Arab teenager assaulted in capital's Zion square has no recollection of violent incident;

Eyewitness: J'lem brawl was lynch against Arabs- Israeli activist at an aid organization for youths at risk, who witnessed the event, posted a message on Facebook, claiming that the incident was more like "a lynch."

"Today I saw a lynch with my very own eyes, at Zion Square in the center of Jerusalem," she wrote.


Netanyahu to Abbas: Israel will catch firebomb assailants- Two days after incident that left six Palestinians wounded, Netanyahu phones Palestinian president, promises perpetrators will be brought to justice.


Vice PM Ya'alon: Settler attacks against Arabs in West Bank, Jerusalem are 'terrorist acts'

Strategic Affairs Minister Moshe Ya'alon says the attacks – a fire-bomb hurled at a Palestinian Taxi near the settlement of Bat Ayin and a suspected lynching in downtown Jerusalem - run contrary to Jewish values




Police arrested a Jewish teen aged 19 on suspicion of involvement in a Thursday brawl between Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem. The suspect, a Jerusalem resident, is being questioned by police.


Additional suspects are expected to be arrested later in the week. Police said the suspect denied the allegations against him.


Meanwhile, the victim of the assault, a 17-year-old Arab from east Jerusalem, has woken up from his coma. He could not remember who assaulted him or any other detail relating to the incident. Police said they would check security camera footage as part of their investigation.


"I was surprised to be in the hospital," the victim told Ynet. "I still don't know why I'm here." He added that he does not know whether he was assaulted by Jews.


"I don't remember anything. All I remember is being in Hebron and waking up in the hospital with aches all over my body. I'm constantly shivering."


The victim's mother postulated that the reason her son could not remember anything to do with the assault was the medication he was given.



An activist at an aid organization for youths at risk, who witnessed the event, posted a message on Facebook, claiming that the incident was more like "a lynch."

"Today I saw a lynch with my very own eyes, at Zion Square in the center of Jerusalem," she wrote.

"We arrived for our usual volunteering shift at Zion Square and not more than half-an-hour later, (we heard) screams: 'A Jew is a (good) soul; an Arab is a son-of-a…'. (We saw) dozens of teens running and gathering around, starting to deliver deadly blows to three Arab teens who were peacefully walking by," the activist wrote.


"When one of the Arab teens fell onto the floor, they continued to kick his head, and he lost consciousness... the assailants ran away and the rest gathered in a circle (around him) and some continued to shout with hatred in their eyes."


The activist further claimed in her post that when two of the volunteers tried to resuscitate the injured Arabs, "the crowds were complaining that they were Arabs and that they deserve it because maybe now they will be afraid."





Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Palestinian PresidentMahmoud Abbas on Thursday and offered his greetings for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.


Netanyahu promised that Israel will spare no effort in bringing those behind the firebomb assault against Palestinians to justice.


Police has yet to trace suspects in the incident that saw six Palestinians injured including one in serious condition.


Four of the victims are members of the same family. Jamila Riada, one of the victims, told Ynet she had seen the suspect, who is thought to be a settler.


"I saw him before he threw the Molotov cocktail, but I didn't expect it would hit us. Suddenly we saw fire inside the car," she recounted.


Jamila, 30, sustained injuries to her face and both hands. Her husband Ayman is in a coma and considered to be in serious condition. The couple's 3-year-old daughter was released from hospital, and their son, who was also hurt, is said to be feeling well.


The victims, residents of the village of Nahalin near Bethlehem, were getting ready to do their shopping on Thursday when they were attacked and are having trouble coping with the trauma.


Security forces investigating the incident are looking into the possibility that Jews were behind the attack, but this has not been confirmed as of yet.


Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch and Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino stronglycondemned the act and promised to catch the perpetrators.





http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4269970,00.html



http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4269794,00.html



http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4270022,00.html





http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/vice-pm-ya-alon-settler-attacks-against-arabs-in-west-bank-jerusalem-are-terrorist-acts-1.459201




Photos: The victim in hospital, Scene of the attack in Jerusalem, The Palestinian taxi which was hit by a firebomb