5 cops questioned over Tel Aviv beating of Arab worker

Five police officers have been questioned under caution over the beating of an Arab employee of a supermarket in Tel Aviv last Sunday, police said on Tuesday.

The five policemen are suspected of using excessive force after photos, videos and eyewitness accounts emerged of the violent altercation.

Other police officers were summoned for questioning, the Israel Police said in a statement. “Only once the investigation is completed will we be able to reach clear conclusions on the nature of the event,” police said.

The police have said the man, identified as Maysam Abu Alqian, 19, from Hura in the Negev, was resisting arrest and attacked officers after they asked him for identification. Another employee who came to Alqian’s aid was also accused of attacking officers.

The alleged police brutality incident at the Yuda Supermarket on Ibn Gvirol street in the city sparked outrage online as photos and a video of the attack emerged.

Alqian was seen being taken away in a police car but at some point had to be taken to Ichilov hospital in Tel Aviv to be treated for his injuries.

He was released to house arrest later in the night and was ordered away from the city for seven days, according to a Tel Aviv District court decision cited by Ynet.

Eyewitnesses described a vicious, unprovoked attack by police.

“Just now in front of City Hall,” one of the bystanders, Erez Krispin, wrote in a Facebook post, “an Arab supermarket worker goes outside to throw out the trash. He’s approached by a man in shorts who says, ‘Show me some ID.’

“‘The ID is inside. Who are you?’” Krispin quoted the supermarket worker as saying in response.

“Before he even finishes speaking, he’s being beaten senseless,” he continued, “a beating like you’ve never seen, teeth flying through the air. The Arab is crushed.

“When an elderly woman asks them why they’re doing it, they yell at her, ‘Fuck off before we finish you too,” Krispin wrote.

תיעוד : קטטה במרכז ת"א בין עובד ערבי לשוטרי מג"ב
המשטרה : השוטרים הם אלה שהותקפו
עדי ראייה מספרים דברים שונים pic.twitter.com/06sfDV02Lk

— לירן כוג'הינוף (@lirankog) May 22, 2016

At that point, he went on, uniformed police arrived and continued to beat the man.

“I don’t really know if the Arab is alive; they threw what was left of him into the patrol car, not an ambulance, and drove off.”

He noted that there were many witnesses to the incident, as well as a security camera and other footage.

Alqian recounted the incident to his lawyer from his hospital bed last week.

“I was in the middle of work when two people wearing civilian clothes approached and asked me for ID. I didn’t have it on me, it was inside the supermarket. They didn’t have uniforms on. All of a sudden, they jumped me along with other officers. It was humiliating,” he said, according to Ynet.

“I didn’t know what they wanted from me. I asked why they weren’t in uniform. I thought it was a prank. They didn’t explain and they were very violent,” he went on.

The store manager, identified as Kobi Cohen, said he came out of the store to see what was happening before additional officers arrived and the violence started.

“They were speaking to him and he stood there, and didn’t try to flee. They asked him for ID and didn’t identify themselves. He asked them for ID. They called for backup and when these officers arrived, the beating started,” Cohen said.

Other employees who tried to stop the beating where also hit, Cohen added.

“They hit him mercilessly until he was incapacitated. Everyone is shocked by what happened. And there’s only one reason for it — the guy was Arab,” Cohen charged.

Alqian’s father told Ynet that he was “shocked” by the incident, saying that he wouldn’t wish it on anyone to have “nine officers beat your son and you have to watch it on video.”

Days after the incident, an online crowdfunding drive raised nearly NIS 60,000 ($16,000) to support Alqian’s higher education, after it became known that he was working up to 20 hours a day at a Tel Aviv Burger King as well as the Yuda Supermarket to save money for his university tuition.

Alqian hopes to start a bachelor’s degree in psychology in the fall.