Teens yell, spit at 60-year-old Arab woman in Nazareth Illit
Three teens arrested for harassing Arab woman in Nazareth Illit to give talks on racism; 'We preferred education to punitive measures,' says officer
Three 14-year-old boys from Nazareth Illit were arrested over the weekend for allegedly spitting on an Arab woman and yelling at her to leave "the Jewish neighborhood."
The police said the teens will be punished by giving talks to other teenagers on tolerance and opposing racist violence, and will also accompany police officers on their neighborhood activity.
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These punitive measures were decided by the police and the teens' schools.
The incident occurred on Friday night when the woman, in her 60s, was walking in a Nazareth Illit street with her 20-year-old daughter.
According to the police, the two passed a mikveh when they encountered the teens who study at a nearby boarding school.
Allegedly, the teens yelled at the elderly woman to leave the "Jewish neighborhood" and "go back to Nazareth," and spat at her.
The woman filed a complaint with the local police station. Following their interrogation, the teens confessed and apologized for their actions, and were released.
Regarding the teens' unorthodox punishment, a police officer said: "We preferred the educational element to standard punitive action.
"Anyway, these are teens, so punishment isn't always effective in such cases. The arrest and interrogation were enough for them to understand the gravity of their actions."
The light punishment was given despite Police Chief Yohanan Danino's instructions to prioritize the treatment of such attacks and to prosecute suspects to the full extent of the law.
Last week saw several incidents of racist violence: Jewish teens threw stones at an Arab teacher's car in Jerusalem, an Arab couple was attacked on the shores of Lake Kinneret, an Arab woman was attacked by religious teenaged girls in a Jerusalem tram station and a band of 20 youngsters assaulted an Arab street cleaner in Tel Aviv.
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