Authorities announced Wednesday that the woman who was stabbed earlier in the day in Jerusalem's Shimon HaTzadik neighborhood (also known as Sheikh Jarrah) is 26-year-old Moriah Cohen. She was attacked while walking her children to school by a 15-year-old girl who lives in the neighborhood.
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Cohen's husband, Dvir, told Israel Hayom, "We will not leave the neighborhood. We believe in settling in east Jerusalem. We know that there are terrorists around us, but we will continue to settle Jerusalem until they understand one day that Israel is the one in charge.
"We are being threatened, and I have heard threats like 'I will kill you' many times. Such incidents happen daily, and there is also threatening graffiti. During Hanukkah, our menorah was extinguished and another one was broken. We live near terrorists."
Moriah "stepped out this morning and an Arab teenager who followed her stabbed her in the upper back. I was on reserve duty and my wife was alone with our five children. Someone who was there called an ambulance and she was taken to the hospital. She underwent some tests and thank God, her internal organs had not been injured."
When asked whether he knew the attacker, Dvir said, "It seems she is a neighbor of ours. She followed my wife. Moriah got to an intersection not far from our house. She told me that one of our sons screamed, 'Mom, you have a knife in your back.' It was a miracle.
"The terrorist was probably startled by the situation and fled, which was a miracle because our five children were there. Had she continued, I don't know how the situation could have ended. Ever since Operation Guardian of the Walls, our house was hit by 11 Molotov cocktails, and targeted by rockthrowers. We will continue to live here, that is part of our mission.
"Moriah is feeling well. The knife was long but did not injure internal organs. Please God, she will recover and be discharged from the hospital today."
In November, Israel Hayom interviewed Moriah and Dvir, who spoke about their lives in the flashpoint neighborhood.
"My hardest moment here was on Jerusalem Day," Moriah said back then. "When I wanted to go home with the kids from the celebrations, and all of a sudden there was a siren. From afar, I saw thousands of Arabs facing our homes, whistling and dancing with joy, and I was cut off from reaching my home, the place that's supposed to be my safety and my defense. It was a terrible feeling."
For the couple's five children, the events in May were difficult. Nevertheless, they projected confidence in the children's presence.
"We told them that the noises from the Arab attacks were noises from police actions that were defending us, but at one stage, our oldest child, Yinon-David, who's five, asked, 'Dad, if the police are protecting us, why aren't they here?' That's an emotionally healthy kid. When a guest asked him one time if he was afraid to live here, he said completely naturally and innocently, 'Why, are you afraid to live in your house?'"
Despite everything, Dvir and Moriah said that when things are calm, which is much more common than the days of rioting, "It's nice to raise children here. We returned to the Land of Israel and Jerusalem after 2,000 years."
The couple has been in the neighborhood for six years and came here after spending a few months living in Jewish homes in the Muslim Quarter of the Old City.
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