Tomorrow: Penalty hearing for Shuva Ben Shushan’s attacker

Sunday, May 8, 2022, 18:38 On Monday, May 9, a penalty hearing will be held at the Natzrat District Court for Nur Aladdin Ibn Tayr Shinawi, the terrorist who stabbed Shuva Ben Shushan, then an 18-year-old high school student, nine times in June 2018. When the verdict was handed down, Shinawi was convicted of the crimes attributed to him in the indictment: attempted murder in an act of terror, preparation for murder in an act of terror, illegal possession of a knife, and illegal entry to Israel (on many occasions).

Ben Shushan will be present at the penalty hearing, accompanied by Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who stated that “we expect the judicial system to do all they can against murderous terror directed at Israeli citizens and to impose on the terrorist the maximum penalty for his cruel acts of terror.”

Summary of the indictment:

Nur Aladdin Ibn Tayr Shinawi, a 20-year-old Jenin resident, was illegally staying in Israel. On June 11, 2018, motivated by his hatred of Jews and as a response to additional incidents, he decided to murder a religious Jew, one as young as possible. On that morning, the terrorist packed a change of clothes, intending to wear them after the attack to make identifying him difficult and to facilitate his escape. The terrorist equipped himself with two knives, a kitchen knife with a 15-cm. blade and a wallpaper knife with a retractable blade. The terrorist hid both knives in his pants, under his shirt.

He rode a bus to Afula and got out at the station at which Shuva Ben Shushan was waiting. The terrorist noticed that she was a young religious Jewish woman and chose her as his victim. He decided to wait until she sat on the bench because he reasoned that it would be easier to murder her then. Ben Shushan did sit down, and she started to read a book. At this point, she was alone at the station. The terrorist decided that it was time to murder her.

He drew the kitchen knife, approached Ben Shushan from the front, and stabbed her in a downward motion from her neck and clavicle, with the aim of causing her death. She tried to escape and call for help. The terrorist stabbed her in the back eight times with the kitchen knife.

When he felt that she was losing her strength, he figured that she would die soon, and escaped in the direction of Jenin. Despite her severe injuries, Ben Shushan managed to walk to a nearby restaurant, where she said that she had been stabbed, and then collapsed. Passers-by summoned medical assistance, and she was rushed to HaEmek Hospital in serious condition. Her life was in danger.

The terrorist attempted to flee to Jenin, but while he was still in Afula, a police car caught up to him. He started to run from the police and even decided to stab and murder one of the policemen if he were apprehended. The terrorist opened the blade of the wallpaper knife and taking into account the possibility that he might be killed by the policemen – which he regarded as martyrdom – after the stabbing, said the shahada prayer. Three policemen approached the terrorist, and he threatened them with the wallpaper knife. One of the policemen shot him in the leg, and they succeeded in detaining him without being injured themselves.

The terrorist attempted to murder the young woman, out of a nationalistic, religious, or ideological motive, using a knife that he illegally possessed. He also prepared a weapon for the purpose of carrying out a nationalistically motivated murder and was illegally staying in Israel.

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