Damaged car; Photo courtesy of the photographer
Tuesday, July 21, 2020, 9:21 Four Jewish youths were attacked during an Arab protest in Yaffo on Sunday, July 19, after they inadvertently drove into the site. The protesters cursed them, spit at them, attempted to physically injure them, and damaged their car. The youths filed a complaint with the police and currently Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher is demanding that the suspects be brought to trial.
Two young women who were in the car described the attack: “There was a mass Arab protest, and without understanding how, we found ourselves in the middle of it. They attacked us from every direction. They realized that we were Jews, thrust their hands into the car, spit. There were insane curses, abusive curses.”
“We didn’t know what to do. We didn’t have anywhere to escape. They surrounded us with people and motorcycles. When we closed the windows to save ourselves, they started to smash the car. They beat on the windows and broke the mirrors.”
After a time the youths escaped from the protest: “We succeeded in getting out of there by a miracle. It was a miracle that nothing happened to us, only property damage. We asked one of the policemen to help us. We came to him traumatized and stressed, and he was so callous to us. He saw that we had experienced an attack, and he didn’t even ask us if we were OK.”
One of the women added “If it had been the other way around, I’m sure that there would have been an uproar, a lot of noise. We received only disrespect from every police station that we turned to. We didn’t receive a basic response. Just “Go somewhere else. We can’t help you.’”
The driver, an enlisted soldier serving compulsory service, filed a complaint with the police. Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who is assisting the youths as crime victims, sent a letter to the investigative department of the Yaffo Police requesting that they gather video clips from security cameras in the area and bring suspects from the violent disturbance to trial.
From the letter: “The protesters identified my client and the passengers in the car as Jews, and shouted, ‘Jews, Jews!’ Within a few seconds the violent protesters started to come to the car. They cursed [my clients] and spit at them.” The letter concluded with: “This was a violent disturbance motivated by racist nationalism”