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Alleged anti-Semitism incident in Leipzig hotel

2021-10-05T20:05:06.718Z


Gil Ofarim is said to have been exposed to hostility in Leipzig because of a chain with a Star of David. The musician is considering an ad. In the evening, hundreds of people took part in a rally in front of the hotel.


Enlarge image

Gil Ofarim (archive): According to his own statements, has become a victim of anti-Semitic hostility

Photo: Tobias Hase / dpa

After accusations of anti-Semitism, hundreds of people gathered in front of the Westin Hotel in Leipzig in the evening to show solidarity with the musician Gil Ofarim and Jews in Germany.

The police initially estimated the number of participants in the "middle three-digit range," as a spokeswoman said.

Irena Rudolph-Kokot from the “Leipzig takes place” alliance, which had called for the action, said that the anti-Semitic incident was extremely angry and should not remain unchallenged: “We show solidarity with all Jews who are still in Germany happened far too often «.

During the rally, employees of the hotel held up a banner in front of the hotel entrance with the flag of Israel on it.

Ofarim speaks out in Instagram video

Ofarim had previously reported in an Instagram video that an employee at the »Westin Hotel« in Leipzig had asked him to wrap his chain with a Star of David.

Then he can check in.

Before that, there was a long queue at the hotel reception due to technical problems.

Ofarim said he had lined up - with his Star of David chain around his neck.

“I'm entitled to it.

I've been doing it all my life, ”Ofarim said in the video.

Again and again people were preferred.

When it was his turn after 15 minutes, he asked what that was about.

The hotel employee gave him the answer: "To straighten the queue," Ofarim himself was in it.

Thereupon "someone from the corner" shouted that he should pack his star.

The hotel employee also said: "Pack your star." The Star of David is one of the most famous symbols associated with Judaism.

During National Socialism, the Star of David was imposed as a stigma on Jews.

Ofarim is now considering filing a criminal complaint.

This was announced by his management.

So far there has been no official apology from the hotel.

Ofarim first had to digest the incidents and was visibly shocked, according to the management.

"Today would have been his father's birthday, that's why he doesn't want to give any further personal interviews on this topic for the time being."

The day is generally difficult enough for him.

I ask for your forbearance and understanding.

Multiple reactions on Twitter

Olaf Hoppe, spokesman for the Leipzig police, said that the alleged statement by the hotel employee was "clearly anti-Semitic" for him.

The police will forward the content of the video to the public prosecutor's office, who will check that it is relevant to criminal law.

Depending on the result, further determination will then be made or not.

As Hoppe further explained, the police were not on site during the incident.

Ofarim has not yet been spoken to.

The authorities know his video and have backed it up.

A spokesman for the Westin chain said in response to a request from SPIEGEL that the hotel was taking the matter very seriously.

"We are trying by all means to contact Mr. Ofarim because we urgently need to find out what happened here." The hotel respects and supports all guests and employees "regardless of what religion they belong to."

Ofarim's video was widely shared on social media.

The chairman of the Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, wrote in a statement on Twitter that the hostility was terrifying.

It is to be hoped that the hotel will take personal consequences.

He also hoped "that in the future we will meet with solidarity when we are attacked."

The Federal Anti-Discrimination Agency spoke of an "incredible case of anti-Semitism" and a violation of the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG).

“A quick response from the hotel is long overdue.

From our point of view, this cannot remain without consequences, «wrote the federal agency on Twitter.

The chairman of the support group for the Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe, Lea Rosh, said, according to the announcement, that the musician has the unreserved solidarity of the association.

»Jews were not welcome in hotels in Germany.

That was in 1933. We demand complete clarification and personal consequences. "

The pianist Igor Levit wrote to the hotel: "Shame on you".

Mitteldeutsche Rundfunk (MDR) wrote on Twitter that Ofarim was the guest of a recording on Monday evening on behalf of the broadcaster.

What he then describes from the hotel is deeply shameful.

Kevin Kühnert, Deputy Federal Chairman of the SPD, also commented on the video on Twitter.

“I think communication is necessary and appropriate here,” he wrote to the hotel: “Are you investigating the allegations?

And if they come true, how does the company deal with anti-Semitism - reactively, but also preventively? "

Saxon politicians also spoke out.

Saxony's Interior Minister Roland Wöller (CDU) hopes that the musician will file a complaint so that the police can investigate the process: "Saxony is a cosmopolitan country".

Economics Minister Martin Dulig (SPD) wrote on Twitter that it made him angry what happened to Ofarim.

He spoke for the vast majority of the people in Saxony when he apologized on behalf of the anti-Semitic humiliation.

"We still have a lot to do in Saxony!" Environment Minister Wolfram Günther (Greens) was dismayed on Twitter.

“There must be no place for anti-Semitism.

Not open, not covered.

Not in Saxony, not in Germany, nowhere. "

bbr / dpa

Source: spiegel

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