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| Rashuan Salman, wife (Photo: Courtesy of family) |
(Ynet) A Muslim family from east Jerusalem was attacked two weeks ago by three Arab youths near the road of Sur Baher. Only after the group learnt that the family was in fact Palestinian did they leave them alone.
Rashuan Salman, his wife and their baby daughter were making their way from Umm-Tuba to Jerusalem, using the same road used by the family of two-year-old Avigail Ben Zion who was moderately after being hit in the head by a rock, when they were attacked.
"They tried to pull us out of the car and hit us, it seemed they were intent on lynching us. They tried opening the doors and my wife begged them to leave us alone. She spoke to them in Arabic and only then did they understand that we ourselves are Arabs, and left us alone. I hit the gas and drove away as fast as possible."
According to him, the youth clearly mistook them for Jews: "Me and my wife look Jewish, even the police officer who arrived said 'at first sight I was sure you were Jews.' He told us that these types of things happen all the time."
Unlike the aforementioned case of Avigail Ben Zion, which prompted quick and harsh response from security forces, Salman said the police told him it would take a number of days until something would be done.
"Maybe, if they would do something, than the little girls injury could have been prevented. If they would have acted – maybe there would be some deterrence and things would have gone differently," he says.
According to him, the police has all the tools necessary to stop at least one of the three. "My wife used to live in Umm-Tuba, she studied and lived in the area all her life. She identified one of the three, and gave the police his name and they even showed us his image in the computer. But as far as we know nothing has yet happened."
In response, Jerusalem District Police said that "a complaint was lodged and immediate afterwards an investigation was opened in a bid to find and capture an escaped suspect. We believe that we he will be arrested soon."
