Abu Issa slams 'racism'
Photo: Asi Cohen
Arab hurt by guards: Acquittal 'racist'
Arab man badly hurt in brawl with guards says their acquittal shows he has no rights in Israel
Hours after the Tel Aviv District Court acquitted two security guards charged with assaulting Arabs at the Jaffa Port, Yusef Abu Issa still refuses to believe the judges' verdict.
The court ruled Wednesday that the two guards acted in self-defense, after being attacked with a broken vodka bottle and a burning piece of wood. The incident ensued after the guards, employed in a park near the Jaffa Port, asked a group of Arabs to put out a bonfire. The encounter turned into a brawl, with judges ruling that the security guards were attacked first.
"The judge acquitted criminals; it was a murder attempt," said Abu Issa, who sustained serious injuries in the incident. "If it was the other way around and I would have attacked the guard and caused him a brain hemorrhage and skull fracture, would I be acquitted? No way. That's racism."
Court Ruling
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Court says two security guards attacked before badly beating up Arabs in Jaffa Port
"Five people testified in this case – three Arabs and two Jewish females, yet it wasn't enough," Abu Issa told Ynet Wednesday evening. "They took advantage of the fact I remembered nothing of the incident…The judge could have relied on medical documents, which proved I almost died there and survived at the last moment."
'We have no rights'
Abu Issa said his life was ruined in the wake of the incident.
"I'm a different man; I suffered a trauma," he said. "I can't leave the house or meet friends. I take sleep medication because I can't sleep at night, and I also use tranquilizers during the day…I'm facing a lengthy recovery process. I can't return to work; I just sit at home and cry."
"This is the way things work here – we have no right to live here, study or make a living,' he said." As an Arab, I have no rights in this country. They didn't even bother to update my family on what happened in the guards' trial. I only heard about the decision now for the first time."
Following the verdict, the security guards' attorney, Orit Ohayon, praised the court's ruling.
"The court was very brave to write this verdict," she said. "This decision will have public significance in terms of law enforcement and the status of civilian security guards at public sites."
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