Screenshot of the escaping assailant (at right); Video credit: Free use
For a similar incident that occurred near Havat Maon on the Simhat Torah holiday (September 28), please click here.
Tuesday, December 28, 2021, 11:13 Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who is assisting the shepherd, stated that “Jewish shepherds and growers are a target for dangerous attacks by violent Arabs who are backed and incited by anarchist organizations and activists. We expect the assailants to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.”
A young shepherd from the Southern Har Hevron community of Havat Maon was attacked by Arabs, who were later joined by left-wing anarchists, when he took his flock out to graze on a Shabbat morning in November. The shepherd was on pasture land officially designated for grazing his flock.
Bleicher sent a letter – summarized below – to the Yehuda and Shomron District Police describing the incident:
While the shepherd was in the pasture, an Arab who appeared to be a sheikh approached him, threatened him and shouted at him in Arabic. Approximately 10 Arabs from the nearby Arab village of Tuba joined him, and all of them charged the shepherd and his flock. The assailants raised rocks in their hands and threatened the Jewish shepherd. The sheikh threatened to murder him.
The shepherd called his family and reported the situation, then the assailants shoved him. One of the assailants threw a large rock at him, hard, at close range and it hit him in the ribs. It was very painful, and he was scared by the presence of so many assailants, some of whom threw rocks at him, while he was alone. Several minutes later, security forces arrived and detained the assailants, including the one who had hit him with a rock. Then left-wing anarchist activists joined the Arabs. They argued and clashed with the IDF soldiers.
The Arab who hit the shepherd with a rock took advantage of the commotion and escaped. A video clip of the incident shows how he slowly distanced himself from the center of the incident, leaning on his walking-stick. When people present alerted the soldiers to his escape, he broke into a run and succeeded in evading the soldiers. The assailant who escaped, Jaber Awad, is known to the residents of Havat Maon. At the end of the incident, the security forces detained the sheikh who had threatened the youth with murder.
Arab assailant escaping; Video credit: Free use
On the day after the attack, Sunday, the shepherd filed a complaint at the Hevron Police Station, but the police did not give him confirmation that he had filed it, and also did not give him a form indicating that he would be updated of progress in the case. The police claimed that he had to speak to his cousin, who was present at the start of the incident, and ensure that he gave testimony at the police station. The police told the shepherd that he would receive official documents (a confirmation of filing a complaint and a form indicating that the crime victim notification system would update him on the case) only after his cousin testified. Later in the week, security forces detained the assailant who had escaped, and the shepherd was summoned to identify him.