Snow as weapon, Arabs arrested for snowball attack on Jewish residents near Jerusalem, 80-100 Palestinians pelted Jews with dozens of snowballs, most snow region has had since 1992

1/21/13, "Snow 'attack' Palestinians held," BBC

"Nine Palestinians from East Jerusalem have been arrested

after two Jews were abused and pelted with snowballs, footage of which drew outrage online.
Police said the suspects have been charged with "intending to attack" the two ultra-Orthodox men.

A video shows the group ganging up on the men, shouting insults and taking one of their hats, as at least one Palestinian filmed on a mobile phone.


The footage went viral on social media sites, drawing widespread condemnation. Police said the incident happened outside the Damascus Gate entrance of Jerusalem's Old City last week, when about 80 Palestinians were having a snowball fight.

They said the group of adults and children started throwing snowballs at the two Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) men as they passed by. Police said the two men asked the group to stop but they carried on.

"It turned into more of an attack than a simple incident," police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said. In the video footage, the Palestinians are seen hounding the two men, throwing snow and mocking them. One youth knocks off one of their hats and puts it another youth's head.

The gang then chases the two Haredi men through traffic, laughing and hurling snow. The Jerusalem Post website says the police became aware of the incident from the online video.

Jerusalem and other parts of the Middle East recently experienced some of the heaviest snowfall in the region for years." photo BBC

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1/20/13, "Nine arrested for snowball fight against haredim," Jerusalem Post

"Police arrested nine Arabs from east Jerusalem over the past week in connection with a snowball attack against two haredim during the snowstorm a week and a half ago. Jerusalem received over 20 cm of snow in the biggest storm since 1992.

A group of approximately 100 Arabs, mostly teenagers, spent much of the morning hanging out at Damascus Gate and pelting everyone who entered or exited Damascus Gate - Jews, Arabs, and tourists alike - with dozens of snowballs, despite pleas to stop from various parties. But the innocent snowball fight got out of hand when two haredim tried to leave Damascus Gate and were accosted by approximately twenty Arabs, who threw snowballs at them from less than a meter away and tried to steal one of their hats.

A video taken of the incident went viral on Facebook with thousands of people expressing disgust. Police arrested three Arabs last weekend and six Arabs from the Old City on Sunday night, both minors and adults. The Jerusalem Magistrates Court extended the remand of three of the Arabs arrested last week for four days."







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