Another hate crime? Arab man beaten in Jerusalem
Gas station attendant says he was targeted by drunk Jewish youths because he is Arab
A wave of racist assaults appears to be sweeping the capital, according to recent reports. A day after an Arab employee of the Mamilla Hotel was assaulted by a group of Jewish teens who broke his leg, a gas station attendant claims to have also been attacked for racist reasons.
Nassim Abu Ramuz, 21, from Ras al-Amud, said he was attacked by Jewish youths who entered the station to fuel up around 1 am on Friday. According to Abu Ramuz, having noticed that the customers' car was not facing the pump, he asked the driver to turn his vehicle.
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"He said he was high and couldn't be bothered. I was left standing there when suddenly one of the guys sitting in the back threw an empty beer bottle at the water bucket," Abu Ramuz said.
The youth verbally attacked attendant when he told him the bucket was not a trash can. "He said to me, 'don't talk to me, this isn’t any of your business you stinky Arab,'" he recounted. "I took a step back when one of the guys spilled beer over the gas pump. When I asked him what he was doing, he attacked me again. He started swearing me and saying 'I'll kill you and all the Arabs."
Scared to return to work. Abu Ramuz
At this point, the youth stepped out of the vehicle, and feeling threatened, Abu Ramuz rushed to the office to press the emergency button. "The alarm went off and he started punching me. Instead of pushing him back, his friends attacked me too. I fell to the floor and the four of them beat me."
'Mix of alcohol, hatred'
According to Abu Ramuz, employees of a nearby Pizza place noticed what was happening and came to his rescue. "When they (the assailants) left the station, one of them threw a beer bottle at me," he said.
The assailants had fled the scene by the time the police arrived, but Abu Ramuz noted that the security cameras had likely captured the assault. The Jerusalem District Police said they were aware of the case and that it will be investigated once a complaint is filed.
Abu Ramuz spent the night at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center. He is complaining of severe back pain and headaches, and is afraid of going back to work.
"I've worked at the gas station for three years and this is the second time I have been assaulted, in my opinion just because I'm an Arab. It's a combination of alcohol and hatred of Arabs."
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