Mother of Arab Israeli Rami Ghara, who was killed by the security forces in October, attacked the policeman suspected of shooting and killing her son in Jatt, north Israel, while the officer was about to give his testimony Monday.
The Israeli Radio reported that the hearing was stopped for a few hours and resumed later, but the family of the victim was ordered out of the court.
An Israeli state commission began earlier hearings into the deaths of 13 Israeli Arabs killed by the security forces in October as they cracked down on demonstrations held in solidarity with the Palestinian Intifada.
The radio said that the members of the committee, which holds the hearings a building next to Israel's supreme court, was due to listen to witnesses from Jatt village. Four policemen were scheduled to testify.
According to AFP, a border guard has already testified into the circumstances behind the killing.
Citing eyewitness accounts, Haaretz said the young man was killed when he was hit in the eye by a rubber-coated metal bullet fired at close range.
Over the past few weeks, six investigators from the commission have been gathering evidence from the towns where the Israeli Arabs were killed, said the agency.
The commission, chaired by high court judge Theodor Or, was set up in November after pressure from Israeli human rights groups and Israeli Arabs, who were outraged by the killings.
According to Haaretz, the commission is scheduled to hold hearings several times a week to hear the many witnesses who are expected to testify. The other members of the commission are Judge Jarakh Sahal, the president of the Nazareth district court and Shimon Shamir, a former ambassador to Egypt and Jordan.
Arab MKs have refused to deal with a special committee proposed to handle the case, and insisted on a state body with wider authority.
Israeli Arabs make up close to 19 percent of Israel's 6.2 million people. While their living standard is far higher than that of Palestinians living in the West Bank or Gaza Strip, they are the victims of economic and social discrimination, as recognized in July by the supreme court, added AFP - Albawaba.com
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