Shattered windshield; Photo credit: Shirel Reish
Please see here a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu provided legal counsel to victims of antisemitic attacks in Jerusalem.
Tuesday, May 11, 2021, 15:37 In a stabbing attack in Jerusalem Avia, a young Jewish man, was injured shortly after he proposed to Shahar in Beit HaHoshen facing the Temple Mount, on the night of Sunday, May 9. The couple announced their engagement to family and friends and then headed towards Beit Orot. On the way, their car was blocked by other cars and at the A Tor Intersection and dozens of Arab rioters threw rocks at them.
Avia described the attack: “The back windshield was shattered. I got out to drive them away, and my fiancee called the police. For a second they were afraid of me, but when they noticed that I was alone, they threw me to the ground and beat me all over my body. They threw rocks at me when I was on the ground.” The assailants also stabbed Avia in the back, but at this point he was unaware of the stabbing. Shahar left the car’s motor running as she escaped on foot, without Avia noticing, and she hid behind another car.
Even though Shahar had called the police and there were policemen in the area, a police car was not sent until Avia reached Beit Orot and spoke in person to a policeman.
Avia added: “After they beat me for five minutes I succeeded in returning to the car, and I saw that Shahar wasn’t there. I was sure that the Arabs had taken her. I drove quickly to Beit Orot, where there are policemen, and told them that Arabs were attacking a Jewish woman.”
Shahar related her experience: “I was driving. When they started to throw rocks at us, Avia told me to keep driving, but there was no place to go. I called the police and Avia got out to chase [the rioters] away, but they continued to throw rocks. I understood that staying in the car would be dangerous, so I decided to escape.” Shahar described the police dispatcher who took her call as someone who “wasn’t overly impressed” by the report.
Shahar continued: “Suddenly I noticed that the car had disappeared. I couldn’t see Avia. I was afraid that the Arabs had kidnapped him.” Then a police car arrived at the intersection and Shahar decided to leave her hiding place and go to it.
Avia in hospital; Photo credit: Tzur Anteman
The couple met up again in Beit Orot. Avia was evacuated, injured and bleeding, to the Sha’arei Tzedek Hospital. There they discovered that in addition to his head injury, the rioters had stabbed him in the back and punctured one of his lungs. Avia required stitches to his head and back. He is still hospitalized, with no date set for his release. Shahar filed a complaint with the police.
Avia voiced a complaint about the response by the police: “The police failed in their duties. We saw police all over the area, and even though Shahar called them, they didn’t come until I went and told them face to face about the attack. There is no deterrence factor. They know that incidents happen. We’re not the first to have rocks thrown at us there. Despite that, until I went to them, they didn’t do anything.”
Shahar added that “the wedding proposal was at Beit HaHoshen so that we could overlook the Temple Mount – we knew that was what we wanted to do. The situation here is urgent and more has to be done. The police asked me whether or not I knew that it was dangerous. We were only overlooking the Temple Mount. We didn’t even ascend it.”
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who is assisting the couple: “This was a murderous attack with the participation of a mob of terrorists. There must be a strong response with detentions and the destruction of the terror infrastructure, including that of Arab Israeli citizens. We call on the security authorities to immediately involve the GSS and all means of investigation and intelligence in order to quickly detain the terrorists before they are able to injure additional Jewish victims.”