Jews were also attacked by Arabs in Jerusalem on the fast of Tisha B’Av. Please click here for a description of the attack.
Thursday, August 18, 2022, 13:15 On the fast of Tisha B’Av (this year, August 7), dozens of Jewish worshipers drove in ten cars to pray at the Tomb of Michah the Prophet in the town of Kabul in northern Israel, as many Jews do every year. At dawn, a mob of Arab residents of the town who noticed the group of Jews decided to attack them. The Arab mob also vandalized the worshipers’ cars. Honenu Attorney Ophir Steiner, who is representing the victims, wrote an urgent letter to the Northern District Police demanding that the Central Unit and the GSS be involved in the investigation of the brutal attack.
The letter, summarized below, describes the attack:
Several Arabs in a Mazda stopped close to the Tomb of Micah, and after a few minutes, got out and called out to the worshipers to immediately leave, saying that Jews should not be in the town. The worshipers did not want a clash, so they did not approach the Arabs and did not respond to them. They quickly prayed, intending to leave the site as soon as they had finished.
The Arabs left, and then, five minutes later, the Mazda returned with another car and more Arabs who got out holding clubs, metal rods, and other blunt objects. It was obvious that they intended to beat the Jews who had come to the site. Two of the Jews who had stayed behind to guard the cars feared for their lives. They started their car and proceeded toward the exit from the town. The other worshipers hurried to their cars and tried to leave the town to avoid a physical clash with the Arabs. One of the drivers noticed Arabs standing near his car and decided to abandon it and leave in a different car – anything to safely escape.
At this stage, the Arab attackers rushed at the cars. They incessantly hurled metal rods, plastic chairs, bottles, rocks, and anything they could get their hands on at the cars. The cars’ windshields and windows were cracked and shattered and the crazed mob tried to injure the passengers. The startled drivers tried to escape the horror but had to turn around in a tight space. In the terrible confusion, they collided with each other and drove onto the sidewalks. All the while, the attackers continued to mercilessly beat the cars with metal rods and wooden clubs.
Meanwhile, additional Arab residents of the town arrived on foot and joined the attack. At this stage, the terrified worshipers repeatedly called the police, but a long time elapsed before police cars arrived on the scene. In the end, the worshipers succeeded in exiting the narrow passage and proceeding toward the exit from the town. The attackers returned to their cars and chased the Jewish worshipers. One of the Jewish drivers, who was waiting at the exit from the town for two passengers, noticed that the Arabs were approaching him again. He tried to escape, but his engine stopped. Then, several Arabs got out of their cars holding clubs and other objects and hit the Jewish car.
The driver tried to remain calm and to start his car as the attackers tried any way they could to break into the doors and break the windows. He noticed the attackers’ murderous facial expressions and clearly heard them shouting. They wanted to kill him and his friends, and their shouting referred to the Jewishness of the passengers in the car. After several minutes of vandalism, the attackers broke one of the windows and stabbed one of the passengers in the leg with a metal rod. The rod penetrated his leg and broke a bone. The Arabs also beat the driver, who succeeded in starting the car and escaping.
While the driver attempted to get away from the attackers, the latter threw a metal rod at him that penetrated the windshield, passing a few millimeters from his head. The rod hit the steering wheel next to the frame of the driver’s side window. Part of the incident was documented by cameras on some of the cars that were vandalized. The recordings were transferred to the police. The victims are demanding that the Central Unit of the Israel Police and the GSS be involved in the investigation of the incident so that the perpetrators will be apprehended and brought to trial.
Steiner, who is representing the complainants and assisting them with realizing their rights as victims of terror, stated: “This was a violent, racially-nationalistically motivated attack by an Arab mob. The attackers wanted to force Jews out of the town. An incident of hostility of this scope, strength, and severity must be thoroughly investigated with all the means at the disposal of the security system. On one side there were dozens of attackers and on the other, dozens of victims.”
A video clip recorded by one of the complainants after he escaped the town shows his car full of dents with shattered windows, broken rear-view mirrors, and an interior filled with glass shards. In the background, a policeman is heard demanding that he hurry up and drive away from the site, despite his damaged car.
The damaged car; Video courtesy of the videographer