Please click here for a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu provided legal counsel to victims of antisemitic attacks in Jerusalem.
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher; Photo credit: Honenu
Wednesday, October 9, 2024, 12:35 Several dozen Arab youths brutally attacked Jews near the Ma’aleh HaZeitim neighborhood of Jerusalem in November 2021. Two of the assailants were apprehended, tried in criminal proceedings, and sentenced to 24 and 33 months’ imprisonment. The victims were also awarded compensation. Recently, Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher sued the two assailants on behalf of the victims – the claimants – for NIS 880,000 at the Jerusalem Magistrates Court in civil proceedings.
In the statement of claim, Attorney Bleicher described the attack: “On November 13, 2021, dozens of Arab youths rioted in Ras al-Amud, throwing Molotov cocktails and launching fireworks at the Jewish residential complex known as Beit Moskowitz. At the same time, Defendant B was driving with his friends and noticed that streets were blocked at the A-Tor traffic circle. Defendant B and his friends parked their car. Then Defendant B got out and went to the circle. Defendant A, who was nearby at the time, also went to the circle, where the defendants saw the rioting. As they approached the circle, the defendants, and about 15 other youths, noticed three people who seemed to be Jewish in a car moving slowly due to a traffic jam that had formed because of the rioting. The youths, among them Defendant A, surrounded one of the claimant’s cars and began rioting. The defendants threw rocks and other objects at the passengers, kicked the car, and beat it with their hands.
“Defendant A kicked the driver’s side rear-view mirror as the driver made a U-turn in an attempt to evade the rioters. In the end, he did escape. Immediately afterward, the rioters, including the defendants, noticed a family, three adults and four children between the ages of one and ten, who appeared to be Jewish, in another car. The rioters, among them Defendant A, threw rocks at the car. Defendant A kicked the left rear door of the car, and then immediately opened it and yelled, ‘Rukh min hon!’ [‘Get out of here!’] in Arabic. Then Defendant A hurled two 15 cm.-rocks at the passengers. Claimant A was injured in the back of his neck by a rock that hit him during the rioting. He was transported, bleeding, in an ambulance to the hospital. The two cars were damaged, including broken windows and severe damage to the body of the car,” described Attorney Bleicher.
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher issued a statement after he filed the suit: “Honenu makes every effort to prevent terror attacks and deter terrorists. We believe that when terrorists are sued for compensation in civil proceedings after they have received prison sentences in criminal court, deterrence is increased and the additional penalty is further retribution for their murderous acts. We will continue to make every effort to exact a high price from every terrorist who injures a Jew.”