MANDEL: Woman gets probation after tossing elderly Jewish man to ground
The 18-year-old was originally charged with assaulting the 88-year-old last summer but ended up pleading guilty to mischief
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Just 12-months probation for a teenage woman originally charged with stealing an Israeli flag and shoving its 88-year-old owner to the ground in North York last summer.
It sure doesn’t seem like much.
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Hissa Abed, 18, didn’t even have to offer an apology to Joel Sacke for the hurtful chaos she caused.
In a plea deal, her theft and assault charges were dropped in return for Abed pleading guilty to mischief for stealing the flag at the Jewish community’s weekly Sunday rally at Bathurst St. and Sheppard Ave. in support of the hostages kidnapped from Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
“I’m totally dissatisfied,” Sacke told the Canadian Jewish News in an article published Friday.
“(The decision) gives a licence: ‘Oh yes, you can go and beat up Jews. It’s okay. Nothing happens to you. You get a slap on the wrist.’”
According to the March 11 ruling by Ontario Court Justice Howard Borenstein, the Crown had advised the court that the assault charge was being withdrawn as Abed planned to raise self defence and the prosecutor “would not seek to disprove self defence beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Self-defence? Seriously?
On Aug. 18, 2024, the octogenarian was at the Sunday afternoon vigil for the murdered and missing, waving an Israeli flag. Abed was looking for trouble.
“Ms. Abed was in the back seat of the car with her family,” the judge wrote. “As they drove by the rally, Ms. Abed was filming herself inside her car laughing, yelling ‘free Palestine’ as they drove by the demonstrators. She tells the driver she wants to grab one of their flags. The car drives by the demonstrators as Abed tries to grab several flags before she was able to grab the flag from 88-year-old Mr. Sacke.”
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A demonstrator is seen reaching into the car and strikes Abed in their effort to get the flag back, Borenstein wrote.
The car then tried to drive away but got stuck in traffic and was surrounded by several pro-Israel demonstrators who began kicking and hitting the vehicle with their flags.
But the judge lay the blame for the melee squarely at the feet of Abed.
“It became an instant chaotic situation. Precipitated by Abed grabbing the flag from Mr. Sacke,” he wrote.
It then got worse.
Abed, her father and brother got out of their car to “engage with protestors,” Borenstein continued. “Abed is seen on video grabbing Mr. Sacke from behind with a hand over his shoulder and one hand over his torso as he goes to the ground. He is 88 years old and was injured. He was taken to the hospital for treatment. His injuries continue to this day.”
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Yet Abed’s lawyer had the nerve to urge the court not to accept Sacke’s victim impact statement, claiming he was not a victim of the mischief.
To his credit, Borenstein wouldn’t let him whitewash what happened. The judge admitted Sacke’s statement, finding he was indeed a “direct victim” of the offence.
“I will not ignore those parts of Mr. Sacke’s statement where he writes about the consequences of being thrown to the ground just because Ms. Abed did not plead guilty to assault,” he said.
In his victim impact statement, the elderly man said he repeatedly asks himself why this happened to him.
“I was carrying an Israeli flag to show my support for those murdered and taken hostage. I wanted to participate in a community in a part of town where we were welcome,” Sacke wrote.
“What did I do that made Ms. Abed so angry with me that she grabbed my flag and threw me to the ground?” he asked. “Why am I being punished by being depressed in this way?”
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In the end, though, the judge accepted the joint submission on sentence: considering her youth, a conditional discharge with 12 months of probation – meaning Abed will have no criminal record. She must also attend anger-management and perform 40 hours of community service.
Maybe the Ottawa student should also read up on the Charter of Rights.
“He and everyone have the right to peacefully assemble, to gather and to express their views,” Borenstein wrote of Sacke. “Ms. Abed chose to provoke them, to engage in conduct intended to undermine their right to peacefully assemble and their sense of peace and security.”
And for that, the lucky girl gets a slap on the wrist.
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