Beitar fan indicted for racist attacks on Arabs
Avi Elkayam, 24, charged of racist assault of three Arab employees of Jerusalem McDonald's branch. Attack began after he asked what their ethnicities were
The indictment, filed with the Jerusalem Magistrates' Court, suggests that Elkayam attended a Beitar Jerusalem fan get-together near McDonald's earlier this month. The fans began chanting and singing racist songs and slogans, including "Death to Arabs," "Muhammad was a homosexual and not a prophet," and "We don’t want Arabs in Israel."
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The indictment also noted that an Arab who worked at the McDonald's branch was cleaning off outdoor tables when one of the fans asked him if he was an Arab. The employee replied in the affirmative. In response, Elkayam and others, whose identities are not known, began to beat him. At the same time, some fans shouted "There's an Arab here!"
The Arab employee went into the branch and according to the indictment, Elkayam followed. At this point, Elkayam beat two other Arab workers of the branch with his fists and threw chairs into the branch. One of the chairs hit the glass display case at the branch and smashed it. One of the Arabs who was beaten injured his hand and he was taken for medical treatment.
Elkayam has been released to house arrest under restrictions.
Elkayam also has a prior indictment of damaging a vehicle belonging to fans of Hapoel Tel Aviv. In that incident, about 20 Beitar Jerusalem fans, some of whom had clubs and crowbars, surrounded the vehicle at a game in March 2011, tried to open the doors, kicked the fan, beat him with clubs and threw stones and blocks. Elkayam was indicted for causing deliberate damage to a car.
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