Jewish Families Attacked by Arab Mob in Shiloach
Explosive thrown at vehicle of families living in Jerusalem neighborhood breaks apart steel grid covering bulletproof windows.
A group of Jewish families living in the Shiloach (Silwan) neighborhood of Jerusalem were attacked by an Arab mob on Monday.
The group that was attacked on Monday were helped to move into the area by Ateret Cohanim, an institution that has made it a priority to help facilitate the redemption of Jewish property held by Arabs.
Ateret Cohanim’s Executive Director, Daniel Luria, spoke to Arutz Sheva on Tuesday and recounted two separate attacks on Jewish families that occurred on Monday night.
The first attack occurred at around 8:30 p.m. when Arab terrorists threw an explosive at a Jewish vehicle, which was luckily empty.
Another attack at around 10:00 p.m. saw Arabs throwing an explosive at a car transporting two families into the area. The explosive was so powerful it burst apart the steel mesh grid on top of the bulletproof front window of the vehicle.
According to Luria, police are investigating the incidents but have not yet arrested any suspects. They say the explosives used were stronger than regular firebombs.
The incident comes several days after another group of Jewish families reclaimed homes in Shiloach last Thursday.
Those homes are part of the Beit Rachel complex, built on land that belonged to the “Yemenite Hekdesh” – the old Yemenite community of Jerusalem which was founded in 1882.
At its peak 144-150 Yemenite Jewish families were living in the thriving and successful Yemenite Village on the slopes of Mount Zion overlooking the City of David, the Shiloach springs, the Temple Mount and the Old City.
Many of the original Jewish buildings were destroyed by Arab between 1938-1945, though the title on the land still remained.
The six Beit Rachel apartments were built by Arabs who came to an arrangement with the Hekdesh to vacate after Israel’s courts ruled in favor of the land belonging to the Yemenite Jewish community.
Despite the families’ purchase of as well as historic, and legal right to the houses, local Arabs continue to incite and riot against the Jewish families currently living or moving into Shiloach.
Luria described the violence in the area as “unparalleled to the whole of Israel” with a never-ending slew of physical attacks against Jews occurring in the neighborhood daily.
Calling the amount of violence “unacceptable,” Luria urged government leaders to stop the constant terror “taking place just one minute away from the Kotel.”
