was Palestinian. I was Israeli. When he was killed by police, my hope for our future died with him.
 
ISRAELI SEEDS PROTEST