Jews were also attacked by Arabs in Jerusalem on the fast of Tisha B’Av. Please click here for a description of the attack.
Wednesday, August 10, 2022, 9:59 Jewish worshipers who stopped to pray at the Tomb of Micah the Prophet in the town of Kabul in northern Israel on their way to Tisha B’Av prayers at the Western Wall were surprised to find themselves under attack (see video clip of the damaged car below). Arab residents of Kabul attacked them and smashed their car. Honenu Attorney Ophir Steiner, who is representing one of the victims, sent a letter to the Shefaram Police demanding that the assailants be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
The letter, summarized below, describes the brutal attack that occurred at dawn on the fast of Tisha B’Av, this year August 7.
The complainant drove to Kabul with several friends to pray at the Tomb of Micah the Prophet. After some of them finished praying, they waited in the car for the others who were still at the tomb. While they were still in the car, one of them saw that Arabs driving a Mazda spoke to other Jews who were in the town and demanded that they leave. After an exchange of words, the Arabs left. The Arabs did not speak to either the complainant or his friends.
Five minutes later, the Mazda returned with another car. Arabs got out holding clubs, metal rods, and other blunt objects. It was obvious that they intended to beat the Jews who had come to the site. The complainant, who feared a clash, started his car and proceeded towards the entrance of the town. However, because two of his friends who were supposed to travel with him were still at the tomb, he waited for them at the entrance to the town.
Then the Mazda blocked him, and several Arabs approached him holding clubs and other objects. He tried to start his car as the attackers tried any way they could to break into the doors and break the windows. The complainant noticed the attackers’ murderous facial expressions and clearly heard them shouting. They wanted to kill him and his friends, and their shouting referred to the Jewishness of the passengers in the car.
The attackers broke the car windows and stabbed one of the passengers in his leg with a metal rod. They also beat the driver, who succeeded in starting the car and escaping. While the driver attempted to get away from the attackers, they threw a metal rod at him that penetrated the windshield, passing a few millimeters from his head. The rod hit the steering wheel next to the frame of the driver’s side window.
A difference of several millimeters and the rod would have split my client’s head. Several of the other worshipers were injured as well. Some of them have already given testimony at the police station and some of them will soon. This was a violent, racially-nationalistically motivated attack. The perpetrators must be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
A video clip recorded by the complainant after he escaped the town shows his car full of dents with shattered windows, broken rear-view mirrors, and an interior filled with glass shards. In the background, a policeman is heard demanding that he hurry up and drive away from the site, despite his damaged car.