Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Lebanese Man Shot Dead by U.S. Racist Neighbor | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
Select Page
Media ID: 55356590
Caption:

Khalid Jabara was shot and killed by his neighbor Stanley Vernon Majors who repeated called him and his family names such as “dirty Arabs,” and “filthy Lebanese,” the family said.


The Lebanese Jabara family has been terrorized by their Tulsa neighbor for years now.

Stanley Vernon Majors, 61, killed last Friday his Lebanese next-door neighbor on the front porch of Jabara family’s home, weeks after being released from prison for running over the victim’s mother, U.S. media reported.

The shooter had a longtime fixation with the Jabara family whom he called as “dirty Arabs,” “filthy Lebanese” and “Mooslems.”

In a report published Tuesday, The Washington Post described how Majors opened fire, fatally wounding the 37-year-old Khalid who was talking on the phone with his mother when he stepped outside to get the mail. Khalid was telling his mother not to come home because Majors had a gun.

Majors was waiting for him, police say.

Before the shooting “Khalid called the police stating this man had a gun and that he was scared for what might happen,” the family said in a statement.

Officers arrived on scene but they couldn’t go inside Major’s home to check, so they left, said police spokeswoman Ashley Leland.

“This certainly is a tragedy … but this is not a whodunit,” Tulsa Police Sgt. Dave Walker told The Washington Post, citing one eyewitness account as well as the history of problems between Majors and his Lebanese neighbors.

LONG HISTORY OF HARRASEMENT

Earlier in September 2015, the victim’s mother Haifa Jabara was taking a walk in the neighborhood when Majors ran her over with his car, leaving her with a broken shoulder, collapsed lung and fractured ribs, among other injuries.

Police charged Majors with felony assault. Initially, he was held in custody without bond. But even though Majors confessed to trying to run over Jabara because he hated her and, a judge allowed his release three months ago, until his trial in March 2017.

“We can’t help but question, could things have ended differently?” said Jenna Jabara, the victim’s sister-in-law.

“If police had made contact with him, stuck around a little longer, if he hadn’t been out on bond, if there had been more questions before bond.”

Khalid Jabara’s family immigrated to the United States in the early 1980s from Lebanon.

They settled in Tulsa and raised three children. One brother became a lawyer, the sister works in marketing, and Khalid Jabara ran the family catering business with his mother.

“He was hilarious, quirky, very intelligent, and really would give all of himself for anyone he loved,” his brother wrote in a Facebook post.

The Jabara family moved into their current home 12 years ago. A few years later, Stanley Majors moved into the house next door.

The harassment and intimidation began almost immediately, they say.