A Jewish man filed a lawsuit in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court for NIS 25,000 against a Border Guard police officer for brutally pulling his beard and payos during a raid.

The lawsuit states: “On September 18, 2022, a Border Guard police force arrived at Givat Oz Tzion in Binyamin and presented a military closure order to the residents. The residents, including the plaintiff, tried to clarify the legality of the order with the police officers. During the discussion between the two parties, the plaintiff carried out an act of protest and tore up the copy of the order handed to him.”

“Then, and without any preliminary discussion, the defendant reached out and punched the plaintiff in his face and immediately afterward grabbed his beard and mustache, pulling them in a brutal and humiliating manner and aggressively arresting him while trampling on his religious feelings.”

“It is superfluous to mention the great pain and suffering caused to a person who is pulled by his hair. It is even more unnecessary to mention the humiliation felt by a religious man who is humiliated by the pulling of the hairs of his beard and payos, which are of religious and sentimental value to him.”

“A Jew being brutally pulled by his beard and payos is a shocking sight that recalls dark times in the past of the Jewish people. The video speaks for itself and proves that the defendant acted violently and brutally, using illegal and disproportionate force and causing great pain and humiliation to the plaintiff.

“The plaintiff endured a great deal of suffering and heartache from the injury to his body, his dignity, and his rights by the violent and humiliating attack, the trampling of his faith, and the offense to his religious feelings. The defendant chose to act with severe and humiliating violence towards the defendant while cynically pulling his payos in order to ‘pay him back’ for tearing up the copy of the order – a violent and humiliating act that was carried out without any legal reason, justification or logic – humiliation for the sake of humiliation, the harming of religious feelings for its own sake.”

The lawsuit also emphasized that the plaintiff did not engage in any violence prior to being attacked. “It is undisputed that at no point did the plaintiff act violently since the allegations against the plaintiff do not relate to violent resistance on his part and the video proves this, and therefore there is no justification for the brutal and violent manner in which his arrest was carried out – a punch to his face, the pulling of his beard and payos – and such a serious injury to his body, his dignity, and his feelings. In light of the above, it can be concluded that the defendant’s actions constitute an unlawful use of force and amount to the crime of assault.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)