Anti-Jewish incidents are becoming increasingly blatant and hateful.
A Jewish man who entered his hotel bedroom in London discovered a nasty surprise: The television screen had been altered to display a customized message just for him that read “Free Palestine.”
Jewish activist Hen Mazzig posted a statement about the incident Wednesday alongside a video.
“A visibly Jewish man checks into a hotel in London,” he wrote. “The TV greets him with a customized message of ‘Free Palestine.’”
“This comes a mere day after a hotel in Bavaria told customers that Jews were not allowed to stay with them,” he added. “If it happens again tomorrow do we finally get to call it antisemitism?”
The incident in Bavaria that Mazzig referred to occurred Tuesday when an Israeli family attempted to book a hotel through Booking.com. They received a message via the website from Hotel Zum Hirschen, a 120-year-old family-owned hotel in Lam, Bavaria, that read, “Sorry, there are no jews [sic] allowed in our hotel.”
The family filed a complaint, leading to the removal of the hotel from Booking.com, an apology from the hotel, and the launch of a police investigation.
The hotel wrote directly to the family to apologize, blaming the incident on previous phishing attempts. Employees at the hotel had assumed that the registration was another phishing attempt, responding in anger, the hotel asserted.
“This was nevertheless unacceptable and must not happen in a professional establishment,” a German journalist quoted the hotel as saying. “We and our employees are only human, and sometimes anger gets the better of us.”
Observers say that responding in a viciously antisemitic manner is a strange way to vent anger over a problem that is not Jewish in nature.
Talya Lador, Israel’s consul general to Southern Germany, denounced the incident.
“Are we back in the 1930s?” she asked.
“Antisemitism is not a Jewish problem. It is not an Israeli problem. It is a danger to democracy in Germany,” she declared.
Jewish German and European leaders expressed their dismay over the display of blatant Jew hatred.
“In the end, it is almost secondary whether the author sent it out of hateful intent or simple thoughtlessness, because either way it describes the reality of many Jewish people, not only Israelis,” said Charlotte Knobloch, president of the Jewish Community of Munich and Upper Bavaria.
“The dehumanizing statement ‘No Jews allowed’ cannot be justified under any circumstances, regardless of attempts to place it in context,” said Josef Schuster, president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. “It remains shocking that someone would not only think along these lines but also put it in writing and send it.”
The hotel wrote about the incident on its website, asking the public for understanding after receiving “insults and threats,” it alleged.
“At this point, we would also like to state clearly that we condemn any form of discrimination. Claims that certain groups are not welcome at our establishment are incorrect and do not reflect the facts,” the hotel said.
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