A land dispute in Jerusalem’s Old City has led to Arab violence but border police arriving on the scene decided to arrest talmidim of the yeshiva and not the attackers – Police report the violence was in both directions

The violence by Arabs against talmidim from Rav Zilberman’s Yeshiva in Jerusalem’s Old City, Yeshivas Aderet Eliyahu, seems to be escalating. YWN-Israel recently reported that an Arab neighbor to the yeshiva is claiming ownership of the yard used by the talmidim of the yeshiva, and this has led to violence.

In the latest incident, according to talmidim, the Arab came with friends and began the violence, but police opted to arrest only talmidei yeshiva, ignoring the attackers.

Honenu officials explain that two weeks ago, a neighbor jumped the fence, a male known by the name Abu Ali, and his friends, onto the area called the ‘Giva’ – the hangout place for the talmidim during free time, which is located outside the yeshiva. Abu Ali and friends began to remove shtenders, tables and objects that were in the yard.

Despite the students’ requests that they stop their activities, Abu Ali and his friends continued to remove yeshiva property from the area, and physically attacked the students, threw iron chairs and stones at them. In the documentary videos one can see that one of Abu Ali’s friends even waved an iron bar at the students and began physical violence.

The students called police forces nearby, but without a response. Later, two Border Policemen arrived at the ‘Giva’ and tried to stop the quarrel, and Abu Ali told the police that the students threw stones at him, and that at the end of the incident a number of the yeshiva students were arrested, but no action was taken against Abu Ali himself.

The next day, a number of students heard Abu Ali talking on the phone and telling the police that stones had been thrown at him. The students spent the night at Kishle police station and were released and distanced from the ‘Giva’ area.

On the same day that the trial of the detainees took place, another student from the yeshiva was arrested, as well as a seven-and-a-half-year-old boy, because another complaint was received regarding stone throwing. They were released after a few hours.

Last week, the situation worsened. On Wednesday, Abu Ali arrived accompanied by two policemen and began to remove items from the ‘Giva’ area, while the police were protecting him. A minor student from the yeshiva was arrested after trying to prevent the destruction.

When a talmid appeared before the court, the court stated, “a civilian land dispute should be resolved in the correct place, without police intervention”.

In addition, the court released the minor, but prohibited him from visiting the ‘Giva’ area and the Old City, in compliance with a police request.

This week, the arrests of talmidim continued and talmidim have seen Abu Ali seated on a cushioned chair that he took from the yard. When they demanded it back, Abu Ali got up and smashed it. When police arrived, he told them the talmidim threatened him, and once again, talmidim were taken into custody.

Attorney Moshe Polski of Honenu is representing the talmidim. “Once again, we are witness to an unfortunate phenomenon that instead of arresting the perpetrators of the Arab provocation, the police let them go wild and at the end of the day, the hard hand is taken against the Jews, who just wanted to prevent the Arab takeover of the compound”.

Attorney Rehavia Pilz said that “in court, the police representative claimed that the place is private property and therefore they operate there. When asked who owned the place, police did not know how to respond. They admitted that the police were acting without a warrant. In the decision of Justice Oren Silverman, the judge wondered why the police are taking part in a real estate dispute.”

Kikar Shabbos News adds police responded, stating, “In total contradiction to the claim, this is an accumulation of events in the context of a conflict in the area, during which time the suspicion was raised against a number of suspects who were detained for a mutual attack towards arriving at the truth.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)