Please click here for a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu provided legal counsel to victims of antisemitic attacks in Jerusalem.
Tuesday, September 3, 2024, 9:09 On the recent Tisha B’Av fast (August 12-13), an Arab was filmed by a dash camera puncturing the tires on several cars owned by Jews in a Western Wall parking lot. Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher wrote to the police on behalf of one of the car’s owner, sending them the recording from the dash cam as evidence of the crime, clearly showing the perpetrator’s face. In light of the recording, the police arrested the Arab.
Arab taxi driver vandalizing Jewish-owned cars; Photo credit: Free use
The letter that Attorney Bleicher sent to the police describes the incident: “My clients, residents of Jerusalem, drove to the Western Wall on Tisha B’Av and parked in the Sha’ar Tzion parking lot. When they returned from the Western Wall to the car, they discovered that someone had removed a sticker from the car, one of the tires was punctured, and damage valued at thousands of shekels had been caused. Examination of the video recording from the car’s dash camera indicated that the act had been carried out by an Arab taxi driver who punctured the tires on other cars in the lot as well.”
Attorney Bleicher claimed that the Arab culprit was nationalistically motivated: “This serious act of vandalism was motivated by nationalistic antisemitism and committed in a public place, by an unmasked perpetrator who seemed to have no fear of prosecution. It is unconscionable that in the capital city of the State of Israel Jews would be afraid to leave their cars in a public car park while terrorists can commit crimes without fear of punishment. The act was carried out by a brazen terrorist who may be encouraged to carry out more serious acts, particularly because he is a taxi driver who comes in contact with the general public. I demand that he be indicted for the serious charge of racially motivated vandalism.”
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher commented on the incident: “The perpetrator committed a hate crime against Jews. Islamist terrorists take advantage of every opportunity to attack Jews. Damage to Jewish-owned property can easily and quickly lead to attempted murder of Jews. We call for the perpetrator to be penalized to the full extent of the law for the sake of the security of Jerusalem’s residents.”