A graphic video shows an Eritrean man who was killed after he was falsely accused of being a terrorist by a crowd at a bus station in Israel after a solider was shot by a terrorist.
A video has been circulated on social media showing the beating of an Eritrean man who was falsely accused of being a terrorist after an attack on a bus station in Israel.
The killing of 29-year-old Haftom Zarhum came during a stretch of increased terrorist attacks in Israel and after a gunman fatally shot a soldier at the Beersheba bus station. According to The Guardian, the gunman, an Israeli Bedouin, was armed with a handgun and knife when he fatally shot a soldier. He then took the soldier’s M-16 rifle and opened fire, wounding 10 others.
During the chaos, a security guard shot Zarhum, an Eritrean migrant, thinking he was an accomplice. Zarhum was actually an innocent bystander. The Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth said in its headline about the story that Zarhum was shot “Just because of his skin color.”
After Zarhum was shot, the angry crowd began kicking him and attacking him with a chair. According to The Guardian, the crowd chanted “Death to Arabs” and “Arabs out!” as paramedics tried to come to his aid. Foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon said, “It shows you what a terrible situation we are in.”
Police spokesman Luba Samri told CNN that the beating is under investigation.
“It should be noted that the police see this in a very severe light and will not allow people to take the law into their hands, and everyone should act with restraint and carefulness and allow the police to do their job,” Samri said.
