In a detailed letter to the mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, former city councilmen Minna Fenton described the stonethrowing attack she suffered together with her family on the Mt. of Olives, an attack which like many others did not gain media attention even though it occurred in the heart of the capital.
In her letter, Fenton described how on Sunday, 11th of Iyar, 7.5.17. the family were returning from a memorial service for her father on the Mt. of Olives when they were attacked by “lowly Arab hooligans” on the main road from Mt. Scopus to the Mt. of Olives.
“A stone was thrown with great force at the car in which my daughter was driving. The Arab youth came closr to the car without fear and then fled into the crowd of Arabs who stood in the street and did nothing. The car window was smashed to smithereens, the one next to where my son was sitting adjacent to the driver. The stone landed in the car and my daughter was injured. Her face was bleeding and the window next to her was smashed into small shards. My son was covered in glass. Both of them were transferred to the Hadassah hospital on Mt. Scopus. Miraculously the injuries were light.”
The attack did not end with the stones thrown at the daughter. Fenton added that “I was driving in the car in front of them with my daughter. An Arab terrorist hooligan jumped on my car, banged on it and broke the Israeli flaf which was attached to the window.
“The incident was reported to the police, who said they were coming immediately. Of course we continued driving to Augusta Victoria. The police didn’t arrive. We continued to the gate of the Hebrew University, all the time reporting where the hooligans were situated. The university’s security officer arrived immediately, as well as MDA teams and members of Ichud Hatzala as well as three ambulances which came before the police. The police took more than 20 minutes to reach the smashed car. This is scandalous.”
Fenton said that she had been visiting the Mt. of Olives for 39 years, since the death of her mother. She now visits a few times a year, to commemorate her father, mother-in-law and husband who are also buried on the mountain.
by Yoel Domb
