MK Barakeh. Refused to be inspected
Gil Yohanan
Guard jams Arab MK inside revolving door
Embarrassing incident: Hotel security guard 'traps' Mohammad Barakeh inside revolving door, after MK refuses to undergo security inspection
Knesset Member Mohammad Barakeh (Hadash) got involved in an embarrassing incident this week at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Jerusalem.
Upon arriving at the place, where he spends the night on days when he is forced to work late at the Knesset, Barakeh was asked by the security guard at the hotel's entrance to undergo a security check, although such is not customarily carried out with MKs.
Barakeh refused to cooperate, and the guard in response jammed him inside the revolving door leading to the lobby, making it impossible for him to get out.
MK Moshe Sharoni (Pensioners Party), who happened to arrive at the place at the time the incident was at its climax, pushed the guard aside in order to enable Barakeh to move the door and enter the hotel.
Sharoni then wet up to the reception counter and confronted the hotel's employees, demanding that the security guard be removed from his position.
'No way to treat an MK'
A spokesman for Barakeh, Saher abu-Dabai, confirmed the details of the incident, and said: "This is not the first time the guard does something like this. It's very severe that a Knesset member in Israel is being treated this way."
MK Sharoni, who filed a complaint with the hotel's management, said that "a man that is being trapped in a revolving door goes into shock. Barakeh was trapped there, so what I did was push aside the guard's leg and let him get inside. I did not ask that the guard be fired, only that he be repositioned someplace else."
The Crowne Plaza said in response to the incident: "A group of people arrived at the hotel, some of them Knesset members. They were asked to present identification cards, and most of then indeed complied with the request."
"As the guard failed to recognize Knesset Member Barakeh, and because of Barakeh's refusal to show his ID, he was prevented from entering the building until a security officer who was called to the scene identified Barakeh and resolved the incident," a hotel representative said.
Tzvika Brot contributed to the report
