The settler whose beard was torn off by a police officer is suing - and this is the compensation he is demanding

28 June 2023   

Attorney El-Adi Wiezl of Mhonenu filed a civil lawsuit for 30,000 shekels with the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court against the police and the policeman who was filmed last Saturday night savagely tearing out the beard of a settler who was protesting security lawlessness near the settlement of Ateret. Even 10 cm: What is the leading cause of death for children in the summer? • The data At the same time as filing the lawsuit, Attorney Wiesel contacted the police department and filed a complaint against the violent police officer. He also contacted Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai, demanding that the police officer be fired immediately. In the lawsuit, Attorney Wiesel describes the attack: "On Saturday night, a demonstration was held at the entrance to the settlement of Ateret in protest of the incompetence of the security establishment against the rising terrorism and the diversion of its resources and time to interrogate settlers who were forced to respond to the terrorist attacks and protect their own safety. Settlers who arrived at the entrance to the settlement protested the extreme and unprecedented decision of the commander of the Binyamin Brigade, Col. Eliav Elbaz, to carry out a kind of collective punishment and impose a curfew on the settlement of Ateret. "A curfew in which a checkpoint was set up at the entrance to the settlement and the forces stopped and/or delayed vehicle traffic for long hours, no one could leave or come in without a thorough security check. As part of the demonstration, a number of settlers, including the complainant, sat down on the entrance road to the settlement and blocked the movement of the police forces, who for some reason chose to confiscate the vehicles of settlers from within the settlement, instead of directing their resources to preventive actions against the rising terrorism in its area. "Suddenly, without any prior warning or conversation, the nylon policeman approached the complainant, reached his hand towards his face and pulled his beard in a powerful, violent and humiliating manner. The complainant screamed a cry of great pain, but despite his screams, the nylon not only continued to pull his beard but also escalated his actions, making a powerful pulling motion and tearing the complainant's beard from his face. "The tearing motion was made so brutally that within a fraction of a second the beard was uprooted from its place and remained in the nylon's hand. It seems that the results of the pulling did not surprise the nylon, who contemptuously threw the beard hairs on the road and continued on his way as if nothing or half of it had happened." Wiesel details in the lawsuit the pain and humiliation experienced by the settler: "It is needless to mention the great pain and suffering caused to a person who is pulled by his hair, and even less so by his beard. It is needless to mention the humiliation felt by a religious person who is humiliated by pulling the hairs of his beard, which have religious value for him. The pulling of a Jew's beard from his face is a shocking sight reminiscent of dark periods in the past of the Jewish people. "To eliminate any doubt, it should be emphasized that throughout the entire incident the complainant did not act violently. Not one bit. His only sin for which he 'deserved' such treatment was a passive protest in which he sat on the road. The video of the incident speaks for itself and proves that the nylon acted violently and brutally, using unlawful force and causing great pain and humiliation to the complainant.".