Please click here for a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu provided legal counsel to victims of antisemitic attacks in Jerusalem.
Thursday, July 6, 2023, 7:28 The Prosecution Department of the Jerusalem District Police filed an indictment with the Jerusalem Magistrates Court against a left-wing activist who threw boiling water at Tal Yoshvaev, a resident of the Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood of Jerusalem, in January 2022 (see video clip below). Following the attack, Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher filed a complaint on behalf of Yoshvaev with the police. The indictment charges the activist with assault causing grievous bodily injury.
The bill of indictment describes the attack: “On January 21, 2022, in the Sheikh Jarrah [Shimon HaTzadik] neighborhood the police prepared for a protest that is held weekly at the site. The defendant took part in a left-wing protest at the site during which a Palestinian flag was hung in the yard adjacent to the home of the complainant. At the close of the protest, the complainant stepped out of his house and removed the flag. The defendant, holding a plastic cup of boiling water, then approached the complainant and threw the boiling water at him, which burned his skin. Thus the defendant assaulted the complainant and caused him grievous bodily injury.”
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who is representing Tal Yoshvaev, stated, “We welcome the indictment. The left-wing activist committed a hate crime by assaulting with a boiling-hot liquid someone who did not agree with his opinions. This is a dangerous slippery slope. Left-wing activists crossed the limit between democratic protest and violent treatment of anyone who does not think like them, or is not to their liking, a long time ago. We expect the court to hand down a significant penalty. Only stiff penalties will eradicate the violence spreading like wildfire among left-wing activists.”
Security camera clip courtesy of the Yoshvaev family
Since Operation Guardian of the Walls, the Yoshvaev family has suffered close to 20 acts of terror including fireworks shot from point-blank range at their sukka while Tal was sleeping in it, nine vehicular arson attacks, two Molotov cocktails thrown at their house, an array of fireworks launched at their yard, and many bottles of paint thrown at their car. For more details, see here and here. In February, the police closed off the home of the Yoshvaev family to guests and visitors, including workers who were needed to repair arson damage. The barriers were removed in March in light of a petition to the High Court of Justice.