In Jerusalem Attack, Arabs force Ultra-Orthodox Jews to ‘Convert to Islam’

Two Jerusalem Arabs were arrested for carrying out an anti-Semitic attack against two ultra-Orthodox Jews, forcing them to “convert to Islam” and curse PM Netanyahu.

By: World Israel News Staff

Israel’s police arrested two Arabs from east Jerusalem on charges that they carried out an anti-Semitic attack against two ultra-Orthodox Jews over the weekend.

The two suspects, aged 18 and 19, were arrested on Tuesday and are being charged with carrying out a racially motivated attack.

According to the complaint filed by the two victims on Sunday, they were assaulted while walking early Saturday morning toward the Shiloah pool just outside the Old City walls. The Arabs blocked their path, cursed at them in Arabic and Hebrew and physically assaulted them before fleeing.

The victims did not require medical attention and were able to continue on their way.

The police launched an investigation immediately after receiving the complaint, and were successful in identifying and arresting the perpetrators within hours.

The Jewish Press quoted a report by the Honenu legal aid society, according to which the victims said that while beaten, they were forced to utter the Arabic verses of the Shahada, Muslim testimony, for conversion to Islam. The attackers also forced them to praise the Hamas terrorist organization and curse the State of Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu while documenting the event on video, the report said.

“Every day I treat victims of terror, but this is a different kind of incident,” Honenu attorney Haim Bleicher told the Jewish Press. “It’s an event that reminds us of the darkest days when Jews were humiliated and trampled. The attackers not only physically harm their victims, but they also humiliated them, forcing them to undergo a caustic, racist and anti-Semitic ordeal.”