An indictment was filed at Jerusalem District Court Monday morning against seven Israeli men and three minors suspected of brutally beating two Arab men in northern Jerusalem’s Neveh Ya’acov neighborhood last month in an alleged hate crime.
According to the indictment, all the suspects are Jews between the ages of 15 and 27, who reside in the neighborhood where the late-night July 25 attack took place.
While the names of the suspects have not been released, the court stated that one of the adults is a former IDF soldier, while another is a conscript who was scheduled to enlist days after the assault.
The victims, Amir Shawiki and Ahmed Kasuani, both 20 and residents of east Jerusalem’s Beit Hanina neighborhood, claimed to have been pummeled after midnight by the suspects upon being asked for a cigarette.
Shawiki and Kasuani were even beaten after losing unconscious by the bat and pipe-wielding group, the indictment states.
“The accused and the minors continued to beat the plaintiffs as they lay on the ground,” it stated. “They beat them fiercely with metal pipes and fists, and kicked them in the head and face and all over their bodies. Then the accused and the minors immediately ran away, leaving the plaintiffs lying on the ground in the park bleeding.”
The two Palestinian men were rushed to an area hospital after their assailants fled.
While condemning the attack, an attorney representing several of the suspects claimed that the two Palestinians came to Neveh Ya’acov with criminal intent, which will “put a different light” on the incident.