Damaged car; Photo credit: Honenu
Please see here a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu provided legal counsel to victims of antisemitic attacks in Jerusalem.
Saturday, April 24, 2021, 21:06 On Friday, April 23, Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher wrote an urgent letter to the Jerusalem District Commander, Major-General Doron Turgeman, and the Internal Security Minister, Amir Ohana, demanding that the the police recognize as victims of terror Jews who were injured in Arab attacks in Jerusalem over the past few days.
“Over the past few days, the undersigned has received dozens of requests for assistance from victims of the rioting with ‘hair raising’ stories and has made an effort to counsel and guide them with filing complaints with the police and the subsequent steps. Unfortunately, there is a serious phenomenon of refusal by the police investigators to issue the complainants authorization that the damage was caused as a result of a terror attack,” wrote Bleicher.
“The above-mentioned situation is that not only has the State failed to assure the security of the victims of the rioting, but also now the police are refusing to recognize their damages and are preventing them from receiving the indemnification to which they are entitled. I ask you to to instruct, as soon as possible, the police investigators to provide the citizens with the authorization to which they are entitled.”
One of the victims described the attack. Video credit: Honenu
Translation of the transcript: “This is my car. I was driving at about four in the morning on Chayim Bar Lev Boulevard. I was about to continue directly towards Pisgat Ze’ev when seven Arabs blocked me. I realized that I didn’t have much of a way to escape. I was going to turn left towards Moshe Zaks Street. Within seconds they attacked me with large rocks, rocks that hit me. This is the rock that hit me. It went through the windshield and hit me in the ribs. You can see it. I don’t mind if you see it. [lifts his shirt to show injury] And then the boulder [landed here, on the seat]. There was a barrage of rocks. You can see here that there is a hole that the rock made. I can hardly believe that a rock can cause this.
“I filed a complaint. First of all, at the time I called the 100 emergency number. I waited half an hour for them to send MDA [medics], who didn’t come. In any event, I filed a complaint [with the police] and they told me that they couldn’t give me authorization as a victim of terror because it hadn’t been proven that [the damage] was caused as a result of a terror attack. Here’s the page [showing the page in the reply from the police]. You can see: ‘The police do not have findings which indicate that the damage was caused by a terror attack against Israel.’”
Statement from Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher; Video credit: Honenu
Translation of transcript: “Over the past few days we have received reports of dozens of incidents of ambushes of Jews, genuine murder attempts, and severe damage to cars. The attackers shouted antisemitic calls. People who have survived the murder attempts file complaints at the police station and there, to their surprise, the police refuse to recognize the incidents as terror attacks. Since they failed to ensure the security of the people, we demand that at least they recognize the damages, because the attacks are part of the Arab struggle against the State of Israel and against Jews.”
Another victim was interviewed; Video credit: Honenu
Translation of transcript:
Interviewer: We saw your car. It’s completely destroyed.
Victim: They also called out “Death to Jews!”. They threw cinder blocks, everything. I escaped. Everyone is saying the same thing: “I don’t have any proof that it was a terror attack.”
Interviewer: Show me the section.
Victim: Here’s the complaint that I filed. Here: “Re: Request to file a terror attack complaint”. They [the police] didn’t write anything. They didn’t sign it either. And here’s the second document. This is all that’s written [shows interviewer the page].
Interviewer: [Reading the document] “The police do not have findings which indicate that [the damage was caused by a terror attack against Israel].” It’s simply unbelievable.