A near-lynch in Jerusalem last week led police to admit that they have a policy of not getting involved when Arabs attack Jewish motorists, a victim says. Baruch Heller, whose car was smashed by Arabs as he left the Kotel (Western Wall), spoke to Arutz Sheva's Hebrew news service about the attack, and what it taught him about police policy. Heller travels to the Kotel via the majority-Arab neighborhood of Jabel Mukaber in southern Jerusalem on a regular basis, and has seen masked Arab men in the street before, apparently looking for Jewish drivers. In the past, he has been mistaken for Arab, he said, and so has not been attacked. Last week, he and a friend were driving between Jabel Mukaber and the adjacent neighborhood Mei Shiloach (Silwan). They passed a Border Police vehicle, and immediately afterward, drove straight into an Arab riot. "It was a part of the road where there's no way to turn around, and right there, I saw thirty or forty masked men surrounding us. I took my kippah off immediately. I opened the window and yelled at them in Arabic to let us through,” he recalled. The men began to yell at him and hit the car with metal rods, he said. “They did think we were Arabs, but they were annoyed that we were arguing with them,” he explained. Finally, the two managed to turn around and drive back. When they reached the police station, officers showed more concern. “The soldiers there rushed toward us, they wanted to hear details – but then someone came and presented himself as the commanding officer and asked us to show him the car, asked about the Border police officers we'd met... asked all sorts of random questions,” he said. For that reason, he said, police have been ordered not to be drawn into areas where there is frequent trouble. Police may fear that clashes with Arabs would lead to casualties among the Arab rioters. In the past, violent riots in which Arabs were injured have led to inquiries into police behavior, such as the Or Commission that investigated police officers following Arab deaths in the October 2000 riots. Heller and his friend have filed a complaint with police over the incident. In addition, they have written to the Jerusalem city council and to officials responsible for Arab neighbourrhoods in particular, explaining the problems they encountered when dealing with the police, and expressing hope that a policy that lets the police do their job of protecting innocent citizens will be formulated.
Near-Lynch Sheds Light on Why Police Don't Get Involved
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Sabbath Walk Becomes Nightmare for Jerusalem Family
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Tuesday, 20 September 2011
A near-lynch in Jerusalem city limits leads police to tell a victim why they don't get involved when Arabs attack Jewish motorists.
By Maayana Miskin
First Publish: 4/25/2010, 11:12 PM / Last Update: 4/25/2010, 11:25 PM
Israel news photo: Flash 90
Police won't get involved
When they returned to the Border Police jeep “they saw the car had been hit. We thought they would rush over to see if anyone was injured, but they did nothing. They said they had orders not to intervene, and if we wanted to file a complaint, we should go to the 'Oz' station,” Heller said.
The explanation
While at the station, Heller said, he managed to get an officer to explain why police stand on the sidelines while Arabs attack Jewish motorists. Arabs attack cars in order to force police to enter their neighborhoods, so they can attack them, the officer explained.
A Jewish family returning from synagogue found itself under attack from an Arab gang, with police powerless to help.
By Maayana Miskin
First Publish: 9/20/2011, 9:03 AM
Rock-throwing Arabs
Israel news photo: Flash 90
For many families, the walk home from synagogue on Friday evening provides an enjoyable moment of tranquility after a long week. This past Sabbath, one Jerusalem family’s walk became a nightmare, as they were set upon by an Arab gang determined to cause harm.
The mother of the family, Tzipi, recalled the traumatic event in an interview with Arutz Sheva.
“We were coming back from Sabbath evening prayers with our family and a guest – 10 people in all,” she said. “We were getting near our home, at Shaar HaPrachim [Flowers Gate in Jerusalem’s Old City – ed.] when suddenly a group of five young men with their faces covered and concrete blocks in hand burst out from a nearby alley.”
The group had been attacking nearby security guards, but quickly turned its attention to the helpless family. “They started to stone us. We pressed ourselves against the wall. When that didn’t help, we stood under the roof of a shop, and it took the brunt of the rocks,” Tzipi said.
The family managed to escape unhurt, a fact Tzipi described as “miraculous.” However, she said, while there were no physical injuries, the children are suffering emotional stress due to the trauma.
Nearby Border Police officers did not intervene to stop the attack, she added. The officers later explained that intervening would have been likely to get them in trouble. “Soldiers and Border Police can act only if there’s an immediate threat to life,” she explained.
That protocol could end in death, she warned. “[Rock attacks] are attempted murder for all purposes,” she said. “What are they waiting for, for somebody to be killed?”
On Sunday, Border Police announced that they had caught the gang that attacked Tzipi and her family.
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