This letter was sent to INN by the writer's father, to whose house the young family was going. INN has decided not to publish the family's name to prevent any threats to them.

I wanted to share a painful experience I went through, here in my own country. This experience has brought me new insights about the reality we're living in Jerusalem, and I feel the need to pass it on. Last Friday afternoon , 23 B'Iyar, 27.5.11 we were on our way to my parents who live in Maale Zeitim in Jerusalem, where we were planning to stay on Saturday.

For whoever does not know - Maale HaZeitim is a Jewish neighborhood located in the southern part of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, near the neighborhood of Ras al-Amud. The neighborhood is located on land purchased 130 years ago by the Kollel Chabad. 

10 years ago the Kollel Chabad land was acquired by Jewish philanthropist, the late Dr. Irving Moskowitz. Construction of the neighborhood began with Israeli government approval. Now there are about 80 families living there. Residents of the neighborhood are all law-abiding people who have purchased their homes at full price and relate with respect to their Arab neighbors.

Back to the events of last Friday: While we were on the way, my father called and told us that there is a left-wing demonstration taking place, and that we should prepare for delays at the entrance to the neighborhood. The last thought in my head was that while their claims are false and annoying, after all they have a right to think differently and to demonstrate... Breathe deeply and we will get through it.

That naive idea changed very quickly. As we approached the neighborhood, we encountered dozens of people, some waving PLO flags and some different signs in Hebrew and Arabic. As we turned toward the gate of the neighborhood, we were attacked by dozens of protesters who blocked the passageway, kicking the car and knocking it hard from all directions so that the car was shaking -- all the while aiming a barrage of swearing and spitting at us

Our son was sitting in the back seat, he is sixteen months old, of course he panicked and began to cry hysterically. The protesters, who no doubt noticed that as they were standing close to his window, continued to shout, curse and hit with great force.

During those moments we did not feel there were life-threatening actions, but we felt total helplessness and actual distress. We felt as if we were in a lynch. I have never encountered such hatred. People there really had murder in their eyes. We were in total shock and tried to calm the baby and ourselves and think of how we might extricate/save ourselves.

At one point I had the idea to try to contact one of the protesters standing just outside my window, a middle-aged man who looked like an ordinary decent person. Just as I opened the car window I realized the mistake - before I could open my mouth to speak,  I got spittle right in my face from that very same demonstrator .

I do not know how long that situation continued, in any case the feeling was of an ongoing nightmare. Eventually we managed to somehow get out of this after the intervention of policemen who were there. Although physically we escaped, the pain, shock, humiliation and emotional turmoil continued to accompany us during the whole Sabbath.

Even though we are adults and we have the tools to deal with such situations, it certainly was a difficult and traumatic event for us, all the more so for our baby son. Throughout the Sabbath he was scared, crying a lot, afraid to leave the house and didn't stop saying: "Boom Boom."

Until now, every time I heard about another demonstration of "peace activists" in some village or neighborhood, on the one hand they gave me negative feelings since I do not agree with their views and I think they cause damage to the state, but on the other hand I had some empathy for them. I thought they were people who really want peace, that they care about human rights and are driven by good intentions.

Last Friday, I realized how wrong I was. Men and women attacked with such violence and hatred, ran around with murder in their eyes. People who can spit at a woman's face just because she thinks differently or accidentally got caught in the wrong place, who do not  hesitate to use any and all means and do not hesitate to damage property, cause trauma to a small child-- do not deserve the title "peace activists".

These are bad people, the only thing driving them is deep-seated hatred. The truth should be published, the mask of self-righteous hypocrisy must be removed. For a better future, we should all know what are the real faces of those "human rights activists."