5 indicted in assault on Arab janitor in Jerusalem

The Jewish youths, four of them minors, shouted racist epithets at their victim as they beat him, according to the indictment

By JTA 18 March 2016, 6:50 am

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Illustrative photo of police officers at Liberty Bell Park in Jerusalem, July 24, 2013 (Zuzana Janku/Flash90)

Five Israeli Jews were indicted Thursday for attacking a Jerusalem janitor because he is Arab.

The five defendants, four of them minors, were indicted in the Jerusalem District Court, the Haaretz daily reported.

According to the indictment, after a night of partying in central Jerusalem earlier this month, the alleged assailants went looking for an Arab to beat up. Arriving at Liberty Bell Park at about 7 a.m., the five spotted the janitor working and began cursing him, saying, “You Arab son of a bitch, your Muhammad is a pig.”

The five allegedly shoved, hit and kicked the janitor for several minutes, continuing to boot him after they knocked him down. One is accused of stealing the victim’s cellphone.

The victim’s coworker, a gardener in the park, tried to intervene but was unsuccessful.

The prosecution has asked that Netanel Goldenberg, the one defendant who is legally an adult and can thus be publicly identified, be held without bail until the end of the trial.