Avitzur and his friends
Avitzur and his friendsThe family

After a Bar Mitzvah hike with friends was cut short last week when Arab terrorists nearly lynched the hike’s participants, the family of the Bar Mitzvah boy, along with the Samaria Regional Council, have announced a second attempt at the hike.

On Thursday, a group of children and two adult escorts set out on a hiking trip near the Samaria town of Migdalim to celebrate the Bar Mitzvah of 13-year-old Avitzur, when Arab rioters began to attack the hike participants in a planned ambush.

The rioters threw rocks at the group, which was forced to take refuge along the steep cliffs nearby, thus facing danger to their lives both from the rocks thrown at them and the dangerous terrain.

Miraculously, the group found a cave in the area, where it hid until the arrival of the army. During the stay of the young men in the cave, the rioters attempted to enter the cave and lynch the hikers. Two adults accompanying the youngsters were hit by stones, and at least one child was treated after being sprayed with pepper spray by the Arab rioters. The two armed chaperones opened fire on the attackers, killing one and wounding a second.

“On Friday, the children and the family will return to the same place, and mend Avitzur’s Bar Mitzvah experience,” Avitzur’s family and the Samaria Council announced, noting that “the hike is coordinated with security forces.”

This time around, Avitzur has called on the public to join him.

“I want to thank the people of Israel who supported me, came to encourage me, sent flowers and messages. I did not break, and I hope that you did not, either. I will celebrate by Bar Mitzvah again this Friday. We will hike the same path. I call on the Jewish people to join me. I will continue to hike in the land that I love so much,” Avitzur said in an announcement that has since gone viral.

Friday’s event will include a more difficult hike departing at 8 am, followed by a hike for families departing from the Migdalim Junction at 9:45 am. It will culminate in a celebration at 10:30 am at the cave where the Bar Mitzvah group was nearly lynched last Thursday. The event is to see the participation of MKs and government ministers, including Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel (Jewish Home), who will come to show their support.

Yossi Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council, which is organizing the event along with the Samaria Residents’ Committee, Avitzur’s family and their friends, said that “it’s important that we be clear. We are not afraid of hiking in our land.”

“We want to mend the difficult experience these children had. They deserve to celebrate a Bar Mitzvah as it should be celebrated, and we invite the Israeli public to join this Bar Mitzvah, whose message is, ‘We have come to live here in peace, without fear.’ We will hike in any place without fear for our children.”