Teenage 'scissor' terrorist jailed for 13 years

Palestinian girl, now 17, stabbed elderly Arab man, thinking he was a Jew, in 2015 Jerusalem attack; younger cousin and accomplice killed at scene

By Sue Surkes

You will receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

You will no longer receive email alerts from this author. Manage alert preferences on your profile page

23 November 2016, 4:54 pm

Edit

Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter

A 17-year-old Palestinian girl was sentenced to 13 years in jail on Wednesday, exactly a year after she tried to stab passersby with scissors on a street in Jerusalem.

The teen was convicted of one charge of attempted murder instead of two, as part of a plea bargain, along with illegal possession of a knife. She was also given an 18-month suspended sentence, valid for three years after her release from prison.

In addition, the girl was ordered to pay NIS 30,000 ($7,750) by May 1 to an elderly Palestinian, mistaken for a Jew and stabbed by the girl’s 14-year-old cousin and partner in crime.

The 14-year-old was shot dead during the rampage.

Israeli security and rescue personnel evacuate the dead body of a female Arab terrorist at the scene of a stabbing attack by the Mahane Yehuda market in central Jerusalem, November 23, 2015. (Photo by Samuel Vengrinovich) — Israeli security and rescue personnel evacuate the dead body of a female Arab terrorist at the scene of a stabbing attack by the Mahane Yehuda market in central Jerusalem, November 23, 2015. (Samuel Vengrinovich)

It was the 14-year-old who came up with the idea of murdering a Jew to avenge her brother’s death in November 2013, the court heard.

Her brother, then aged 24, died after being shot in the neck by an IDF soldier at a Qalandiya checkpoint protest.

A day after raising the idea, the 14-year-old turned up at her cousin’s house and asked her to bring her ID with her. The older girl said she was with her cousin “until death,” according to the court ruling.

The two left home carrying their schoolbags, so as not to attract attention, took the bus from Kafr Aqab, in the far north of Jerusalem, to the city center, and went to pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque in the Old City, the third-holiest shrine in Islam.

They then bought two pairs of scissors “after checking with the salesman that [the scissors] were strong enough to hurt” someone.

At the Old City’s Damascus Gate, the two boarded another bus, got off at the Jerusalem Municipality buildings, and started walking along Jaffa Road, looking for a victim.

Close to the Mahane Yehuda vegetable market, the 14-year-old approached an Arab man dozing on a bench and stabbed him in the back and the back of the head with her scissors, with the intention of killing him. Bleeding, he got up and ran, and the two girls continued waving their scissors around, in full view of a security camera.

A security guard at the branch of the nearby Health Ministry ran towards the girls while an armed man approached the older attacker and beat her with a chair, causing her to fall onto the ground.

The armed man then shot the younger girl as she tried to stab him. A passing policemen also shot at her, and she died at the scene.

The security guard, who sustained injuries to his arm during the shooting, was taken to hospital along with the old Palestinian man who was stabbed in the back.

The court heard that the older girl was one of eight children living in rented housing in the village of Kafr Aqab, that she was a good student and had no previous disciplinary or behavioral problems.

The girl herself expressed remorse for what she had done, and said she had been dragged along by her younger cousin.

The prosecution demanded a 15-year prison sentence, while the defense asked for no more than six years to ensure the girl could still return to normative society.

The psychological services warned against a long sentence on the grounds that exposure to criminals and extreme ideologies were likely to do her harm.