Tuesday, January 23, 2023, 8:43 In mid-January, an Arab prisoner in Damon Prison bit his Jewish cellmate, who required medical treatment. Honenu Attorney Chayim Bleicher, who is representing the victim, wrote a letter to the prison commander and the Coastal District Police demanding that action be taken against the attacker.
In his letter, Bleicher described the attack: “For several months, my client has been serving a sentence for traffic violations. Jewish and Arab prisoners are housed together peaceably in my client’s cell. Several days ago, [the attacker] from the southern Israel town of Hura was placed in my client’s cell. On 11.1.23, as my client was watching the news on television, photographs of the Public Security Minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, were broadcast, and my client expressed happiness. At this point, my client noticed that [the attacker] was praying and then immediately went into the toilet stall. Suddenly, without any warning, [the attacker] ran toward my client as he called out ‘Allah akbar,’ and sank his teeth into my client’s chest. My client was shocked and initially did not understand what was happening to him. It took my client some time to understand that [the attacker] had bitten him and was trying to dislodge his flesh. My client, as he groaned in pain, struggled for more than a minute before he succeeded in releasing himself from [the attacker’s] jaws. The other cellmates also tried to separate [the attacker] from my client.
“As a result of the attack, my client was transported to Carmel Hospital where he was diagnosed with bleeding in his chest, a severe chest infection, and hematomas covering a large area of his chest that spread to his abdomen as well. My client informed the undersigned that the hospital asked to hospitalize him, but due to a lack of human resources in the Prison Service, he was returned to his cell and taken periodically to the hospital. My client was treated with massive doses of antibiotics and kept under supervision to determine the need to insert a chest tube to drain the internal bleeding.”
Bleicher stated that the Arab attacker had bitten another Jew in Tzalmon Prison, which proves the danger that he poses. The letter continues: “My client was told that [the attacker] had carried out a similar biting attack on another Jew at the Tzalmon Prison, and then was transferred to [Damon Prison]. Likewise, my client’s cellmates explained to him that [the attacker’s] behavior is connected to the death of his relative Yacoub Abu Al-Qia’an during police operations near Hura. Despite the danger involved, [the attacker] was transferred to a different cell, also with Jewish prisoners.
“This was a serious, nationalistically motivated attack. Even though the attack took place within prison walls, it was a terror attack in every way. [The attacker] poses an immediate danger to every Israeli citizen even when he is in prison. As a first step, I would like to warn against housing [the attacker] in a common cell with Jews. It seems that he must be immediately isolated or not housed with Jewish or Druze (etc.) citizens,” concluded Bleicher.