Lod, shooting victim being evacuated; Photo credit: Elazar Riger
For more posts about Arab rioting and Jewish detainees, please see here.
Tuesday, July 20, 2021, 12:26 Honenu sent a letter to the Central District Police demanding updates on the cases filed over some of the most violent incidents of Arab rioting in Lod during Operation Guardian of the Walls. At the time, in light of the rioting and the state of emergency declared in Lod, Honenu opened an operations room to assist residents with ensuring that police investigate and bring suspects to trial. Honenu: “Together we will see that the rioters are prosecuted to the full extent of the law, and we will assist the victims.”
Honenu assured victims that they would follow cases against the rioters until their closing and provide legal counsel to Lod residents and the volunteers who came from outside. Now that a considerable amount of time has passed since the complaints were filed, and the police have not informed Honenu of any progress in the investigations, attorneys from Honenu are demanding updates about the cases, especially concerning the most serious cases of shooting and physical injury.
One such case is the stabbing of a Lod resident on Elashvili Street. The victim and his wife were on their way out of the city to relax after suffering through many days of rioting. Rioters threw stones at him and then stabbed him in the upper back. On Monday (July 19), over two months after the attack, the victim was informed by the crime victim notification system that a suspect had been detained.
In the case of a shooting near Exodus Street, a yeshiva student and MDA medic who came to Lod to assist the residents rescued and treated several victims before he himself was shot and injured. He is still recovering, and he is dependent on crutches to walk.
On Exodus Street, another volunteer from outside, a married father of five children, was shot in the leg. He suffers from pain, and he has difficulty walking. In another incident on Exodus Street, a Jerusalem resident who left his wife and family to help defend the residents of Lod was shot in his thigh. He underwent a lengthy rehabilitation and required analgesics for the pain.
Additionally, in the area between the northern entrance to the city and the Ramat Eshkol neighborhood, an outside volunteer was shot. The victim is a farm owner who despite the daily attacks by Arabs that he suffers joined the volunteers protecting Lod and was seriously injured by by a bullet that entered his chest and exited through his right arm. He still suffers from pain in his chest and in his right arm and has limited use of his right hand. Another shooting at an apartment building on Hashmonaim Street was documented by its residents.
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who is representing the victims: “During the riots, there was a series of attacks on Jews by nationalistically motivated terrorists. As of now, most of these dangerous terrorists are walking freely. We demand that every attack be handled with the utmost gravity and seriousness. The police and all of the other law enforcement authorities must act with all available means to detain and bring suspects to trial. Terror must be eradicated.”