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, August 2, 2022, 12:43 Approximately one year ago, an Arab, Nabil Sharitakh, attacked a Hareidi man while he was waiting for a bus on Shechem Road in Jerusalem. The indictment states that Sharitakh decided to attack a Jew for racist motives. No conversation preceded the attack. Sharitakh ran toward the Jewish victim, jumped, and kicked him in the back, knocking him to the sidewalk. The victim suffered abrasions to his arm. Sharitakh and a friend who was with him fled the scene.
Sharitakh was convicted in a criminal trial of racially motivated aggravated assault, sentenced to seven months’ imprisonment, and given a suspended sentence. A fine was imposed on him and he was required to pay compensation to his victim. He served an active prison term.Recently, the victim filed a civil suit against Sharitakh for 90,000 NIS for the pain and suffering he experienced during the violent attack, the injuries caused to him, the feeling of terror, the humiliation he felt when the assailant fled the scene, and the aftereffects that he carries with him to this day.
The victim described the attack: “I left the Tomb of Shimon HaTzadik and went to the bus stop to check which lines stopped there. I was standing with my back to a fence. Two guys came and knocked me to the ground. One of them kicked me. I don’t know what he did. I was knocked to the ground. I was shocked, I got up, looked, and saw two large scrapes on my arms. I called the police. I was talking with a policeman, and then they detained him.
“Every time I am in that area and want to go to the Tomb [of Shimon HaTzadik], I walk looking over my shoulder. I always check who is walking behind me. I do this in other neighborhoods too. When I walk through a Hareidi neighborhood, I say that I don’t have to look behind me. Nobody looks at me threateningly. But when I walk through Sheikh Jarrah, I always look behind me, and if I see someone within 20 meters of me, I watch him to see if he’s looking for someone.”
Honenu Attorney Ophir Steiner, who is representing the victim: “The assailant, who had racist-nationalistic motives, was convicted in a criminal trial, but that is insufficient. Very often the demand for monetary compensation is a better deterrence than the criminal proceedings. We hope that the court will award compensation as desired and that the terrorist will pay out of his own pocket for the suffering that he caused.”