Owner Hany Baransi discusses the machete attack on his Nazareth Restaurant & Deli in Columbus, Ohio. (YouTube)
An Ohio restaurant owned by an Arab-Israeli reopened days after four patrons were injured in a machete attack.
The Nazareth Restaurant and Deli in Columbus reopened Monday, with its display of an Arabic greeting and Israeli flag still prominently positioned at the entrance to the restaurant.
Owner Hany Baransi, an Israeli Christian Arab who moved to the United States from Haifa in 1983, says he has always been outspoken about his Israeli identity and believes that the attack by a machete-wielding,’Allahu Akbar’-yelling man was no coincidence.
Police identified the assailant as Mohamed Bary and said he had come to the restaurant earlier and asked a worker where the owner was from originally. Bary was shot and killed by police about two miles from the restaurant after lunging at officers with the machete and a knife.
The Tower reported that when asked whether he would consider removing the Israeli flag as a precaution, Barsani swiftly rejected the idea. “Actually I have another flag, and I am going to get a bigger flag, and I am going to get a Star of David necklace and put it on my chest, and I am going to get a tattoo,” he declared.
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A victim of the Columbus machete attacks is wheeled to a local emergency room on February 11, 2016. (YouTube)
“I come from the Middle East,” Baransi said. “I come from Israel, and this has been a big thing here. You know, we are Israelis, used to this in our lives, people attacking us and wanting to kill us.”
The FBI is reportedly involved in the investigation to help determine a motive for the attack and whether it was terror-related.
The injured patrons are expected to recover.
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