Jewish tourists assaulted by Arabs, soldier detained

Monday, August 22, 2016, 17:33 A group of Jews, among them children, was assaulted by Arabs as they toured the Old City of Acco during the afternoon hours of Monday, August 22. The Arabs attempted to push the tourists from the very high ancient wall of the city as they strolled at the site.
In response to the assault one of the tourists in the group, an IDF soldier, was forced to draw his personal weapon to defend the group. After the incident the soldier was detained for investigation and taken to the city’s police station, where policemen confiscated his personal weapon. Honenu Attorney Adi Kedar is providing the soldier with legal counsel.
“We were strolling along the walls of the Old City, about 20 people, including many children, when suddenly, for no reason, an Arab youth approached us and threatened to push us off of the wall, an enormous height of 12 meters. After a few minutes several more young men and youths joined the youth. One of them started to push members of the group off the wall and to genuinely endanger their lives. I and other members of the group, in order not to fall from the high side towards the sea and the boulders, were forced to jump from the wall to the low side.
“In reaction to the assault one of the members of the group, a soldier, was forced to draw his personal weapon in order to deter the assailants and to protect the group, which included children. In response the police detained him for investigation and confiscated his weapon. We are on our way to the station to give testimony,” said one of the tourists.
The group filed a complaint at the police station against the Arab assailants.
Honenu Attorney Adi Kedar: “This is a scandal. A group of tourists was assaulted, a soldier was forced to protect his life and the lives of those around him, and found himself under investigation. It is unfortunate that once again the police took a stand at an early stage and detained suspects before clarifying the details of the incident. I am certain that my client will be released shortly. I hope that whoever started the disturbance and made the threats will be detained and brought to justice.”