At the
same as Israel’s new ‘Justice’ Minister Ayelet Shaked, the genocidalist-in-chief,
proposes   minimum  10 year sentences for (Arab) stone throwers,
three Jewish teenagers receive 3 months community service for torching a Palestinian
café. 

Now if
they had been Palestinians setting fire to a Jewish café, just think what the
sentence might have been?  10 years, 20
years, life?  Zionist justice at its best
in ‘the only democracy in the Middle East.’

Tony Greenstein

Despite declarations by Justice Ministry and prosecutors
that they are determined to combat hate crime, recent plea bargain in case of 4
teens who set fire Palestinian cafe shows otherwise.

Aviel Magnezi

The Justice Ministry and state prosecutors have
consistently declared that they are determined to combat the hate crime
phenomenon known as “price tag” attacks, but a recent plea bargain
accepted in the case of four teenage boys who were given a light sentence for setting fire to a Palestinian café indicates otherwise.

The Jerusalem District Court approved a plea bargain on
Monday in the case of four teenage boys from Arad and the West Bank who
admitted to setting fire to a Palestinian café near Hebron.

As part of the indictment, the prosecution had requested
the teenagers receive a six-month sentence; however, the court sentenced them
to three months of community service. 

The teens were arrested in September 2014 and
investigators presented video footage which depicted the four teens running
away with their faces covered after they set fire to a Palestinian café in the
village of Dura, south of Hebron, and spray painted the word
“revenge” on the front door of the establishment.

Site where Israeli teens set fire to Palestinian cafe.
(Photo: Police Spokesman)

After their arrest, the four teens were charged with
incitement and destruction of land with racist motives.

According to the indictment, the teens had planned to
damage the café ahead of time. It was also noted that they arrived at the scene
with their faces covered, set fire to couches and armchairs and caused heavy
damages to the electrical system and perimeter fence of the café.  

The parties then reached an agreement on a plea bargain
in which the prosecution waived the initial charges of racism and destruction
of land. Instead, it was agreed that the teens be charged with one count of arson
and that they would only be sentenced to community service.

The prosecution argued that the teens should be
sentenced to six months of community service as they had sought revenge and
because the act endangered life.

On the other hand, the teens’ attorneys argued that the
boys did not break the law but rather “were simply teens that had their
hangout spot burned and decided to get revenge by burning a similar hang out
spot in the village from which the accused thought the original arsons came
from.”

The teens’ attorneys also claimed that they did not pose
a threat to anyone’s life.

The judge, Shirly Renner, said that it was a serious
offense that could cause high risk to human life and expressed her surprise as
to why the boys chose that specific café while they did not know if the owner
was involved in the arson at Beit El.  

On the other hand, the judge noted the teenagers’ clean
past and their admission. 

In view of the plea
bargain, the judge sentenced the boys to three months of community service, a
year of probation and a fine of 500 shekels to be paid to the owners of the
café they torched.