Please click here for a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu provided legal counsel to victims of antisemitic attacks in Jerusalem.
Sunday, December 11, 2022, 19:31 Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher is representing the Jew who was attacked by an Arab on the Temple Mount last week. This morning (Sunday) Bleicher wrote a letter to the police demanding that the attacker be detained until the end of proceedings and that the incident be investigated as an attempted murder. In his letter, Bleicher described the attack:
“My client is a Jew who [regularly] ascends the Temple Mount and visits the holiest site to the Jewish people. On the day of the incident, my client was walking with a group of Jews on one of the morning tours. When the group reached the western side of the Temple Mount, as my client was on the fringes of the group, an Arab terrorist suddenly came and for absolutely no reason jumped on my client from behind and started to brutally choke him. My client struggled with the terrorist and tried to free himself from his grasp. [My client] fell to the ground and the terrorist fell on top of him. As a result of the attack, my client was injured close to his eye, his glasses were broken, and his shirt was torn.” The Arab attacker was detained by policemen at the site in a matter of seconds.
Bleicher further explained the gravity of the incident: “This was an incident of unparalleled importance, an injury and an escalation [of violence] that was not this severe even during the time that the infamous “Murbitat” were active. A terrorist who chooses to knowingly attack a Jew in the heart of the Temple Mount, when he is guarded by dozens of policemen, is an extremely dangerous terrorist who is determined to injure Jews at any price and does not fear certain personal danger. This is in addition to the extreme seriousness of carrying out an attack at the holiest site in the State of Israel, a national symbol and the central focus of the Jewish nation.”
The “Murbitat” were a group of Arab women who harassed and provoked Jewish visitors on the Temple Mount and protested against Jews entering the site. The Murbitat were outlawed in 2015 (click here for an example from 2013).
In conclusion, Bleicher demanded a thorough police investigation and increased security measures for the Temple Mount: “I demand that the suspect be detained until the end of proceedings and be investigated for aggravated assault in an act of terror and racially motivated attempted murder. He must be fully penalized for his acts. In addition to the above-mentioned, the incident could have ended much worse if the attacker had had a knife or other weapon. The incident underscores the need for checking everyone who enters the Temple Mount and thus preventing attacks.”
The Jewish attack victim described the incident: “I stood slightly apart from the group of visitors and I noticed that an Arab was approaching me. I called for the attention of the policeman who was next to me and suddenly I felt someone grabbing me from behind and trying to choke me. I threw myself onto the ground in order to release his grasp. Fortunately, only my glasses were broken. I thank the policemen for their quick response that saved my life.”