In the case of a yeshiva bochur who was attacked by three Arabs on Har Tzion about a month ago, authorities have decided to address the assault as a hate crime. One of the defendants in the case was recently indicted for aggravated assault motivated nationalistically and other charges. The suspect remains in custody. Attorney Chaim Bleicher of Honenu is representing the victim and he turned to Shomron-Yehuda police for a progress report on the case.

The three attackers were suspected of beating the yeshiva student who made his way to daven at the Kosel. They attacked him and beat and kicked him until he was in need of medical treatment. In his testimony, the bochur related that when he arrived near the Shar Tzion gate to Jerusalem’s Old City, he was punched in the head, fainted, and woke up to the suspects kicking him in the head and body. In a letter sent by attorney Bleicher to the Jerusalem prosecutor’s office, Bleicher wrote, “There is no doubt that this is a national racist attack.”

The victim detailed the events, explaining “At the end of the path there are a number of monuments, and then steps where one walks between the walls. In the middle of the steps, the three confront me and began shouting and cursing at me. I clung to the wall and tried to get away from them, then one of the Arabs punched me in the face and head, and I was knocked into the wall. I passed out for awhile and do not recall exactly how I fell, but I found myself lying on the floor and the three of them kicked me in the head and all around my body. After a while, they ceased and fled”.

He then explained that he succeeded in dragging himself to the nearby Shar Tzion Gate, and to the police station adjacent to the Kosel.

Bleicher has learned about the indictment and that police accepted his position, that the attack should be viewed as a hate crime.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)