Three Jewish citizens who live in the Abu Tor neighborhood of Jerusalem have filed a civil lawsuit against the terrorist Omar Shawiki, a young Arab resident of eastern Jerusalem, who threw Molotov cocktails at their homes.
The Molotov cocktails hit the yard of the house and one of the windows and caused a fire. The lawsuit was filed by attorney Ofir Steiner from the Honenu legal organization and is headed by a demand for compensation for the affected families in the amount of NIS 200,000.
The terrorist was arrested immediately after the incident by the police, who filed an indictment against him. The court convicted the terrorist of the crimes of a terrorist act of aggravated sabotage and using a weapon for terrorist purposes. In July 2022, he was sentenced to 25 months in prison in practice, along with several suspended prison sentences as well as being forced to pay compensation to the victims in the amount of NIS 6,000.
At the same time the terrorist is serving his prison sentence, the victims of the crime filed a civil lawsuit with the Jerusalem District Court, which includes details about the damage caused to them as a result of the incident and details about the pain and suffering they experienced, and still experience, mainly on the mental level, following the incident.
As part of the lawsuit, the victims ask the court to also impose punitive damages on the terrorist, due to the fact that the terrorist caused the damage from of a racist-nationalist motive (terrorism).
According to the lawsuit: "In November 2021, the terrorist then joined two other boys, with the aim of jointly throwing Molotov cocktails at the residential complex in the Abu Tor neighborhood in Jerusalem, where Jewish families live, and all out of an ideological-nationalist motive. When they arrived at the scene, they threw a large number of Molotov cocktails . One of the burning bottles managed to go over the fence and smashed into one of the bedroom windows, while the members of the house were there. As a result, a curtain that covered the window sparked and a fire began to spread in the room. The owner of the house had to put out the fire with her hands, using a blanket."
"Four more bottles shattered and burned in the yard of the complex at the entrance to the apartment of one of the plaintiffs. Her young grandchildren were sleeping at the same time in the next room. She noticed the fire that spread quickly, and extinguished it with a fire extinguisher. She did this in order to protect her grandchildren, despite the danger she faced from the fact that during the fire the terrorists continued to throw Molotov cocktails at the scene," the lawsuit states.
Attorney Ofir Steiner said: "Filing a civil lawsuit is an integral part of deterring and bringing justice against the terrorists. who will know that they would not only be punished, but would also pay out of their own pockets for the damage they cause."