Tel Aviv: Security guards attack Canadian volunteers
Three tourists from Canada volunteering in Israel wait outside Clara club in Tel Aviv when they are suddenly attacked by three guards until one of them loses consciousness
The tourists are staying in Israel and some are volunteering in Magen David Adom rescue services and other organizations.
Last Thursday, at 2 a.m., 10 tourists arrived at the club. Most entered, but guards refused to admit three of them, brothers Adam and Micheal Kelsner and Sean Pauly, who was not allowed in due to his age.
From this point on, there are differences in versions of events. The Canadian youths and witnesses claim the guards began hitting them for no apparent reason, until they sustained bleeding injuries, and one lost consciousness.
The guards on their parts claimed that the youths began hitting them after being asked to leave the area. After collecting witnesses and since the guards were not injured at all, police decided to arrest the guards on suspicion of initiating the attack.
Sean Pauly at the hospital. 'We don't want problems'
Micheal Kelsner, 24, is an accountant from Canada, who is volunteering in the Save a Child's Heart program, which provides aid to children from underprivileged backgrounds who require heart surgery.
Kelsner, who arrived in Israel for a number of months, did not believe that night out in Tel Aviv could end as it did last Thursday.
'I believe I'll return to Israel'
He recounted: "We arrived at the club. Some of us went in and my brother and I stayed outside with Sean since he was too young to get into the club. Adam went to the side to talk on the phone and tell our friends who were inside that we were leaving the place.
"Suddenly, I noticed that the guards were holding him and throwing him to the floor. I ran there and yelled in Hebrew, 'we don't want problems, we don't want problems,' but they pushed him into the rocks and continued hitting him when he was on the floor. When I got to him more guards came and hit me in the face until I bled. Sean, who also arrived and tried to stop it, was also hit. At a certain stage he lost consciousness and they continued to hit him."
Despite the matching descriptions and not being injured at all in the incident, the doormen claim that the tourists attacked them. They told police that when the volunteers were asked to leave, they attacked them and began the fight.
The Yarkon District Police checked the witnesses' statements and decided to arrest two of the guards working in the club.
Despite the incident, Micheal Kelsner plans on returning to Israel in the future.
"I believe this is a very small number of people who act like this in Israel. I saw different behaviors from people who were there who took us to the hospital, and also the doctors in the hospital treated us well. It's just a few people who act like this and I believe in a few years I'll return to Israel," he said.
