That weapon was a symbol of honor. Mohammed Melhem had received his gun license 20 years earlier, having become a volunteer police officer – even at some personal cost to his reputation in the village. Not every Israeli Arab thinks it is wonderful for his fellow Arab to become an Israeli police officer, “to work with the Israelis.”
Yet as thousands of security personnel combed central Israel for Melhem, believed to be roaming Tel Aviv armed with his father’s submachine gun, Mohammed called police. He had seen the video coverage of the shooting at the pub on Dizengoff Street and recognized his son. It was his father who identified Nashet Melhem to Israeli security personnel.
On Friday afternoon, Jan. 1, Melhem murdered two people and wounded eight at the Simta pub; less than an hour later, he also killed an Israeli Bedouin cab driver who unwittingly helped him flee. Ultimately, he used the same weapon to fire at Israeli security forces on Friday (Jan. 8) before they returned fire and killed him.
But within days, when all the leads fizzled out, so too did the tattered honor of the Melhem clan, and that of the village of Ar’ara, which by then was swarming with Israeli police.
Mohammed Melhem was arrested as a suspected accessory along with the shooter’s brothers, cousins and several friends. His mother was questioned as well. The elder Melhem is still in custody.
The saga is not over: too many questions still remain about how Nashet Melhem got back to the village, who helped him hide and why. More to the point, why did the entire neighborhood where he grew up keep their mouths shut for a whole week, knowing what must happen in the end? Israeli security services will still need to untangle all these details.
“Nashet grew up in the al-Daharat neighborhood and had good relations with everyone who lives there,” a resident told Ynet. “Many people knew that he was here, but it was difficult for them … to inform the police.”
So too was it preferable for his clan members to face the inevitable punishment they knew would be sure to come, rather than be responsible for a relative’s arrest. “They preferred to protect him until the last moment,” the resident said.
This is a cultural thing that is important to understand if you live in the Middle East. Muslims value honor above everything, including life itself. Nothing is more important than honor. Most Jews and Christians cannot understand this. For Jews, life is the first priority, and that value is reinforced in Torah law. It is more important than honor.
What happened in Ar’ara is the sometimes the way Arab honor expresses itself – and it is core problem with which the State of Israel will have to contend, and resolve, if we all are truly to co-exist.