
A Jew was violently attacked near the Independence Park in Jerusalem by Arab security guards on Jerusalem Day last month.
According to the Honenu legal organization, during the attack, the security guards beat the Jew all over his body while chanting "Itbah al Yahud" (slaughter the Jews). After the attack, the Jew filed a complaint with the police. In response, the police summoned the Jew for questioning with a warning on the suspicion that he had attacked the security guards.
The Honenu organization appealed to the police demanding that the Arab attackers be arrested and prosecuted. Attorney Ofir Steiner, who represents the victim, wrote to the police that "on Jerusalem Day, my client arrived at Independence Park in Jerusalem to enjoy the day's celebrations. He approached a complex where a closed performance was held. Then, security guards belonging to the compound approached him and asked him to leave the place. In response, he immediately walked away from the compound without any resistance. Later, he noticed about 5-6 security guards from the compound, all of them from minority groups, leaving the compound and moving quickly to an unknown location. This aroused the curiosity of the victim, who wondered what was causing those security guards to leave the compound and rush like that altogether. So, out of his curiosity, he decided to follow, from a distance, after the security guards."
"One of the security guards noticed the victim following them from a distance and rushed in his direction. He began to push the victim with his hands while calling out to him in a loud voice. The frightened victim tried to escape from the security guard's hands, but before he could get away, the rest of the security guards noticed what was happening, and they all rushed to the scene. Then they all started violently beating the victim. While this was happening, some of them chanted racist slogans about killing a Jew. The victim was unable to escape the hands of the security guards, who still continued to beat him everywhere while holding him down. They stopped their actions only when two police officers arrived at the scene and were forced to intervene physically and actually forcefully release the violent security guards' grip on the victim," explained Steiner.
He described in his letter how after the Jew filed a complaint about the incident with the police, the police chose to interrogate him on the suspicion that he was the attacker. "That very night, the victim went to the Lev Habira station in order to file a complaint. To the victim's surprise, he was later summoned for questioning under a warning; then, the policemen presented him with a false version of events given by the security guards, placing the responsibility for the incident on him, with a far-fetched plot according to which he tried time and time again to enter the compound, while physically resisting the order to leave. They even had the gall to accuse the victim of being the one who started the violence, to which they only responded. After all, the violent incident took place entirely at a distance from the complex and not inside it, at its entrance, or even near it. Hence, the version of the violent attackers has no basis or hold in reality."
"This is an attempt by violent attackers, who were hired, absurdly, in order to provide security for citizens on Jerusalem Day - to cover up a racially motivated violent attack, by posing the investigation as if it were In a case of word-against-word or some kind of mutual altercation. The Israel Police are expected to compare the assailants' far-fetched version with the rest of the evidence in the case and with the victim's version, who came out of the violent incident badly injured. He will ask that the investigation of the violent attackers is completed and that they will indeed be brought to justice for their actions," he noted.
Attorney Steiner said: "This is a completely absurd case, security guards who turn out to be violent attackers file a false complaint, trying to turn the tables on the victim. We hope that the law enforcement authorities will know how to get to the root of the matter and will bring to justice the attackers who acted out of a racial motive."