Druze IDF Soldier Beaten for Speaking Arabic
A Druze man serving in the Israel Defense Forces, was attacked outside a night club after speaking Arabic.
Razzi Houseysa, 19, a combat soldier in the IDF’s Golani Brigade, said he was attacked on Friday outside a nightclub on Kibbutz Yagur, in northern Israel about 5 miles southeast of Haifa. Houseysa, a resident of the Druze town of Daliyat al-Karmel, was on a furlough from the army when he was attacked by a group of Jewish men outside of the party, which was for IDF soldiers, according to Israeli media reports.
Following the attack, Houseysa was admitted to Rambam Medical Center in Haifa, where he underwent surgery on his right eye.
Houseysa’s cousin, Amir, also an IDF soldier, told Ynet that the attackers called Razzi Houseysa “Arab” in a derogatory way and told him that “you are not wanted here,” after they heard them speaking Arabic to each other.
A similar incident occurred last month, when a Druze university student was beaten near the central bus station in Jerusalem after he spoke Arabic. Six Jewish men were arrested in the Jerusalem incident.
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