N.’s eye injury; Photo courtesy of the photographer
Please click here for a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu provided legal counsel to victims of antisemitic attacks in Jerusalem.
Thursday, October 14, 2021, 20:18 On Monday, October 11, two hareidi brothers were assaulted by Arabs in the Talpiot neighborhood of Jerusalem. One of the brothers, N., was evacuated to the hospital with a severe eye injury. To their great shock and surprise, when the police arrived on the scene, the other brother was detained with the assailants. Both brothers were interrogated under warning.
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher described the incident in a letter he sent to the police, the content of which is summarized below:
The two Arabs rammed into the brothers’ car as they were stopped. N., who was in the car at the time, asked the Arabs to exchange details, but they refused, cursed him, and made rude gestures at him. N.’s brother returned to the car and moved it to allow others to pass. However, the Arabs got out of their car and stood in front of him in a threatening manner. N. called the police, gave them the details of the Arabs’ car, and described the incident.
The Arabs jumped on N.’s brother, shoved him, spat at him, kicked him, and waved their fists in his face. N. saw that his brother was in danger, got out of the car, and implored the assailants to leave his brother alone. The assailants immediately jumped on him and punched him hard in the face. One of N.’s eyeglass lenses shattered into his eye, and after being punched several times, he could no longer see. His eye filled with blood and many glass shards penetrated his eye and the surrounding area. Passers-by separated the assailants from N., while his brother lay on the ground as the terrorists pummeled him. There was a concern that his nose was broken.
To the great surprise and shock of the brothers, the policemen who arrived on the scene detained N.’s injured brother with the two assailants. N. was evacuated to the Hadassa Ein Kerem Hospital for medical treatment. His eye and face required 36 stitches. N.’s brother was interrogated by the police for three hours, during which the interrogators hurled baseless accusations at him, as if he were the assailant. He was released on condition of signing on 5,000 NIS bail.
His shock was doubled when he saw that the terrorists who had seriously assaulted him were not taken into remand, but rather released from the police station under lenient conditions! On Wednesday (October 13) N. filed a complaint with the police against the assailants, after he was released from the hospital, and interrogated under warning by the police, who accused him of assaulting the Arabs.
This situation is the highest level of absurd! After a severe attack in broad daylight that ended with two seriously injured people, the dangerous assailants were released, not placed behind bars! It may be presumed that the assailants acted brutally and without cause out of racist motives, because the brothers have a hareidi appearance. The assailants, whose details are in the hands of the police, must be immediately detained and held in remand until the end of proceedings, in accordance with the high level of danger reflected in their actions.
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher leveled sharp criticism at the police: “Anyone with eyes in their head understands that such a cruel and brutal attack on Jews stems from hatred of Israel and is fed by antisemitic motives. As if it is not enough that the Israeli Police feigns ignorance of that, with regard to criminal prosecution, they take an absurd approach. Assaulted, injured Jews were interrogated under warning and accused of baseless allegations. But the Arab assailants received sympathetic treatment and were released to their homes instead of being detained until the end of proceedings.”