Jerusalem: Rabbis for Human Rights visit Palestinian victim of hate crime

Source: RHR

Ibrahim Sawilam, 16, was injured in a hate crime in Jerusalem on May 14. He had gone to the Old City with friends to pray following Iftar, the traditional evening meal during the month of Ramadan. They were attacked by a group of ten Jewish hoodlums whom I want to call a "minyan of evil."

Ibrahim suffers from a disorder in one of his eyes. During the attack, his glasses fell. His bending to retrieve them prevented him from running away in time. A shower of blows and kicks to his face left him lying bleeding on the pavement next to his broken glasses. His friends managed to escape and at that moment did not notice his absence.

A week after assault we visited Ibrahim and his family in their home in the Shuafat neighbourhood following the Iftar meal. We came as a "minyan of kindness"- myself and RHR board member Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann together with a delegation from the Tag Meir Forum.

The visit was exciting, sad, and outrageous all at once: The warmth and generosity of this sweet family, Ramadan and the delicious deserts they offered, contrasted against the stories of the brutality of the attackers, Ibrahim's trauma, the apathy of the police, the uncaring bureaucracy, the delaying of Ibrahim's relatives - including his mother - at the hospital, and the physical humiliation endured…

To read on see: https://rhr.org.il/eng/2019/06/visit-to-palestinian-teen-recovering-after-hate-crime-assault/