Please click here for a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu provided legal counsel to victims of antisemitic attacks in Jerusalem.
The altercation, the thrown bottle is visible; Video credit: Israel Police
Tuesday, September 17, 2024, 13:24 In August 2020, Arabs clashed with a group of Jews walking through the Old City of Jerusalem. An Arab who was passing by the site of the clash threw a glass bottle at the group of Jews, hitting one of the Jews in the head. The bottle broke and cut his head, and he was taken to hospital to have his wounds stitched. After the attack, the victim filed a complaint with the police, but the case was closed by the State Attorney’s office. Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher fought a legal battle on behalf of the victim that led to the reopening of the case and the conviction of the assailant. The Jerusalem Magistrates Court sentenced the assailant in a plea bargain to two months’ imprisonment that was commuted to community service and also awarded the victim NIS 3,000 in compensation. Currently, the assailant is being sued in civil proceedings for NIS 45,000 compensation.
The statement of claim describes the incident: “On August 12, 2020, the complainant was walking on Via Dolorosa in the Old City of Jerusalem toward HaGai Street with a group of fellow Jews. At some point, an argument broke out between the group of which the complainant was a part and Arabs at the site. In the course of the argument, after words were exchanged, an altercation followed with the Arabs and Jews pushing each other. Another Arab, the defendant, passing the site with his son, approached one of the members of the Jewish group, and grabbed his shirt, then lifted a chair, apparently with the aim of throwing it at the group. After the altercation died down and the two groups were separating and leaving the site, the defendant threw a glass bottle at the complainant, which hit his head, causing a three-centimeter cut in his scalp that required stitches and bandaging at the hospital.”
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher issued a statement: “We have made it our priority to ensure that acts of terror against Jews will be penalized. We fought to have the assailant charged and brought to trial despite the intention of the State Attorney’s office to allow him to escape justice. Now we are completing the proceedings with a civil suit that will increase deterrence against acts of Islamist violence.”