Muslims and asylum seekers in coronavirus quarantine at a hotel in Jerusalem have been separated from Jews, an Israeli Arab staying at the location has claimed.
According to the claim, quarantined Jews, many of them IDF soldiers, were moved on Tuesday to another location - leaving Israeli Arabs and predominately Eritrean migrant workers and asylum seekers behind.
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Jerusalem hotel for quarantined population separating Jews from Arabs
(Photo Eli Mandelbaum)
The Health Ministry and the IDF Home Front Command denied there was a policy to segregate people in the coronavirus quarantine hotels, but Hamda Haruv claims he was told by an IDF officer assigned to his hotel that an order was issued to separate the populations.
"We found out that the soldiers and Jewish residents quarantined with us in the hotel were told they were being moved to another location," said Haruv, a Jaffa resident.
"We are a group of four friends with one Jewish woman among us and she was the only one told to pack and prepare to move."
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Hamda Haruv, who is quarantined in a Jerusalem hotel, claims Arabs have been segregated from Jews
"When she asked if I could go with her, she was told it was not permitted," he said.
Haruv said he felt humiliated. "I don't know why we are being treated this way. They are making me want to leave this country," he added.
IDF Home Front Command representatives told him there was an effort to place soldiers in separate accommodations but he claims his friend was not a soldier and was moved anyway.
The IDF officer reportedly told Haruv that, "these are the orders we were given," and claimed women were being harassed by some of the Arab residents.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews in quarantine were also given separate accommodation in order to provide them with an environment more suited to their needs - including the provision of food in compliance with their dietary and Kosher demands.
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Coronavirus testing site for Haredi community in the city of Elad
(Photo: Elad municipality)
The Health Ministry said there is an attempt to provide suitable accommodations for people forced to quarantine, including large families.
The IDF Spokesman's Unit denied there is any intention to segregate groups in quarantine and the efforts are directed at supplying people with their specific needs.