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Archives The Bi-monthly
publication of the PHRMG |
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The Monitor |
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Stabbing Attacks against
Palestinian Civilians in West Jerusalem
Over a period of time stretching from February 1998 to March 1999, at
least 10 Palestinians have been the victims of stabbing attacks carried
out by militant Jews. Most of the victims are Palestinian laborers, who
work in local grocery stores or as delivery persons in the ultra-Orthodox
West Jerusalem neighborhood of Mea She’arim. The victims, most of whom are
residents of Arab East Jerusalem, are usually attacked either early in the
morning or late in the evening on their way to or from work. An
unidentified assailant known in both the Arabic and the Hebrew press as
the “serial stabber” is believed by the Israeli authorities to be
responsible for these acts of political violence against Palestinian
civilians. While it is certainly possible that the assailant may be a lone
“serial stabber,” it would be wrong to assume that the assailant may not
be acting in concert with other militant Jews, or even with a
well-organized group whose primary aim is to terrorize Palestinian
civilians in order to make West Jerusalem “Arab-free.”
The PHRMG located almost all of the victims involved in the stabbing
attacks by following various leads in the press and by contacting various
members of the Palestinian community in Jerusalem. Although a few of the
victims were initially reluctant to recount their experiences, the vast
majority of them were eager to tell their stories. In cases which involved
victims who had been stabbed to death, members of the victims’ immediate
families were also rather forthcoming, despite the evident difficulty in
recounting the fate of their murdered husbands, brothers, or fathers.
This section documents in detail the recent spate of stabbing attacks
against Palestinian civilians in Jerusalem. Because the Israeli police
authorities have declined to give the PHRMG access to the relevant
records, this section relies heavily on personal documents and first-hand
testimonies of the victims themselves. Although the first-hand accounts of
the victims are by no means conclusive, the interviews do have the
additional advantage of giving ordinary, often indigent Palestinian
civilians a chance to speak their own stories in their own words.
In a phone interview with the PHRMG, the Jerusalem Police Spokesperson,
Shmuel Ben-Robi, confirmed that there are 9 cases in which the local
police authorities believe that the so-called “serial stabber” may have
been involved. Mr. Ben-Robi declined to answer any questions relating to
the status of the investigations, explaining that it is customary for the
police and the Israeli General Security Services (Shabak) not to release
information on cases which are still being investigated. Mr. Ben-Robi
declined to release the names of any suspects. Similarly, he said that
neither the official police reports nor the official testimonies of the
victims were available.23
Most of the victims and their family members were highly critical of the
manner in which the local Israeli police authorities conducted the
investigations of the stabbing attacks. Indeed, many of them suggested
that if the Israeli police authorities were serious about pursuing the
investigations, at least someone would have been charged with these
politically motivated, hate-based criminal attacks.24 With respect to the
issue of compensation from the Israeli government, most of the victims and
their families believe that they should have at least the right to recover
compensation, even if they would not accept compensation due to religious
and other reasons.
A. The Case of Hamzeh Obeidieh
When Hamzeh Obeidieh was stabbed, he was only 15 years old. Mr. Obeidieh,
a legal resident of Jerusalem, lives in the Shu’fat refugee camp on the
eastern side of the city. On February 17, 1998, at approximately 7:30 PM,
he became one of the first victims of a long series of stabbing attacks in
the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood of Mea She’arim.
At the time of the attack, Mr. Obeidieh was delivering goods near a major
traffic light next to the Mea She’arim supermarket at which he had been an
employee for a little more than two years. A man approached him from
behind and stabbed him twice – once in the lower back and once in the
upper back. Even though Mr. Obeidieh was stabbed twice, he managed not to
fall down. However,because he was attacked from behind, Mr. Obeidieh never
got a good look at the person who attacked him.
In his testimony, Mr. Obeidieh told the PHRMG why he thinks he was
stabbed. He also recounted the events immediately following his stabbing
attack. According to Mr. Obeidieh,
“I am sure I was stabbed because I’m an Arab. I missed 44 days of work. 5
of those days I spent in the Kupat Holim Hospital. Because I’m a Jerusalem
resident, the Israeli Medical Insurance covered my hospital bill. The
reaction of my employer to the stabbing was nothing unusual. I received
paid leave for the 44 days of work I missed.”
I
Mr. Obeidieh said he has no pain as a result to the attack. He also made
clear that, despite the attack, he harbors no fears of continuing to work
in the Mea She’arim neighborhood. Furthermore, his brother found a lawyer
who was willing to take on his case. If and when the Israeli authorities
catch his assailant, Mr. Obeidieh said that he would seek financial
compensation from the Israeli government for personal injuries that
resulted from the attack.
B. The Case of Nasser Bsharat
The incident involving Nasser Bsharat, a West Bank resident of the village
of Jaba’, occurred only a few weeks after the attack on Hamzeh Obeidieh.
On March 10, 1998, at approximately 7:30 PM, Mr. Bsharat, who at the time
was 17 years old, was stabbed in his abdomen. Like Hamzeh Obeidieh, Mr.
Bsharat had been delivering goods to a place near the supermarket where he
had been working for a year and a half.
Upon arriving at his delivery destination, Mr. Bsharat recalls seeing
three religious Jewish men waiting at the bottom of the stairs he had to
climb. Mr. Bsharat left the delivery cart at the bottom of the stairs and
delivered the goods. After he made the delivery, he descended down the
stairs and saw the three men waiting in the same place. According to Mr.
Bsharat, the three men pulled down their hats in order to cover their
faces. Nevertheless, Mr. Bsharat claims that he would be able to recognize
the three men if he saw them again.
Mr. Bsharat recounts:
“I passed the three men and continued back from where I had come.
Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching rapidly behind me. Just as I
looked back, one of the three religious men, whom I had seen at the bottom
of the stairwell, stabbed me with a double-edged knife in my abdomen. I
immediately fell down. I then saw that my intestines were coming out of my
abdomen.
“I managed to stand up and to walk 70 meters to a Jewish person, who was
talking on a pay phone. Though I was clearly in extreme pain, he basically
told me to get lost. I walked about another 200 meters to a salon of a
nearby hairdresser. The owner
of the salon helped me and called an ambulance, which arrived
approximately 5 minutes later. The ambulance took me to Hadassah Hospital
in Ein Karem.
“I spent 21 days in the hospital. The National Insurance Institute did not
cover any of the medical bills, since I have a West Bank identity card.
Furthermore, I was not covered by the health insurance of the store where
I was employed. My employer paid me a visit in the hospital but not to my
house.
“The attackers stabbed me, I am sure, because I am an Arab. It is clear
that they do not want Arabs to work in West Jerusalem. The next day in the
exact same place where I was stabbed, there appeared graffiti
spray-painted on a wall that indicated the stabbing was committed by the
followers of Rabbi Meir Kahane, a hard-line Jewish extremist. The police
were quick to paint over the graffiti the next day.”26
Mr. Bsharat had this to say about the local Israeli police authorities:
“The police authorities have not done their job well. First of all, my
family was not contacted directly by the police. Someone came to our
village in Jaba’ and notified my family. Furthermore, no one has been
arrested and prosecuted for any of these stabbing attacks. If a Jew is
stabbed or murdered by a Palestinian, the police normally have no trouble
finding the criminal the very same day. If the police were really
interested, they could find the criminals who stabbed me and who have
targeted a number of other Palestinians over the last year and a half.
Yet, in my opinion, even if the police authorities found someone, they
would probably keep him for one or two days and then release him.”27
Mr. Bsharat and his family complained bitterly about the 27,500 New
Israeli Shekels (NIS) in hospital bills they have to pay. Because they are
West Bank residents, they have no Israeli national medical insurance
coverage. In addition to covering his hospital bills, Mr. Bsharat believes
that the Israeli government should offer him compensation as a victim of
terrorism, just as the government would compensate Jewish terror victims.
C. The Case of Hassan Ka’abneh
On March 12, 1998, at approximately 7:15 PM, Hassan Ka’abneh, 35 years old
and married with five children, was stabbed in the Mea She’arim
neighborhood. At the time of his attack, Mr. Ka’abneh, who used to live in
the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Ras al-Amoud and who now lives in Jaba’
just north of Jerusalem, was walking toward the Musrara neighborhood after
visiting a shop in the Mea She’arim neighborhood.
The following is Mr. Ka’abneh’s account of the stabbing attack against
him:
“About 50 to 60 meters away from the shop I had just visited, I felt a
sudden pain in my lower back. I put my hand on my back and felt a knife
stabbed in it. So I pulled the knife out and looked down the street. I saw
a religious man dressed in a black shirt and black trousers hurrying down
some steps. I then fell down unconscious.”28
Three days later, Mr. Ka’abneh woke up in a Jerusalem hospital. He
realized that he had had an operation. A few days later, the police came
to the hospital to take his testimony of what happened.
Some of Mr. Ka’abneh’s neighbors came to visit him in the hospital. Those
neighbors were the parents of Nasser Bsharat, who had also been stabbed
just a few days earlier in the Mea She’arim neighborhood. As it turns out,
Mr. Bsharat was in the hospital room next to Mr. Ka’abneh’s.
Mr. Ka’abneh describes his experience after being discharged from the
hospital:
“After 10 days, I went back home. I soon discovered that I had lost my ID
card as well as some other papers. I also had to pay 13,000 NIS to
Hadassah Hospital. Because I couldn’t afford to pay my hospital bill, I
didn’t go back to the hospital and get a medical report. I didn’t get back
my ID.”29
According to Mr. Ka’abneh, the Israeli police authorities have not
commented on the matter relating to his ID. Furthermore, Mr. Ka’abneh
cannot afford to hire a lawyer to handle his case.
D. The Case of Wael Sourkhi
At 7:30 PM on April 29, 1998 – the eve of Israeli Independence Day – Wael
Sourkhi was stabbed one time in the lower back. At the time, he was on his
way to Damascus Gate to catch a taxi to Jabal al-Mukabber, an Arab
neighborhood in Jerusalem where he lives. Mr. Sourkhi was attacked at the
eastern entrance to Mea She’arim neighborhood, just off of the main road
which separates West Jerusalem from East Jerusalem.
In his testimony, Mr. Sourkhi explained what happened to him the night he
was attacked:
“The man who attacked me stabbed me from behind. He had a beard and was
wearing a mask, a white shirt, and black trousers – basically religious
dress. I didn’t fall down after he stabbed me. In fact, I was able to pull
the knife out of my back, and I tried to chase after him. On the knife,
there was something written in Hebrew. I don’t know exactly what it said.
“After I was attacked, I managed to walk to the Kupat Holim Medical Center
(Majd). From there, an ambulance took me to Hadassah Hospital. That same
evening I was transferred again by ambulance – this time to al-Muqassed
Hospital. I have no medical insurance through my employer. As a result,
the Orient House paid part of my hospital bills, and my family paid the
rest.”30
The night of Mr. Sourkhi’s attack, the Israeli police came to both the
Kupat Holim and al-Muqassed Hospitals in order to take Mr. Sourkhi’s
testimony. Because Mr. Sourkhi was able to get a fairly good look at his
attacker, he has been to the Jerusalem police headquarters at the Russian
Compound three times to identify suspects. However, no suspect has been
prosecuted.
Mr. Sourkhi believes that he was attacked because he is an Arab. He is now
worried that he could be stabbed again on his way to or from work. His
employer, therefore, picks him up on the outskirts of the Mea She’arim
quarter and takes him to work. Mr. Sourkhi’s employer also gives him a
ride in the evening.
E. The Case of Nashed Salah
On May 7, 1998, Nashed Salah was stabbed just above his left kidney on his
way to work in West Jerusalem. Mr. Salah, who is married with three
children, worked at the Bazak Company on Beit Yisra’el Street, delivering
baked goods to various stores in the area. It normally took Mr. Salah
about 10 minutes to walk to his job from his house in Shaykh Jarrah. The
day he was attacked he left his house to go to work at approximately 4:45
AM, when it was still dark outside.
According to Mr. Salah,
“About 5 minutes before I reached work, I was suddenly stabbed. Someone
had stabbed me in my back. I saw someone running away, but I was unable to
get a good look at him. Despite the pain, I managed to pull the knife out
of my back and continued to walk to work with difficulty. There was no one
there at the scene of the crime to help me.
“Upon arriving at work, my employer called for help. I was admitted for
one night to Hadassah Hospital in Ein Karem. I was taken there by
ambulance. Luckily, I am a Jerusalem resident and have Israeli national
medical insurance. The Israeli government paid the hospital fees. At the
hospital, a policeman gave me some sort of form to fill out, so I could
get free medical treatment. Since that day, I have not heard anything from
the police.”31
The knife that the assailant used was about 12 inches long. Mr. Salah’s
employer went to the place where he was stabbed and picked up the knife.
Like Mr. Sourkhi’s employer, Mr. Salah’s employer now picks him up near
his house in Shaykh Jarrah and takes him to work.
As a result of the attack against him, Mr. Salah was forced to take a
month off of work. Normally he receives about 3000 shekels per month at
work. During his month away from work, however, Mr. Salah says he received
only 1000 shekels from the National Insurance Institute, even though he is
entitled to a larger percentage of his paycheck under Israeli law.
Explaining his dire financial situation since the attack, Mr. Salah points
out:
“If I didn’t have 3 kids, I would not continue to work. Believe me. I am
scared. Currently, I still have quite a bit of pain from the injury I
sustained. I can lift only light things at work. But I have to work in
order to support my kids.
“I have not received any compensation from the Israeli government.
Palestinians who have been the victims of these stabbing attacks have not
received any compensation whatsoever from the Israeli government. The
government should give compensation to Palestinians who are stabbed. When
Jews are stabbed by Palestinians, the Israeli government considers it an
enemy action. When a Palestinian is stabbed, the action may not even be
considered a work-related injury. As Palestinian victims of nationalist
attacks, we receive nothing from the Israeli government.”32
Because he still suffers pain from the attack, Mr. Salah wants to become
officially registered as a handicapped worker. That status would allow him
to gain more social and economic rights. However, Mr. Salah quickly points
out that in order to do so, he would have to pay 1300 NIS in order to get
a doctor’s evaluation. Mr. Salah fears that he would lose the 1300 NIS if
for some reason the doctor refused to designate him as officially
handicapped.
Mr. Salah approached a lawyer about his case. However, the lawyer told him
that he could not take on the case until the Israeli authorities charge
someone with the stabbing attack.
F. The Case of Kheiri Moussa Alqam
Kheiri Moussa Alqam was 51 years old when he was stabbed to death in the
Mea She’arim quarter of West Jerusalem on May 13, 1998. Like any other
day, the day he was murdered he had gone to pray at the al-Aqsa mosque in
the Old City of Jerusalem at approximately 5:30 AM. From the al-Aqsa
mosque, Mr. Alqam proceeded by foot to the place he had been working as a
construction worker for 16 years. As he was walking on Shmuel Ha’Navi
Street, an attacker tripped Mr. Alqam and then stabbed him twice in the
back. One of the stabs entered the upper part of the Mr. Alqam’s back near
his heart.
The PHRMG spoke with Mr. Alqam’s wife, Dalal, and their oldest child,
Izhaq, at their house in Ras al-Amoud. According to Dalal Alqam,
“Our lawyer, Shlomo Lecker, is asking for compensation from the Israeli
government. The Israeli government should consider the murder of my
husband an act of terror. Yet even if we were to gain compensation, we
know that we can only claim God as our true authority. I think we deserve
compensation. However, we are not sure we would even accept it.”33
Both the mayor of Jerusalem, Ehud Olmert, and an organization called
Rabbis for Human Rights sent the family of Mr. Alqam letters of
condolence. The president of Israel, Ezer Weizman, also visited the family
at their home a few days after the murder.34 Despite the official
attention that Mr. Alqam’s murder received in Israel, the Israeli police
have yet to convict or even charge anyone with Mr. Alqam’s murder. In the
opinion of Mr. Alqam’s surviving wife, if it had been a Jew who had been
stabbed or murdered, the Israeli authorities would have found the
perpetrator within days.
G. The Case of Sami Moussa Thalji
When Sami Moussa Thalji was stabbed on July 27, 1998, he had been working
as a delivery person in the Ein Karem district not far from Hadassah. The
day he was attacked, 18 year-old Mr. Thalji had been on his way to cash a
check in the Mea She’arim quarter. At approximately 6:30 PM, near the
Strauss Medical Center, he was stabbed from behind by a religious Jewish
man.
According to Mr. Thalji,
“He stabbed me once in my right thigh, and then he fled with the knife in
hand. Because he stabbed me from behind, I did not get a good look at him.
All I saw was that he was wearing a white shirt and black outer garments.
He was also wearing a small black hat.
“Some witnesses who saw what happened to me called an ambulance. I went to
Hadassah Hospital in Ein Karem and spent 5 to 6 hours there. An Israeli
health insurance organization covered my medical expenses.
“I hired a lawyer, Jawad Boulos, who is seeking compensation from the
Israeli government. There is no doubt that I was stabbed for no reason
other than the fact that I am Arab.”35
Mr. Thalji missed 11 days of work. His employer claimed that he was not
obliged to pay him for the 11 missed days of work. Furthermore, according
to Mr. Thalji, he has not received his workers’ entitlement funds for the
last two years.
When Mr. Thalji was in the hospital, the police came to ask him a few
questions. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Thalji went to the police station and
submitted an official testimony. However, no suspect has been apprehended.
Mr. Thalji thinks that the police know who has committed these acts of
political violence. In his opinion, the police authorities have been
covering something up.
H. The Case of Osama Moussa Natsheh
On the morning of December 2, 1998, Osama Moussa Natsheh, a 46-year old
father of six children, was stabbed to death in front of his house. Mr.
Natsheh, who had worked for 12 years at the Municipality of Jerusalem as a
street cleaner, was on his way to work at approximately 4:45 AM.
The PHRMG interviewed Osama Natsheh’s brother, Khamees Natsheh, at their
house in the al-Thori (Abu Tour) neighborhood of Jerusalem. Khamees
Natsheh recounted the story of his brother’s murder, which Osama had told
him minutes before dying in front of their house. According to Khamees
Natsheh,
“The murderer was hiding behind a bus, which was parked in front of our
house. He had a beard and was wearing a mask. Suddenly, he emerged from
behind the bus and stabbed Osama once through the chest. He used a knife
about as long as the distance between my elbow and hand.
“After stabbing Osama, the murderer fled to a white car parked nearby,
where an accomplice was waiting. That day we planted a tree in the very
spot in front of our house where my brother’s blood was shed.
“There is little doubt in my mind that the murder was motivated by
nationalist politics. Osama was killed solely because he was an Arab. As
it turns out, another Arab had seen the murderer hiding behind the bus but
ran away out of fear.”36
The family has not hired a lawyer. But the family has received part of
Osama’s pension from the Jerusalem Municipality. Khamees Natsheh claims
that the family is not interested in recovering compensation from the
Israeli government. In his view, recovering governmental compensation for
Osama’s murder would be like selling his brother’s blood.
Nevertheless, when President Weizman visited the Natsheh house a few days
after Osama’s murder, he promised the family that he would pursue
governmental compensation for the family.37
With respect to the police investigations, Khamees Natsheh points out:
“If this were a war, the situation would be entirely different. These are
innocent people being killed –people like Osama. What is worse is that the
authorities have not caught the murderer of my brother. If a Palestinian
kills a Jew, the police authorities almost always apprehend the murderer
within 24 hours.”38
To make matters worse, the Israeli government has failed to bring any
pressure to bear on the local police authorities investigating his
brother’s case. For Khamees Natsheh, the Israeli government’s inaction
only shows that the Israeli authorities are not serious about catching the
murderer of his brother.
I. The Case of Fayez Zitawi
At approximately 6:00 AM on January 12, 1999, Fayez Zitawi was walking
from the Old City’s Damascus Gate on Street No. 1 with the intention of
catching Bus #27 to go to work. At the time he was attacked, Fayez Zitawi,
who is a father of 10 children, was 56 years old. Mr. Zitawi, a Jerusalem
resident from the Ras al-Amoud neighborhood, had worked as a cleaner at
the Magen David Adom ambulance station in Jerusalem for 11 years. Raja Abd
al-Rahman, whose story is documented in the next section, worked at the
same ambulance branch. According to Mr. Abd al-Rahman, Mr. Zitawi “used to
arrive at work at 6:00 AM and finish in the afternoon. He worked to
support his children. He never spoke. He worked in silence – washing
dishes, watering the plants.”39 On the morning he was stabbed, not far
beyond the Histadrut building, a tall thin man, covering his face and
wearing a large black hat, approached Mr. Zitawi from behind.
According to Mr. Zitawi,
“When the man passed me from behind, he told me ‘Good Morning’ in Hebrew.
I responded by saying ‘Good Morning’ in Hebrew. After continuing ahead of
me about 15 meters, the man suddenly turned around and again said ‘Good
Morning.’ However, this time he said it in Arabic, to which I again
responded ‘Good Morning.’
“Having realized that I was an Arab, he suddenly drew out a knife and
stabbed me in the upper left side of my chest. He then stabbed me two more
times – once in the right side of my chest and another time in my
stomach.”40
Mr. Zitawi dragged himself to the nearby bus stop and fainted there. The
attacker by that time had run away.
Mr. Zitawi was hospitalized in Hadassah Ein Karem for 22 days, with
serious wounds. He then returned home for 2 to 3 days before spending
another month in the hospital. Upon his arrival at the hospital the second
time, Mr. Zitawi was refused treatment. He was told that his membership in
the Kupat Holim Clalit medical insurance had expired the preceding year.
Mr. Zitawi’s lawyer, Basheer Muhatseb, is taking up the issue of Mr.
Zitawi’s medical insurance. Although Mr. Muhatseb is trying to recover
compensation on the basis that Mr. Zitawi’s injuries were related to his
work, Mr. Muhatseb has not applied for compensation on the grounds that
his client was the victim of a terrorist attack.41
J. The Case of Raja Abd al-Rahman
On March 7, 1999, Raja Abd al-Rahman, a Palestinian citizen of Israel from
the village of Abu Ghosh on the outskirts of Jerusalem, was attacked by
militant Jews. Mr. Abd al-Rahman, a 27 year-old taxi driver at the time of
the attack, was stabbed once in the backside of his right shoulder and
over 20 times in his skull with a flick knife.
At approximately 10:30 PM, Mr. Abd al-Rahman picked up two religious
Jewish men in the Mea She’arim quarter. The two men asked to be taken to
the El-Al bus terminal in the Givat Shaul section of Jerusalem. After
finding that the terminal was closed, the two Hareidi men asked to return
to where they had been picked up.
Upon arriving at their desired destination on Rehov Hahoma Hashlishit in
the Mea She’arim neighborhood, Mr. Abd al-Rahman looked for a parking
place. Meanwhile, a blue Chevrolet began to follow behind him in the
narrow alleyway.
In an article in the Israeli newspaper Kol Ha’ir, the journalist Alon
Hadar documented the details of the attack on Mr. Abd al-Rahman. According
to Hadar,
[T]he driver of the blue Chevrolet stepped out of his car and made his way
towards [Abd al-Rahman’s] white Mercedes. Abd al-Rahman was sorting out
the change [from the taxi ride]. “You stinking Arab piece of shit! I’ll
kill you, you trash,” shouted the driver of the Chevrolet. Abd al-Rahman
looked at the face that had appeared at his window – a fairly short beard,
short side curls, and a black skullcap. “What’s your problem?” Abd
al-Rahman said, trying to calm the Hareidi down. “Arab trash,” spat the
Hareidi. He drew out a flick knife and stabbed Abd al-Rahman in the skull.
Another man joined the attacker and opened the door of the cab. The two
tried to pull Abd al-Rahman outside. The cab driver managed to grab a
bottle of tear gas that was under the seat, before he was thrown onto the
street. He fell onto the asphalt. The attacker stood above him, six feet
tall in a black suit, white vest, hiking boots with a tight gold chain
round his wrist. “Trash! I’ll kill you,” shouted the Hareidi, stabbing Abd
al-Rahman’s head with the knife. Another stab, another curse. “Stinking
Arab! Idiot!” The butcher did not stop raising the knife and striking
again, although Abd al-Rahman’s head was being cut to pieces. “Son of a
bitch, I’ll kill you now!” Only the fact that the cab driver had such a
hard scalp prevented the knife from reaching his brain.
Mr. Abd al-Rahman managed to spray tear gas into the eyes of one of his
attackers, who then fled from the scene of the crime. The second Hareidi
attacker then stabbed Abd al-Rahman in the back of the shoulder before
fleeing to the Chevrolet. Soon thereafter, another Hareidi man arrived and
began kicking Abd al-Rahman in the back and stomach.
After unsuccessfully pleading for help from the Hareidi crowd which had
gathered by that time, Mr. Abd al-Rahman was able to make it back to his
cab and to report his emergency situation over the intercom. Ten minutes
later, an ambulance arrived and took him to Hadassah Hospital in Ein
Karem, where he spent six days. The doctor at the hospital told him that
the knife had missed one of his main arteries by a centimeter and a half.
The Israeli National Insurance Institute paid Mr. Abd al-Rahman’s medical
bills, although some financial issues remain unresolved. Mr. Abd al-Rahman
sold his taxi and is only working Fridays and Saturdays at the Magen David
ambulance service, where he had taken on duties since he became a
qualified ambulance driver more than two years earlier.
Mr. Abd al-Rahman notes that the local police caught one suspect, but
released him after three days. In Mr. Abd al-Rahman’s view,
“The police say that what happened to me was simply an ordinary criminal
attack, rather than a nationally-based one. They don’t want to tell the
true story. They say that an argument transpired between the passengers in
the blue Chevrolet and me about the right of way. However, there was no
argument. I was attacked simply because I’m an Arab. In Israel, it doesn’t
matter even if you have citizenship. You’re still an Arab.
Mr. Abd al-Rahman still feels some pain from the injuries he suffered.
Furthermore, as someone who was known in the Mea She’arim for his
willingness help out the Hareidi community, he is especially saddened by
the fact that no one in the Hareidi community came to his aid as he was
being attacked. Even Hareidi medics at a local first aid organization whom
he had known well did not make it to the scene of the stabbing incident.
With respect to the Hareidis who had gathered around him while he was
being stabbed, Mr. Abd al-Rahman says, “I can’t forget how [the attackers]
stabbed me and how everyone stood around as though they were watching a
film, waiting to see if the hero will die or survive.
K. Related and Unrelated Stabbing Attack Cases
Aside from the aforementioned cases and from the case of the murder of Dr.
Naela Kara’in, which will be discussed in the next section of this report,
there appear to be other stabbing attacks against innocent Palestinian
civilians in Jerusalem. The PHRMG believes that it is important to address
them briefly because these cases also involve serious violations of
Palestinian human rights.
The first case deals with an unidentified elderly Palestinian man, who was
attacked on November 13, 1997, on Shmuel Ha’Navi St. in Jerusalem.
Although information relating to this case was given to the PHRMG in a
phone interview with Jerusalem Police Spokesperson Shmuel Ben-Robi, Mr.
Ben-Robi could not give any more details about the case than the
information already provided.45
Another case involves Ala Mahmoud Kara’in, who was 23 years old when he
was stabbed on July 17, 1998. A resident of the Arab East Jerusalem
neighborhood of Jabal al-Mukabber, Mr. Kara’in had been a taxi driver for
a local company in West Jerusalem that has since gone out of business.
According to Mr. Kara’in, someone in his office sent a message over the
radio, challenging any Arab taxi driver to return to the office in
Talpiot. When Mr. Kara’in arrived at the office, three people came down
the stairs of the building entrance, and one of them stabbed Mr. Kara’in
in the back with a knife.46
A third case that may very well have a relation to the other stabbing
incidents is the case of Khalil Akhshemat. According to the information
that the PHRMG was able to obtain, Mr. Akhshemat, a 44 year-old
Palestinian citizen of Israel residing in Beersheba, was stabbed to death
on a visit to Jerusalem on October 26, 1998, in the Mea She’arim
neighborhood.
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