‘Naksa Day’ rioter gets six months

The Nazareth Magistrate’s Court on Thursday sentenced a 39-year-old resident of the Golan Druse town of Majdal Shams to six months in prison, after convicting him of disorderly conduct and aggravated assault of a public servant during the “Naksa Day” protests in June 2011.

Assad Abu Salah, who was convicted under a plea bargain, admitted that he took part in rioting and that he threw rocks at security forces.

Judge Naaman Edris also handed down suspended sentences for the respective convictions of 12 and six months each, and a fine of NIS 2,500.

Hundreds of Palestinian rioters repeatedly tried to infiltrate Israel in two locations on the Syrian border on June 5 as part of protests to commemorate so-called Naksa Day (the anniversary of the Six Day War), when Israel captured the Golan Heights.

The rioters were rebuffed by the IDF, who had increased their presence in the area in order to prevent a repeat of Nakba Day scenes in which Syrian rioters also infiltrated Israeli territory.

An unprecedented escalation in the disturbances took place towards the evening, when dozens of Druse youths from Majdal Shams on the Israeli side of the border began hurling large rocks and bricks at IDF forces on the border.

In July 2011, another Majdal Shams resident, Nasser Shaer, was sentenced to eight months in prison for aggravated assault of a public servant and disorderly conduct.

Ben Hartman and Yaakov Lappin contributed to this report.