Eilat beach
Photo: Karin Mamos
Sudanese housekeeper nearly 'lynched' in Eilat
Club Hotel employee severely beaten by seven hotel guests after refusing to give them towels. Two suspects detained for questioning, claim they were attacked first
Abdullah Abuya, 40, from Darfur, is lying beaten and injured in his house in Eilat, after he was allegedly attacked by seven young guests at the Club Hotel where he works.
"It happened last Saturday," Abuya told Ynet on Tuesday. "At 7 pm I was asked to deliver towels and soap to one of the rooms. While I was in the hallway, two men stopped me and asked me to give them the towels. I told them that they were reserved for other guests, and that they can call the front desk and ask for whatever they needed.
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"In response, the two attacked me with their fists," Abuya recalled, adding that after he fell on the floor, "five of their friends joined them and they all beat me together. I yelled, and the security guard came to my help, but he was one and they were many. They lifted me and tried to throw me out of the window. I tried to resist, and then another security guard came and they managed to stop them.
According to Abuya, many hotel guest witnessed the attack, which lasted more than 10 minutes, but did nothing to stop the assailants.
Police officers who arrived at the scene detained two of the attackers for questioning. During the investigation, the two claimed that they acted in self defense after the hotel employee attacked them. They were both released under restricting conditions.
'We almost witnessed a lynch'
One hotel guest who witnessed the attack, described the incident on her Facebook page, writing: "We almost witnessed a lynch."
"Seven intoxicated guys decided to lynch a Sudanese housekeeper. He could have been thrown from the fifth floor window, or die from punches and kicks to his head. This was happening a few centimeters from us," she noted.
Abuya, who escaped the war in Darfur, has lived in Eilat for the past four years. "All these years I've been working in the same hotel. I never had problems. I heard of friends who were attacked, but it never happened to me. I am afraid to go out on the street; afraid of going back to work. I don’t know why they beat me, it can’t be just because I'm black," he said.
Eilat Police spokesman Chief Insp. Lior Ben-Simon stated in response that "two 24-year-old suspects were detained for questioning and released under restricting conditions.
"During their investigation, they admitted to being involved in the incident, but claimed they acted in self defense after the employee pushed them and started the fight.
"These are normative people who were not intoxicated and do not have a criminal record," he stated.
Orit Marom from the ASSAF Aid Organization for Refugees and Asylum Seekers stated in response that "the extreme violence against African refugees we are witnessing recently is turning out to be a growing phenomenon that might claim lives. The refugee almost paid with his life for the incitement and demonization that is being propagated against migrants by public figures and politicians."
Ahuva Mamos contributed to this report
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