Gil Ofarim holds on to anti-Semitism accusation despite video images: "I had the chain on"

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Gil Ofarim: "I am now supposed to prove that I was wearing the star"

Photo: Tobias Hase / dpa

On the video that Gil Ofarim posted on Instagram in early October, the singer looked visibly affected. In a halting voice, the 39-year-old described how he had been attacked anti-Semitic in a Leipzig hotel. "Pack your star!" A manager at the reception told him after this request had already been hurled at him by someone he didn’t know in the queue. If he packs the trailer, he can check in, the receptionist said.

Anti-Semitic insults in a hotel in Saxony: The incident appeared to be a scandal. But over the weekend reports in the Leipziger Volkszeitung and Bild am Sonntag cast considerable doubts on Ofarim's account. The "Bild am Sonntag" published pictures under the heading "The Evidence Video", on which Ofarim can be seen at the reception and when leaving the hotel. "His black open leather jacket, including a T-shirt, are easy to see," the newspaper wrote. And: "You can't see his silver chain with the strikingly large Star of David."

The outrage was not long in coming. Die Welt commented that the case threatened to become "evidence not of the credibility, but of the unbelievability of corresponding allegations." And: "Ofarim has done a disservice to the good cause of raising public awareness of the daily hatred of Jews in Germany." The "taz" has already tried to compare it to model Gina-Lisa Lohfink, who had wrongly accused men of rape .

Despite these allegations, Ofarim sticks to his portrayal and repeats the allegations against two men on Monday.

Ofarim told SPIEGEL that the incident happened as seen in the Instagram video uploaded on October 5.

“I was wearing the chain all the way through.

I don't understand why people are now debating whether I was wearing the necklace or not, ”Ofarim said to the piece of jewelry his father gave him at the bar mitzvah.

“It's like saying that a Jew shouldn't wear his kippah and then nothing will happen to him.

That can not be true."

Video images are further evaluated

Suddenly it is no longer about anti-Semitism.

"I am now supposed to prove that I was wearing the star." It is unclear whether someone actually saw Ofarim's Star of David necklace in the hotel on the day of the incident.

According to him, that's not the point.

He also thinks it is conceivable that the insults occurred because he regularly shows himself in public with the chain.

Ofarim said that there was one thing he knew "one hundred percent": "I always wear the star." "That's not true.

I had the chain on all the way. ”He never said anything else to the police in the presence of his lawyer.

He is happy that the video images are now being evaluated.

Ofarim criticizes, however: »The video images that the› Bild ‹newspaper has now published are not all pictures.

The video images also show, for example, how the employee pulls the check-in form away from me, ”says Ofarim.

“After that I left the hotel immediately because I realized it was useless here.

I noticed that I have no one to help me here. "

He asked for the general manager and was told that unfortunately he was not there.

On the way out, the receptionist wanted to speak to him again.

"I stretched out my hand and politely signaled to him that he should leave me alone." Another problem is that the video apparently has no soundtrack.

So is Ofarim turned from victim to perpetrator?

What is clear is that there are different versions of what happened on October 4th at the Westin Hotel.

The accused hotel employee described the dispute with the German rock musician very differently - and accuses Ofarim of defamation.

Ofarim only filed a complaint against the employee later.

A report from the hotel on the incident should appear promptly.

Ofarim says: “I am aware of the explosive nature of the subject.

I also know what this can mean for me in terms of career in a negative sense, I have children, I have a family. ”That is why he spent the whole night thinking about uploading the video - in addition, WhatsApp, Facebook and Instagram down.

“I knew I was going to stab a wasp net.

But I did not expect such a reaction, the insults I am currently getting from all sides feel like 1930. "The allegations are not a PR stunt.

"You don't make jokes about this topic and you don't take advantage of it." Rather, he had to struggle with anti-Semitic hostility all his life.

The police and the public prosecutor are covered

According to a police spokesman, the viewing and evaluation of the seized video material is ongoing.

The official excludes “prior assessment and appraisal in the overall context”.

In addition to the reciprocal criminal charges, there are also further charges from uninvolved third parties.

By when and with what result the investigations will be concluded, he was unable to say.

A spokesman for the prosecution does not want to comment on the current reports on the surveillance video either.

He assures that the investigations will be carried out with high pressure "also with a view to the high media attention".

Ofarim also relies on the judiciary: »I have confidence in our legal system.

Everything else is not in my hand. "