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, September 24, 2024, 14:30 The Jerusalem Magistrates Court sentenced Muhammed Qutub to 40 months’ imprisonment for his part in a mob attack which injured three Jews in Jerusalem. The attack occurred on Jerusalem Day, May 10, 2021, when the rioting during Operation Guardian of the Walls began. The three Jews were driving together in a car to the Western Wall to pray. Near Rockefeller Junction, their car became trapped in a traffic jam. Terrorists threw rocks at them as they tried to escape and chased them to Lions’ Gate. There, one of the terrorists opened a door of the victim’s car door and sprayed pepper spray at the occupants, causing the driver, who had also suffered a head injury from the rock barrage, to lose control of the car. The car veered to the right, into a low wall, and injured Qutub, who was standing on the street, looking for more rocks to throw at the car. The car then became stuck on the barrier separating the sidewalk from the street.
The attack; Video credit: Israel Police
A short time after the attack, the police detained several suspects, some of whom were arrested, but the identity of the injured terrorist, Qutub, was not yet known to the police. Some time later, Qutub filed a complaint with the police over his injury and sued the injured driver for compensation through the Jerusalem Magistrates Court, which led to his identity being revealed. The driver turned to Honenu for assistance, and in the statement of defense, Attorneys Menashe Yado and Chayim Bleicher proved that Qutub was one of the terrorists who had carried out the attack on Jerusalem Day.
In January 2023, the Court rejected Qutub’s suit out of hand. Honenu Attorney Menashe Yado filed a countersuit on behalf of the victims for 800,000 NIS in compensation. The driver also filed a complaint with the police, citing the identify of the terrorist, who was arrested. The police gathered sufficient evidence for the State Attorney’s office to indict the terrorist. He was convicted of aggravated assault in an act of terror and racially motivated malicious vehicular vandalism. The three victims were awarded NIS 24,000 in compensation. Qutub was also indicted for theft and assaulting a police officer in a different incident.
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher issued a statement after the sentencing: “The conviction and imprisonment of the terrorist contributes to the security of Israeli citizens. However, in our opinion, the sentence is lenient in relation to the severity of his crimes and also in relation to case law. There are no grounds for leniency concerning terrorists acting against the State of Israel and its citizens. We will petition the State Attorney’s office to appeal for a stiffer sentence.”