One of two cousins who involved in two stabbings in the Pisgat Ze'ev neighborhood of Jerusalem in 2015 was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The other cousin was shot and killed by police while they were attempting to arrest the then-teenaged terrorists. Photo by Google Maps
JERUSALEM, Nov. 8 (UPI) -- A 14-year-old Palestinian teenager was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his role in the stabbing of two random Israelis in 2015 with his cousin, who was shot by police at the time.
Ahmad Manasra, who was 13 when he and his cousin chased a man the cousin had stabbed twice and stabbed a 12-year-old boy leaving a candy, was convicted on two counts of attempted murder and will serve more than a decade for the attack, despite not actually stabbing anybody himself.
While Palestinian officials and the boys' lawyers say the charges were trumped up and Manasra should not serve time since he did not stab anybody, they also suggested any Palestinian boy holding a knife could be arrested for murder or shot down by police based on the results of the trial.
"Although we are talking about minors, the punishment is typically a prison sentence," Jerusalem District Court judges wrote in their verdict. "The punishment needs to express society's dislike for such actions aimed at killing a person due to his racial background, especially in light of the ongoing terror wave that has been plaguing the State of Israel. A lighter punishment would most likely send a wrong message to the public."
Manasra, who was 13 at the time, and his 15-year-old cousin were inspired by Hamas to kill Jews and potentially martyr themselves while doing so, carrying 15-centimeter and 20-centimenter knives while searching for victims.
First, the 15-year-old stabbed an older Orthodox Jewish man twice and then were seen on CCTV, video from which was shown during the trial, chasing the man.
Later in video recordings, the teens are seen spot a 12-year-old Jewish boy leaving a candy store on his bike. The 15-year-old is then seen stabbing the boy in the neck, seriously wounding him.
The teens fled the scene, and the 15-year-old was later shot by police and died from his wounds, however Manasra was subdued and hospitalized for wounds obtained while being arrested, and then put on trial.
Manasra's lawyers argued he should receive a less lengthy sentence because he is a minor and did not do any of the actual stabbing, but the judges did not agree.
