Family car hit by snowballs packed with stones in Jerusalem area
Kiryat Gat couple with daughter were returning home after enjoying the snow when Arab youths hit their car with snowballs containing stones; none were hurt.
Arab youths hurled snowballs containing stones at a car carrying a couple and their three-year-old daughter on Route 60, near Jerusalem on Friday.
The father, Avi (not his real name), his wife and their daughter had been enjoying the snow-covered scenes in Jerusalem. At approximately 2pm, the car exited the Gilo neighborhood and headed south on the Tunnels Road.
"When I exited the first tunnel, I saw more than 10 youths standing nearby, shouting in Arabic," the father told Ynet. "I saw them throw a snowball at us and suddenly heard a 'boom', and realized it wasn't snow, but stones."
Due to the heavy snow that had accumulated on the road, he was not able to leave the area quickly, and the car was repeatedly pelted with stones. Eventually, they managed to escape to safety.
"I decided at the end to step on the gas pedal and managed to escape. It was very difficult, if I had been a new driver or someone who feels insecure on the road it could have ended in disaster, because it was almost impossible to drive like that in the snow. If I had stopped, it would have ended with a lynching. I've seen things in my life, but this is the first time I was in this kind of situation. I never saw anything like it," the father said.
After managing to escape, the father arrived at the tunnels checkpoint and reported the incident to the security forces, who accompanied him to the area of Beitar Illit. When he arrived home, he discovered the damage to his car, which was apparently caused by large stones.
"My wife and I are in shock," he said. "They took advantage of the fact that people were driving very slowly and that there were few cars on the road in order to attempt to carry out a lynching," he said, adding that it was "only luck" that saved them from a disaster.
Once receiving the report, the police dispatched two teams of Border Police officers to the scene. The Border Police said that the teams drove to the scene of the attack with the driver and searched the area, but did not locate the stone throwers.
