Israel Matzav

'Attempted murder' verdict to be handed down on Sunday

As I noted, two policemen were convicted of brutality yesterday for beating disengagement expulsion protester Akiva Vitkin at a road block in Ramat Gan (and afterwards at a police station) on June 29, 2005. Ironically, a court hearing was set to take place yesterday in which a verdict was to be rendered on 'attempted murder' charges against then-18-year old Shimshon Cytryn arising out of a rock fight between Jews and Arabs that took place in Gush Katif that same day, June 29, 2005. The hearing was canceled because Cytryn was involved in a traffic accident on the way to court. I try to shy away from taking absolute positions regarding incidents I do not witness and have not seen on tape, but it sounds like Shimshon is a victim of Pallywood. Arutz Sheva describes the incident for which Shimshon has been under house arrest for nearly two years. For the record, Shimshon Cytryn is an American citizen:

The incident in question occurred on June 29, 2005, just several weeks before the withdrawal/expulsion from Gaza. Amidst great tensions between pro-Land of Israel Jews, on the one hand, and Arabs, police and soldiers on the other, a rock fight developed between Jews and Arabs near the area of what had been the Palm Beach Hotel. It was soon reported that an Arab had been "mortally wounded," and the situation was widely described by media, political and military sources as a Jewish "lynching" of Arabs.

Amidst this charged atmosphere, a manhunt was launched for two Israeli youths filmed throwing rocks from close range at the Arab. When Shimshon was finally arrested a few days later, it was widely assumed that he would receive up to 20 years in prison for his role.

However, as Arutz-7 reported at the time, most of [the CiJ] reports did not mention that the injured Arab had been throwing rocks at Israelis for 15 minutes beforehand - and that he was up and about even while media reports continued to describe him as "mortally wounded."

In addition, the purported victim, Hilal Ziad Al-Majaydeh, told Voice of Israel Radio the next day that he had not been attacked by a civilian, but rather by an IDF soldier and was knocked unconscious.

...

Eyewitnesses told a different story than that which appeared on the media. One person on the scene, known as A.D., told Arutz-7 shortly afterwards:

"What actually happened was that one Jew threw rocks, and then about 30 Arabs came out and started pounding everything in sight with rocks. It was a terrible disgrace for the IDF - I came home all in shock at what I had seen. The soldiers were simply unable to protect themselves from this onslaught, even though the Arabs were pounding the jeeps and everything. The only time the soldiers did something real was when the Jews started throwing rocks back!"

Regarding the alleged "lynching," A.D. said the television footage of an Arab lying on the ground and then two Jewish boys running towards him and throwing rocks at him was a distortion of what actually happened. "That's not the story!" he said. "I saw this same Arab get hit in the head with a rock - and yet he continued to throw rocks, like a tiger, for the next 15 minutes! And then I saw some reporters go over to him and tell him to lie down and act as if he was unconscious. Later on, he was taken out walking on his own, holding on to a soldier..."

As I noted above, Shimshon Cytryn has been under 'house arrest' (as in he cannot leave his house) for nearly two years!

After two months, he requested to be released to house arrest, bringing no fewer than three Testing Service reports attesting that he did not present a public danger. Despite this, District Court Judge Binyamin Azulai turned him down four times. Finally, in November 2005, 4.5 months after Shimshon's arrest, Supreme Court Justice Edmond Levy released him to the care of a rabbi in Shaalvim, with sharp criticism of the lower court judge for not doing it sooner.

Shimshon Cytryn, a yeshiva student known for his dedication to his studies and who has recently become engaged to be married, was represented at first by the Honenu Civil Rights organization, and later by Atty. Yarom HaLevi of Tel Aviv. For more information on the case and how to help defray the family's legal expenses, send email to amcytryn@netvision.net.il.

The email address is Shimshon's grandmother, who was a subscriber to my email list and is likely (although I don't know for sure) a reader of this blog. Those who are able to help defray the legal costs (Honenu is essentially a public defender - a private lawyer in this type of case can run $50,000 - $100,000), please do!

Previously at Israel Matzav: Our World: Shimshon Cytryn and Aharon Barak

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:19 AM