Tal Zino
Reproduction photo: Hagai Aharon
Monument in Kfar Tavor
Photo: Hagai Aharon
The driver , Assad Shibli, was also wounded
Photo: Hagai Aharon
Attorneys Schwartz and Narkis
Yom Kippur crash was terror attack, say parents
A year after she was killed by a quad bike driving through her town on Yom Kippur, Tal Zino's parents are breaking their silence: 'The Arab drivers came here to provoke Jews on the holiday, our daughter was the victim of the first vehicular terror attack.' Attorneys for Assad and Muhammed Shibli however, say their clients were tried by the media and fault the police investigation
Tal Zino would have been eleven years old this Yom Kippur. Exactly one year ago she peddled away from her home in Kfar Tavor on her bicycle, heading to join her friends as they road through the small community's empty streets on the holiday eve. Save for security or medical vehicles, there is virtually no traffic in Jewish towns on Yom Kippur.
Case Goes To Trial
Sharon Roffe-Ofir
Decision based on lack of evidence proving intent to harm. ATV driver, passenger also face charges of endangerment, aggravated assault, obstruction of justice; may receive 20-year jail term
"They told me that Tal had been injured but that there was nothing to worry about, and that we had to go to the hospital," recalled Chaya, "and that was it, that was when our lives changed."
Tal had been in the street just outside the synagogue when two young residents of the neighboring Bedouin village of Arab al-Shibli sped into Kfar Tavor on a quad-bike (ATV). The driver hurtled down the street. Unable to steer from his path, Tal was hit.
She was evacuated to Haemek Medical Hospital in Afula in critical condition by Magen David Adom paramedics. She had suffered grave injuries to various organs, and died of her wounds a short time later.
For a year her family was mostly silent. But on Sunday, as they prepared for a memorial evening in their daughter's honor, the outraged parents could no longer hold back. "Our daughter was the victim of the first vehicular terror attack," they told Ynet.
Yehiel and Chaya by the monument erected for Tal (Photo: Hagai Aharon)
The Zinos charged that the incident isn't referred to as a terror attack for fear of upsetting the shaky ties between Israel's Jewish and Arab sectors. "But it is important to say these things, to prevent similar incidents from happening."
Speakers at the memorial evening will include Tal's parents, her older sister Shahar and classmates. They also plan on screening a documentary about Tal's life, made by students at the Kaduri School communication department.
"We lost a bright, funny and beautiful child who was surrounded by friends, a girl who loved life and wanted to take in the whole world," said Chaya, whose address at the memorial event will center on the promise she made to Tal to see her killers brought to justice.
"I sent my daughter to somewhere that was supposed to be safe, on the safest day, and she didn't come back."
'An intent to kill'
The driver of the quad bike, 20-year-old Assad Shibli, had previously had his license revoked. Injured in the collision himself, he tried to flee the scene but was overpowered by local residents and taken into police custody. His passenger, 21-year-old Muhammed Shibli, managed to get away. He turned himself in a week later.
The tragedy sparked heated reactions from residents of Kfar Tavor, who had filed numerous complaints in the past against reckless quad bikers from the area. Some called for Shibili to be indicted on terror charges.
After consulting with the State Prosecution, police initially held Assad Shibli on suspected murder. In an unprecedented move, his passenger was held on similar charges.
"Someone who drives into a crowd of people intends to kill," investigators said at the time, although they quickly determined they did not have sufficient evidence to indict the two on murder in the first degree. They were indicted instead on a series of charges, including manslaughter.
The Zinos said they understood the decision to downgrade the charges. "We were disappointed but not angry, we understood. The idea of having a murder trial end in both of them being acquitted was much worse, better to have them charged with manslaughter," said Chaya.
The Bedouin village near Kfar Tavor (Photo: Hagai Aharon)
The couple attends every hearing at the courthouse, despite the emotional toll. "I sit there and I force myself to hold back, not to say anything to the defendants. But it eats away at me inside. They took away that which was most precious to me," said Yehiel.
Chaya said their being at the court serves an important purpose. "It's hard for me to see them, but I promised Tal. And if they are sentenced to even just one more day in prison because I am there, then I'll know that I did everything I could. It's very hard for us to see them with their families, smiling and trying distort everything – as though they are the victims – while they forget that the real victim is Tal and our family," she said.
"It's not that they ignored a red light or didn't obey a signpost, they came here to provoke people on Yom Kippur – and they can't even say they didn't know it (the holiday) had already started. You could see everyone wearing white, the streets were lit. And besides, they live here amongst us – they go to Kaduri, which is an integrated school – so just as we know when Ramadan starts, they know when Kippur begins and what it means to us."
A dangerous precedent, say lawyers
In two month's time the Nazareth District Court is scheduled to hand over its verdict. But Assad Shibli's attorney, David Ben-Asher, said his client was already tried by the media."There were a lot of failing in the police investigation, they decided outright that this man was a murderer, and therefore they didn't conduct a thorough investigation. The media onslaught is also to blame – the media tried both of them even before their guilt was proven. I am sorrowed by the enormity of the tragedy, but clearly there was no malicious intent here," he added.
As for Muhammed Shibli, his attorneys warn that if their client is convicted of a charge identical to Assad's it could set a dangerous precedent. "Next time someone is a passenger in a car and the car is involved in a tragic accident, that passenger may find himself accused of manslaughter on the strength of the Shibli precedent," said attorneys Oren Schwartz and Yogev Narkis.
The prosecution however assert that Muhammed fled the scene of the crash and leave Tal bleeding in the street. His attorneys say he ran because he feared for his life. "If he hadn't run they would have lynched him," said Schwartz.
He added that Shibli and his family, as well as others from the village, are hurt by the manner in which they were viewed following the incident. "These are people who gave their lives for the country. They're hurt that people see them as terrorists. Unfortunately this tragic road accident is being saddled with the entire Jewish-Arab schism. This is not the way to honor the memory of the little girl."
