Arab with knife (illustration)
Arab with knife (illustration)Flash 90

A young Jewish man reported to police in Jerusalem Sunday morning that two Arab youths on bicycles threatened him with a knife at the intersection of French Hill. 

He reported being afraid the Arabs would stab him and that he immediately fled the scene. 

A search was dutifully conducted. Border Patrol officers soon spotted two youths on bicycles in Shimon HaTzadik, traveling in the direction of Wadi al-Joz - both neighborhoods in eastern Jerusalem. 

Upon searching their persons, a knife was found, matching the description given by the Jewish man. 

Both suspects, aged 16, admitted to the threat during questioning. 

Violence in neighborhoods around French Hill, on the part of Arabs in the area, has increased steadily in recent months. And residents are suffering. 

Several weeks ago, Tamir Dortal, the head of a local study group spoke with Arutz Sheva about the violence. According to Dortal, local Arab residents live in solidarity with the actions of people in Isawiya. 

"They sit in shopping centers regularly and disturb passersby," he said. Offering a specific case, he stated,"Two hundred of us were eating Seudah Shlishit [the third Sabbath meal] in the shopping center, when suddenly two motorcyclists came in to disturb us. Two cyclists in front of two hundred people, and we were all afraid of inciting them, afraid of their responses, if they would call their friends." 

Dortal also spoke of the harassment female students experience on the Mount Scopus campus, next to the neighborhood. "For three years, since I arrived as a student, there has been a group on Facebook called 'There is Security for Studies.' A thousand people have joined, protesting that a female student cannot walk alone 300 meters from the campus dorms, without fear of sexual harassment."

He said Arabs come to these locations, sit in parked vehicles or drive very slowly waiting for women to pass by. This is the reality female students face on a daily basis, unable to go anywhere on their own. 

Dortal himself went up to the Arabs demanding a response for their actions. "I asked them why they do it, that their sisters would not agree to this. They told me that their father protect daughters, and in our society, not." 

He further complained about a situation in which police who patrol the neighborhoods do nothing to alleviate the problems and distress of citizens. "The police offers sit deep inside their squad cars with their cells phones, without paying attention to the events happening every day."