Shattered windshield; Photo credit: Courtesy of the family
Monday, August 31, 2020, 9:29 In mid-August, as a woman driving with her brother and her mother towards Ma’aleh Amos passed the Amos Junction, they noticed two Arab youths standing on the side of the road with a large rock in between them. When the car approached the youths, they hurled the rock at the car, shattering the windshield and filling the car with glass shards. Due to the shock, the driver almost lost control of the car, but managed to accelerate and continue on until the family reached the gate of Tekoa. Later they filed a complaint at the police station.
On behalf of the family, Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher sent a letter to the investigative department of the Etzion Police, demanding a thorough investigation of the attack and indictment of the perpetrators. From the letter: “An attempted murder is serious in and of itself. However it is all the more serious when the scene is a site known as a trouble spot in which incidents of this sort occur repeatedly, among them a soldier injured in a ramming attack, a couple injured when their car was completely burnt, a bus driver injured by rock-throwing, and many more incidents of rock-throwing as a matter of course, the most recent occurring three days before this attack.”
In his letter Bleicher also demanded that the authorities “invest the requisite resources, including involving the army and the GSS, in order to apprehend the terrorists and bring them to trial for attempted murder.” Additionally, Bleicher demanded updates concerning progress in the case, detention of suspects, and indictments.
Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher: “This was a cold-blooded murder attempt on a family whose only ‘wrongdoing’ was driving on the mountain roads. We demand that these incidents receive proper attention, which will quickly neutralize the terrorists and eradicate the attacks.”
Honenu flier advising how to report incidents
In May 2020, Honenu launched a campaign to put a stop to rock and Molotov cocktail throwing attacks. The organization calls on on everyone who has experienced an attack to contact their headquarters so that the terrorists can be brought to trial. Currently, the vast majority of cases of rock and Molotov cocktail throwing are closed within a few days, sometimes on the same day, without any investigative action being taken. By advising motorists traveling through Yehuda and Shomron and by closely following complaints filed by victims, Honenu hopes to lead a change in prosecuting attackers, who are frequently not even apprehended.
For a selection of cases in which Honenu Attorneys have represented victims of rock or Molotov cocktail attacks, please see here.