Shock in Germany following an antisemitic incident experienced by singer and musician Gil Ofarim, son of the late Israeli singer Avi Ofarim.
Gil, 39, is a popular German singer in his own right.
Yesterday (Monday) he arrived at night in a luxury hotel in the city of Leipzig, where he asked to stay at the end of a working day.
When he asked for a room, he was told by the receptionist that due to a computer malfunction he had to wait in line.
In a video that Gil uploaded to Instagram, the singer recounts with tears in his eyes and his throat choking, that he waited patiently in line - but saw that others were getting rooms in front of him.
He went back to the receptionist to find out what was going on and why other guests were being given preferential treatment.
At this point, one of those in the lobby of the Great Hotel addressed the chain with a Star of David pendant, which Gil regularly carried around his neck: "Take off your Star of David."
The receptionist repeated the sentence and said to Gil: "Yes, remove the Star of David. If you want to get a room, remove your Star of David."
"I do not know what to say," he said in a video he took at the entrance to the hotel from the Westin chain.
"I was often asked what I thought about anti-Semitism in Germany. Really? Is this Germany of 2021? Not giving someone a hotel room because he is Jewish? We have not learned anything from history? This is not the first time this has happened. Someday it is tired."
Gil Ofarim immediately left the hotel and moved to another hotel in the city.
His agent said last night that he was still in shock from the incident and was digesting it.
The management of the hotel chain, which belongs to the Marriott hotels, expressed concern over the incident - and said that the matter was taken very seriously.
The president of the Central Council of Jewish Communities in Germany, Dr. Josef Schuster, issued a statement condemning the incident, in which he said: "The antisemitic hostility against Gil Ofarim is shocking. "Westin will draw personal lessons from this incident, hopefully we will also gain solidarity when we are attacked."
Senior politicians from various parties also condemned the incident.
In recent years there has been a significant increase in anti-Semitism in Germany.
Last weekend, antisemitic incidents were reported at a football match held in Berlin between Maccabi Haifa and Union Berlin.
The local police opened an investigation, after it was reported that the Berlin club's fans attacked Maccabi fans who waved Israeli flags, threw a glass of beer at them, slammed them and challenged them to a physical confrontation - and even tried to set the Israeli flag on fire.
About a month ago, a young Syrian man who wanted to carry out an attack on a synagogue on Yom Kippur was arrested.
In the city of Hamburg, a Jew who took part in a pro-Israel demonstration was seriously injured a few weeks ago, after being attacked by a young man of Muslim descent.
Despite the severe injury of the Jew, who may go blind in one of his eyes following the attack, the attacker was released by the authorities.
