Late Friday night, paramilitary Israeli colonizers assaulted two Palestinian bus drivers in occupied Jerusalem, in the West Bank.
A video circulating online shows colonizers attacking Mohammed Siyaj, from the Thouri neighborhood, and Ahmad Qara’in, from Silwan, while they were working aboard Superbus vehicles.
The footage captures the brutal scene, with a group of colonizers surrounding and beating the drivers while preventing their escape.
Siyaj recounted witnessing around 60 Beitar Jerusalem football club fans assaulting Qara’in. He parked his vehicle and stepped out to intervene, only to be attacked himself as the colonizers hurled insults and directed slurs at Arabs and Palestinians.
He added that Israeli police did not respond to the incident, treating it as if nothing was happening. Eventually, both drivers were transported to the hospital for treatment.
The Israeli bus company later confirmed that the drivers had been “sprayed with pepper gas,” requiring medical attention.
Eyewitnesses identified the assailants as supporters of Beitar Jerusalem, a football club notorious for its racist fan base. The attack reportedly followed the team’s loss in the Israeli Cup final.
The previous night, Beitar fans were heard chanting racist slogans targeting the Prophet Mohammad during the match at Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv.
Israeli lawmaker Ahmad Tibi condemned the assault, describing it as a racially motivated attack by members of La Familia, an extremist Beitar supporters group, carried out against the drivers because they were Palestinian.
He further criticized the lack of accountability, stating: “As of now, no arrests have been made. It’s no surprise, when the attacker is Jewish and the victim is Arab, law enforcement remains selective and complicit.”
