Old City of Jerusalem
Old City of JerusalemFlash 90

Five Jewish activists who were returning to the Temple Mount, toured the Old City of Jerusalem on Thursday night. While they walked around the Temple Mount gates they were attacked by an Arab mob.

The Arabs surrounded the group and violently attacked them. One of the Arabs who was with his car even tried to run them over.

The group was accompanied by two policemen, who at the beginning of the events summoned reinforcements and were afraid to intervene in the incident. With the arrival of the other officers, to the astonishment of the group members, the police detained the Jews instead than their Arab attackers.

After their interrogation by the police, the detainees were informed they would be released after they sign an order expelling them from the Old City until a hearing on their matter on Sunday. Two of the detainees refused to sign and were arrested. A hearing on their case is scheduled to take place this morning at the Jerusalem Peace Building.

"This is a serious failure of the Israel Police, which not only failed to protect the youths in the capital of Israel, but to cover up the story; it stopped the attackers and delayed them for many hours beyond the law," said Nati Rom, of the Honenu legal aid organization, which represents the group.

"I hope that the Israel Police will deviate from its current practice and present to the court the videos of the incident that reinforce the detainees' claim, shows the serious attack on the detainees that took place in the area - and even the mishandling of the incident by the police officers."