Assailants throw firecracker at TA Eritrean pub

Firecracker damages building, 1 patron lightly hurt according to pub owner; anti-African migrant protesters ransacked store in May.

By BEN HARTMAN
Amineh Zegeta closes shop after stun grenade 370 (photo credit: Ben Hartman)
Amineh Zegeta closes shop after stun grenade 370
(photo credit: Ben Hartman)
Unknown assailants threw a firecracker inside an Eritrean pub in the Hatikvah neighborhood of South Tel Aviv on Saturday night, causing light damage and leaving one patron lightly hurt, the pub owner said.
The same pub was ransacked during a spree of violence directed at African migrants after a rally in the neighborhood in late May.
Pointing at a discolored patch of the wall Saturday night, bar owner Amineh Zegeta said that around midnight two people drove up on a motor-scooter and threw a firecracker inside the bar, before speeding away.
One patron was lightly burned by the firecracker, and the rest fled the bar which began to fill with smoke, Zegeta said.
Police arrived shortly thereafter and told Zegeta to close the bar. Police have opened an investigation into the incident.
Following the attack on his store after the anti-African migrants protest in late May, Zegeta said he feared for his life if he stays in the neighborhood. He also said he has been victim of violence and verbal abuse from neighborhood residents on a number of occasions before the night of the protest.
Two weeks ago, a group of Israelis held a “solidarity party” at Levinsky Park in south Tel Aviv, where they raised money to help Zegeta pay for the money he has lost as a result of the attacks on his store.
Since the attacks on him and his business, Zegeta has said on a number of occasions that he would like to leave Israel and seek asylum in a different country.
Other African migrants in Hatikva and elsewhere in south Tel Aviv, tell of attacks on a nightly basis by Israeli youths, often on motor-scooters, who throw firecrackers or bottles at Africans before peeling off.