Please click here for a list of posts relating to cases in which Honenu provided legal counsel to victims of antisemitic attacks in Jerusalem.
Wednesday, July 27, 2022, 17:05 Half a year after Arabs torched cars and houses belonging to Jews in the Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood of Jerusalem, quiet has not yet returned to what it had been. An Arab resident of the Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood continues to harass Jewish residents of the neighborhood by threatening and cursing them. They have decided to break their silence and demand 90,000 NIS in compensation.
Tal Yoshvaev, a Shimon HaTzadik resident, is the force behind the suit. Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who has represented him in several cases, filed the suit at the Jerusalem Magistrates Court on his behalf. Yoshvaev is suing Ramadan Haj Mohamed, a 28-year-old who lives with his parents and siblings near the Yoshvaev family. One of Haj Mohamed’s brothers has been in remand for several months following an act of terror against Yoshvaev and will be held until the end of proceedings. Haj Mohamed himself was detained but released because there was insufficient evidence implicating him. Additionally, the Yoshvaev family is asking the court to place a restraining order on Haj Mohamed prohibiting him from approaching the family or making contact with them, so that their suffering from him will completely end.
The statement of claim is summarized below:
Haj Mohamed (the defendant) regularly and frequently attacks, threatens, and curses the claimant (Yoshvaev) when they encounter each other in the neighborhood and in court. The defendant has caused the claimant pain and great suffering. Evidence from various incidents includes video clips of the repeated incidents of harassment by the defendant. For example, on 27.4.22, a hearing took place on the remand of Ramadan’s brother. Yoshvaev came accompanied by Bleicher. After the hearing, Ramadan shouted at Yoshvaev and threatened him that, “he and his brothers would be waiting for him outside,” and added, “My brother is a hero.”
In another instance, when Yoshvaev was strapping his children into their car seats, the defendant approached him, cursed him, and threatened him. Police forces at the scene distanced the defendant from Yoshvaev. However, about two hours later, the defendant cursed and threatened Yoshvaev when he left his house to throw out the trash. Later, while Yoshvaev was riding his moped, the defendant continued to harass him, first with curses and then by pounding with his fists on the helmet that Yoshvaev was wearing. Yoshvaev filed a complaint with the police, but nothing came of it.
In light of the many incidents in which Haj Mohamed threatened and cursed Yoshvaev, the claimant is suing the defendant for physical injury and damage to his dignity in public, which under the circumstances constitutes a violation of the claimant’s fundamental right to human dignity. Likewise, the defendant’s verbal threats constitute a criminal offense, and other incidents constitute assault and negligence.
The acts of the defendant, which he regularly repeated, caused and are still causing great and prolonged suffering to the Yoshvaev family. Yoshvaev felt pain and suffering until he could not take it anymore. He feels a loss of personal dignity, emotional security, and peace, alongside repeated humiliation accompanied by worry and stress from the recurrence of serious incidents. The claimant and his family have experienced many hostile and traumatic incidents as a result of the actions of their Arab neighbors, among them the defendant’s brother, who is currently on trial for those actions.
Additionally, the defendant is aware of the difficult situation in which the Yoshvaevs live, and despite that, motivated by hate for the claimant due to his religion and nationality, he continues to add to the family’s pain.
There is a genuine concern that the defendant’s frequently repeated public threats will soon be realized. The incidents described above increase the concern. Others have already carried out their threats to injure Yoshvaev.