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Israeli-Arab town's residents fear speaking out after Temple Mount attack

Residents of Umm al-Fahm, an Israeli-Arab town that was home to the three perpetrators of Friday's Temple Mount attack, claim that ever since Islamic Movement’s northern branch leader Sheikh Raed Salah was elected mayor, the town has been turning extremely religious.
A Palestinian argues with an Israeli border police officer during scuffles that erupted after Palestinians held prayers just outside Jerusalem's Old City in protest over the installation of metal detectors placed at an entrance to the Old City's compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount July 17, 2017. REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RTX3BRG8
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The three terrorists from Umm al-Fahm who launched the attack on the Temple Mount on July 14 were not the first terrorists to emerge from the Israeli Arab community. On Jan. 1, 2016, Neshat Melhem, a resident of Arara (in the north of Israel), carried out an attack in Tel Aviv that left two Israelis dead and seven wounded; he also killed a third person as he tried to escape. Melhem's father claimed that his son was unstable.

There was also the October 2015 shooting attack in Beersheba by Muhanad Alukabi, a Bedouin resident of the town of Hura in the Negev. A relative described his actions as a moment of temporary insanity. That attack left an Israel Defense Forces soldier dead. An Eritrean guest worker who happened to be in the area was also killed in the incident when he was lynched by passersby who confused him for the attacker.

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