Soccer mob attacks Arabs at Jerusalem mall

JTA

A mob of rowdy soccer fans assaulted Arab patrons and workers at a Jerusalem shopping mall earlier this week.

Hundreds of supporters of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team flooded the nearby Malha mall on Monday following a match chanting anti-Arab slogans, Haaretz reported.

The mall was reportedly evacuated around 10:30 p.m., but no arrests were made.

According to witnesses, the mob assaulted three Arab women as well as cleaning personnel who came to their defense.

“I’ve been here for many years, and I’ve never seen such a thing,” Gideon Avrahami, Malha’s executive director, told Haaretz. “It was a disgraceful, shocking, racist incident; simply terrible.”

Beitar Jerusalem fans have a reputation for violence and anti-Arab racism. Beitar Jerusalem’s management condemned the violence at the mall.