The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office indicted a 10th suspect at the
Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday in the August beating of 17-year-old Jamal
Julani downtown.
Indictments were brought in two Jerusalem courts last
month against nine other suspects connected with the mob attack on the Arab
teenager. The charges include aggravated assault and battery, racial incitement
and inciting violence.
Nine of the suspects are minors, and two of those
are girls. The only adult is 19-year-old Shimon Siman-Tov, a resident of the
capital. The latest suspect is also a minor.
According to a partial
indictment released to the public due to the suspect’s status as a minor, the
events in question took place in central Jerusalem’s Hatulot Square on Thursday
night, August 16. Around 60 youth gathered and started
harassing Arab youths
sitting in the area, the release stated.
The Jewish youth allegedly
pushed and kicked some of the Arabs passing by, and one yelled at them, “Get out
of here, I’ll [expletive] you.”
Another one of the youths challenged the
group, saying “Whoever is a man will go beat up an Arab,” the indictment stated,
adding that the Jewish youths also chanted “Muhammad is dead!” and “Death to
Arabs,” among other racist songs and chants.
At around 11:30 p.m., some
30 people in the group moved toward Zion Square with the goal of “beating up
Arabs,” according to indictments against other suspects. The group saw one Arab
and attempted to catch him, the indictments said, but he was able to run
away.
A few minutes later, four Arabs passed by and the group allegedly
started attacking them. The four began to flee, but 17- year-old Julani fell as
he was running, and the Jewish teens immediately surrounded him.
The
attackers allegedly beat Julani unconscious, to the point that he had no pulse.
Paramedics who arrived on the scene used CPR and defibrillators for more than 10
minutes before his pulse returned, and evacuated him in critical but stable
condition to Hadassah University Medical Center in Jerusalem’s Ein Kerem
neighborhood.
After more than a week in the hospital, Julani was able to
return home and started attending his last year of high school, though he is
still suffering from the after-effects of the attack, according to reports.