An Arab high school counselor says he was unjustly arrested and beaten by police in northern Israel earlier this month, after he honked his horn at an officer whose cruiser was blocking the street.

Issam Sharif, from the northern Arab village of Kafr Yasif, was left with bruises on his shoulders, arms, and back from the successive beatings he endured during his arrest and at the station where police held him until morning, he told The Times of Israel in a recent interview.

Sharif filed a complaint with the Department of Internal Police Investigations (DIPI), a police-probing body in the State Attorney’s Office, and said he plans to sue the officers for damages.

The DIPI is examining the incident but has not yet launched a criminal investigation, the agency told The Times of Israel on Sunday.

Sharif said he had been returning home past midnight on May 15 when he encountered a police car in the middle of the road. One of the officers responsible for the vehicle stood outside, speaking with a group of young men.

Sharif recalled pulling up near the police car and waiting in silence, hoping the officer would notice him and make way for his vehicle.

After about 10 minutes, Sharif called to the policeman from his car, asking him to open the road. The officer refused, saying he was preparing to search the men.

He waited several minutes more as the officer continued to converse with the men, then honked his car horn and asked to be let through. The officer doubled down on his refusal.

According to Sharif, the young men eventually drove off........

© The Times of Israel