By JPOST.COM STAFF

04/08/2014 17:15

In a police confrontation over the weekend, Black Hebrews claim police said they were illegal migrants, didn't know they had served in army.

Israel police.andnbsp;Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Members of the Black Hebrew community from Dimona accused the Israel Police of discriminating against them while breaking up a birthday party in south Tel Aviv, Channel 2 reported.

Police arrived at the party, which was held in a public park, after receiving noise complaints from nearby residents.andnbsp;

James Christmas, the father of the birthday girl and a Black Hebrew, alleged that a police officer came right up to him at the party and began to push him. The officer then shouted in the microphone "Get out of here you Sudanese, what are you doing in this country? Get out!"
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Christmas added that the officer didn't realize that they were Israeli and had served in the IDF.

According to police, after they confiscated the sound equipment and detained a man for questioning, the man's friends showed up at the police station and tried to force their way in. In the resulting confrontation, police said, the party-goers attacked them violently at the station entrance.andnbsp;

One party-goer and two policemen were injured in the fight. One of the policemen was kicked in the head and taken to Ichilov Hospital, where he was diagnosed with a concussion and considerable damage to his cervical vertebrae. Three of the attackers were overtaken and arrested by police. The Tel Aviv Magistrate Court extended their remand by three days.

Christmas contended that the police were already waiting for them when they arrived at the station, and that they pushed the men and shot one in the back with the Taser gun unprovoked.andnbsp;

A witness who lives near the police station told Channel 2 that he saw four men who looked drunk, along with a woman, all of whom asked to enter the station. The police officer tried to prevent them from getting in, but he spoke to them calmly, without making threats or using force, he said.

The officer told the group that they were not allowed to enter the station, the witness said, and at that point three of the men attempted to enter by force. The officer called for backup, and when one of the young men tried to run away, he was shot with the Taser gun, he said.

Misha Goncharov, who was detained earlier for the sound equipment violation at the party, said that prior to his release, the police asked him questions about the party-goers. He said they asked if they were Sudanese or illegal migrants.andnbsp;

"I told them that some of the people were African-American, some were Black Hebrews from Dimona, and that there were people there who had also served in the IDF," Goncharov told Channel 2.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing.