Two employees of Israel Electric Company were victims of a stabbing attack in the predominately Arab Shuafat area of the capital. According to reports on Wednesday morning, one is in light condition but his colleague is in critical condition. Police believe a member of a family whose electricity was cut off perpetrated the attack.
An IEC spokesman reports that at 8:00am on Wednesday morning, four members of an Arab family that had their electric service cut off came to the IEC facility and blocked the road, preventing employees from entering or leaving. Despite efforts to persuade them to move, they remained adamant, preventing some 25 IEC vehicles from heading out for their day’s work. The family members claim they were cut off without warning, apparently for not paying their bill.
As the exchange of words continued, the family members began shouting, followed by rock-throwing against employees. Two employees were stabbed, one in the abdomen, listed in light/stable condition and the second, whose throat was slashed, remains in grave/stable condition following emergency surgery.
Police were called and the Arabs fled, abandoning their vehicle, which was learned to be stolen. Police reviewed the security cameras that operate regularly to identify the perpetrators.
An IEC employee quoted in the media explains “this is not the first time that Arabs from E. Jerusalem attack us. They regularly steal electricity and do not pay their bills. It’s terrorism”.
The official added IEC hopes police and the courts will assist in finding a way to deal with this major problem regarding the Arab residents of the eastern capital.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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One Response
Please don’t try to make this look like an “Arabs hate Jews”-article.
Haaretz clearly wrote that the stabbed IEC employees were Arabs as well. There is no anti-semitic background.