The youths’ car, after security forces arrived; Photo credit: Honenu
Thursday, July 22, 2021, 11:49 Three Jewish youths driving in the Gav HaHar area on the old road (Route 5076) passing the Arab town of Jamma’in were brutally attacked by rioting Arabs on the night of Wednesday, July 21. When Arabs identified the youths as Jews, they chased them in cars and also on foot in a mob. At some point, where the road connects with the main street through Hawara (Route 60), one of the Arabs’ cars rammed the youths’ car. Then the mob beat the youths, two of whom escaped. The third was injured and remained at the site. A large number of army and police forces, and also medical personnel, arrived, assisted the injured youth and evacuated him to Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva.
Map of the area; Google maps (click to enlarge)
Throughout the night, army forces and civilian volunteers searched for the two youths who had fled. There was concern that they had been kidnapped by the mob. In the morning, the youths were located, exhausted and battered, at the outer hills of Yitzhar, after they had hidden all night in the open near Hawara out of fear that the Arab mob would find them.
“In the morning, the youths were astounded to hear that the mob that had attacked and attempted to murder them fabricated a story that they were connected to a price tag incident,” said the father of one of the youths, who had participated in the search party all night. “The youths drove from the direction of Barkan, took a left to the road going past Jamma’in. From there it’s a much shorter route to Gav HaHar. Apparently because of the Arab holiday [Eid al-Adha], the roads and streets were packed at night, and they [the Arabs] identified them as Jews. What they experienced was a brutal attempted murder. It was a miracle that they escaped, thank G-d. We are taking care of them now and hoping for the best.”
Attorneys from Honenu are assisting the youths as victims of terror and intend to demand that the rioting Arabs be penalized to the full extent of the law.
In the late morning hours, the two youths who had hidden all night in the open arrived at the Ariel Police Station with their parents to file a complaint against the Arab rioters. Shortly before noon, Honenu Attorney Nati Rom, who is assisting the hospitalized youth, reported that GSS forces had taken the hospitalized youth from Beilinson Hospital and are not allowing him to meet with an attorney.
Honenu Attorney Adi Keidar sharply criticized the act: “The youth is battered and bruised from the brutal Arab attack. Instead of going from door to door in Hawara and the neighboring towns to detain the Arab mob that tried to murder Jews last night, the GSS went to the hospital to detain the injured youth and barred him from meeting with an attorney. I have no words. We are extremely concerned about his medical condition. His injuries were severe, and taking him in the middle of hospital treatment is very, very worrisome.”
One of the injured youths; Video credit: From Arabic social media