Op-Ed: Your Brother’s Blood Cries Out From the Ground

by Saadia Hershkop

This week will mark one year to the death of Ahuvya Sandak hy”d, a sweet 16 year old boy who dedicated his life to building and protecting the land of Israel.

On the 21st of December, an unmarked car driven by undercover Yamar Shy police officers attempted to stop a car on an isolated and winding road in the Binyamin region. Ahuvya Sandak and a few other brave pioneers were in this car, on their way to the Maoz Esther “outpost.”

Allegedly, the police officers suspected the passengers of this car as having previously thrown rocks at passing Arab cars; an accusation that, to this day, no victim of this alleged attack has been found.

Against all regulations of police conduct the two officers rammed the car, with Ahuvya and his friends inside it repeatedly until the car flipped over flipped onto the jagged and rocky terrain.

Immediately, the area was closed off. The four other occupants laid next to the car injured and in handcuffs while one of the boys was pinned under the car and rapidly bleeding out. For almost 40 minutes, no emergency rescue services were allowed onto the scene. For Ahuvya Sandak, this was his death sentence.

At this point our story takes a wild twist out of the play book that we might expect from a bad mafia show. The murder scene was hermetically sealed. Standard procedure for any vehicle collision involving a death requires a traffic inspector on site. Zaka and medical personnel are present at the scene, and often as well as media outlets.

In this case, for hours after the collision, no one was allowed on site. Knesset members with diplomatic immunity, lawyers and private investigators were all illegally banned from visiting the scene of the crash.

The police officers involved were given three days to rehearse their stories before facing any form of investigation, while the Police Internal Investigations head said, “no investigation is necessary.”

Shockingly still, all dashcam footage, radio recordings, privet DVRs of cameras along the route have “been misplaced.”

Not only was Ahuvya Sandak murdered – he was and is being denied any chance of justice. As typical with any incident involving the death of a civilian by the hands of police, all involved are immediately segregated and interrogated to ensure that no wrong doing has taken place by the hands of the police. In fact, Israeli police are notorious for investigating officers just hours after neutralizing active terrorists. In this case, however, the murderers not only walk free, but carry on working the SAME role in the police as before.

Personally, I never got to meet Ahuvya, but I know that back in the day this could have been me or any of my friends children. As we approach one year since the murder, it is clearer than ever before that if there is zero accountability, not just for the officers involved, but for the higher ups who encourage and defend them – this can send a clear message that these kinds of action are openly supported in the land of Israel.

Over the years,I have stepped up to the plate to do what’s right, both in Crown Heights and in the holy land on many occasions. Today, I am asking you to take a small, yet valuable call to action.

Call, email, text and Tweet your local Israeli Consulate and Embassy representatives and Jewish-American philanthropists for Israel to demand an honest and transparent investigation into the death of Ahuvya Sandak!

https://www.visahq.com/israel/embassy/united-states/

The Lubavitcher Rebbe always said that when it hurts, you scream, and that no action goes unanswered.