Please click here for a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu provided legal counsel to victims of antisemitic attacks in Jerusalem and here for a list of posts relating to the May 2021 Arab rioting throughout Israel.
Bab Hutta (illustrative purposes only); Wikimedia Commons
Sunday, April 2, 2023, 10:10 Honenu Attorney Ophir Steiner filed a civil suit with the Jerusalem Magistrates Court on behalf of a Jew who was assaulted by an Arab in Jerusalem during Operation Guardian of the Walls in May 2021. The civil suit demands 120,000 NIS in compensation from the assailant and follows a criminal trial in which he was convicted of assault causing substantial injury and racially motivated malicious damage. In November 2022, the assailant was sentenced to seven months of community service, and the victim was awarded 4,000 NIS in compensation.
The statement of claim describes the assault: “In May 2021, the plaintiff, a resident of Jerusalem who dresses as a Hareidi Jew, was making his way from HaGai Street to the Bab Hutta neighborhood in Jerusalem. At the entrance to the neighborhood, he encountered a group of Arabs, including the defendant. The defendant turned to the plaintiff and warned him in Hebrew, “Don’t pass through an Arab neighborhood,” and added, “No. You don’t pass.” The plaintiff, who understood that he would not succeed in passing, turned around so that his back was facing the defendant. Then, in a racially motivated act, the defendant hit him in his left shoulder. As a result of the blow, the plaintiff’s glasses and hat fell to the ground. The plaintiff turned back toward the defendant and bent down to pick up his hat and glasses. Then the defendant hit him again, this time on his back. The plaintiff managed to pick up his hat and turned to leave the site. The defendant followed him and hit him again, on the head, knocking his hat to the ground for a second time. His motive was, again, racist. The plaintiff fled the scene. As a result of the attack, his left cheek was scratched and his glasses were damaged. The acts described above constitute assault by the defendant on the plaintiff, which caused him substantial injury and damage to his property.”
Attorney Steiner further detailed the injuries caused to the victim, the pain and the suffering, primarily emotional, resulting from the assault in which he was beaten, injured, and humiliated in public, only because he was a Jew. In the framework of the suit, the plaintiff asked the court to award him punitive as well as compensatory damages, due to the assailant’s racist-nationalist motive.
After filing the suit, Honenu Attorney Ophir Steiner, stated, “This was an ugly assault on a Jew who had a visibly Hareidi appearance. He was humiliated in public only because he was a Jew, and it all happened in the capital city of Israel. The civil suit complements the criminal proceedings and will allow the victim to receive monetary compensation from the violent assailant, thus increasing deterrence against those who want to terrorize us.”