The attackers yelled racist references at Singson, including calling him "Chinese" and "Corona," while beating and kicking him in the chest. Singson was later hospitalized at the Baruch Padeh Medical Center in Tiberas. However he sustained injuries to his chest and lungs, he is considered to be in stable condition.
Singson, whose mother, grandmother and brother also moved to Israel with him, lives in Tiberias and attends a Hesder Yeshiva in Ma’alot.
“I told both of the attackers that I was not even Chinese, but rather a Jew from the Bnei Menashe community, not that there is any justification for attacking a Chinese guy or anybody else. But they were totally crazed and kicked me hard while yelling, ‘Corona! Corona!’,” Singson said from his hospital bed.
“Shavei Israel is stunned by the vicious and racist attack on Am-Shalem Singson yesterday in Tiberias. The Bnei Menashe are our brothers and sisters, and anyone who raises a hand against them must be brought to justice. I demand that action be taken, and I call on the police to investigate this incident immediately." said Michael Freund, Chairman of Shavei Israel.
"The coronavirus does not distinguish between different types of Israelis based on their skin color or the shape of their eyes - and neither should anyone else," Freund continued.
There are around 6,500 members of the Bnei Menashe community still living in northeast India, while approximately 3,000 have made Israel their home since the mid 2000's. 700 people Bnei Menashe are currently awaiting approval from the Israeli government to immigrate. Singson himself immigrated to Israel in 2017.
This is not the first time that racism in Israel has occurred as a result of the coronavirus. In late February, a Japanese-American Jerusalemite, who immigrated to Israel nine years ago, spoke to The Jerusalem Post describing an increasing and uncomfortable level of racism against Asians in Israel since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak.