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'Zionist-free zone': Israelis are increasingly unwanted at global tourism sites

From a hotel in Kyoto to a sandwich joint in Edinburgh, the world is becoming hostile toward Israelis who are learning that a vacation won’t shield them from the Gaza war.

During the nine months of war the Israeli tourist experience abroad has been marked by fears of antisemitism and efforts to avoid pro-Palestinian demonstrations.

According to reports by Israeli media and posts online, some of those worries have recently turned real for a number of Israeli tourists.Anecdotal incidents at touristic locations around the world are making it clear that even though there is no official policy of excluding Israelis, that is sometimes the situation on the ground.

An especially bumpy week began on June 17 at the Material Hotel in Kyoto, Japan, when an Israeli named Alex was informed that his reservation had been canceled due to the allegations of Israeli war crimes in Gaza. The Material told Alex that it was “not able to accept reservations from persons we believe might have ties to the Israeli army,” as reported by Israeli website Ynet.

The story made the rounds on social media, produced a stern protest letter from Israel’s ambassador in Tokyo, and led to a rebuke by the Kyoto municipality that the hotel had breached Japanese business law and must ensure that such a transgression won’t happen again.

nondescripthandle ,

Jews around the word are less safe because of Israel when they were promised the opposite. Their faith has been used as a cover for a land grab and they put your holy symbol on a flag they go to war, and worse, under. It’s no wonder so many Jews at least in the US are critical of Israel. It probably feels a lot like being a regular Muslim watching groups commit violence with their religious iconography and warped interpretations used to create ‘justification’.

Eheran ,

“warped interpretations”

radivojevic ,

It’s like how Christians justify raping kids. The select few Christians who “follow Christ” inherit a bad reputation

cygnus , (edited )
@cygnus@lemmy.ca avatar

Sounds like you’re condoning this behaviour.

Edit: good old Lemmy, where saying it’s bad to hate on people just because of where they’re born will get you downvoted to oblivion. You all need to step back and re-examine your views.

radivojevic ,

Sounds like you didn’t comprehend their comment.

ASDraptor ,

Sounds like you’re butthurt about it.

OP on the other hand sounds like they were explaining what was happening, simple as that.

Promethiel ,
@Promethiel@lemmy.world avatar

You can’t read. Those are facts and written in a passive voice. Condoning the behavior reads something like: “The state of Israel has sown seeds of ill will nurtured by lies and here comes harvest time” or “Yeah fuckers, get dunked on world stage” or something similar and in-between.

cygnus , (edited )
@cygnus@lemmy.ca avatar

How on earth is that passive voice? Their whole reply is devoted to criticising Israel, and not a single word to the effect of “it isn’t OK to treat people badly because of where they are from”. This sounds an awful lot like victim-blaming to me.

Edit: let’s try a little experiment. Imagine me replying this to an article about a Palestinian being banned from a hotel simply for being Palestinian.

Palestinians around the word are less safe because of Hamas when they were promised the opposite. Their faith has been used as a cover for terrorism and they put your holy symbol on a flag they go to war, and worse, under. It’s no wonder so many Muslims in the middle east are critical of Palestinians. It probably feels a lot like being a regular Christian watching Republicans commit violence with their religious iconography and warped interpretations used to create ‘justification’.

ASDraptor ,

Palestine is not committing a genocide.

cygnus ,
@cygnus@lemmy.ca avatar

This is a really weird way of saying “it isn’t OK to ban a random Israeli from your hotel just because they are Israeli”.

ASDraptor ,

Well yeah. Because Israel is committing genocide.

cygnus ,
@cygnus@lemmy.ca avatar

Incredible bigotry and hypocrisy on display here. You know nothing about this “Alex” fellow. Maybe he’s been out in the streets protesting against Likud and calling for an end to the war.

ASDraptor ,

If that were the case, “Alex” would understand what’s happening, instead of making it a national case.

If my country, with a democratically elected leader decides to go do an ethnic cleanse to illegally occupy the land of a fellow country while not giving a single fuck about human rights and international laws, I’d understand if someone wouldn’t want me in their business.

MyEdgyAlt , (edited )

It doesn’t say they’re excluding all Jewish people, it says they’re excluding Israelis. You know, people from the country where they all serve in the military, except the most extreme religious extremists (for now anyway), the country actively violating international law in the West Bank and actively committing genocide.

There are plenty of non-Israeli Jewish people. Non-Zionist Jews are lovely people and should not be excluded.

This is the same as refusing to do business with apartheid South Africans.

cygnus ,
@cygnus@lemmy.ca avatar

This is some random dude, not Benjamin Netanyahu. Would you support that hotel banning all Palestinians because they are governed by an internationally-recognized terrorist organisation?

fuckingkangaroos ,

Sounds like this is someone with significant ties to the IDF. Although since they force everyone except religious extremists to serve, maybe that doesn’t mean much.

cygnus ,
@cygnus@lemmy.ca avatar

If they’re able to conclusively prove that, then sure, I’m on board with the ban. I would question how some hotel clerk in Japan was able to make that determination, though. It could easily be a case of “most Israelis serve in the IDF and you are Israeli therefore GTFO”

Samvega ,

Would you support that hotel banning all Palestinians because they are governed by an internationally-recognized terrorist organisation?

When’s the last time Palestinians got to vote for who they are governed by?

cygnus ,
@cygnus@lemmy.ca avatar

Good point. We’d need a whole other thread to hash out the legitimacy of Hamas’ rule. Palestinians right now are a bit like Italians circa 1942.

nondescripthandle , (edited )

This is the same as refusing to do business with apartheid South Africans.

Reminds me of some of the tourism sanctions on Russians as well. I don’t like when the net’s cast too wide, I know for a fact there are Israeli and Russian peoples who would stop these conflicts if they could and it sucks they’re caught up in this, but I can understand the premise of barring by nationality. I just also know in the case of Israel, it’s likely going to be taken to far or used as a point to embolden bigots who may try to use this to cover their beliefs about all Jews and make them appear easier for normal folk to tolerate. Really a double edge sword because I do think Israel needs a dose of responsibility, hell if the world had the balls American could use one too.

ProvableGecko ,

YES.

Denizens of an apartheid regime, beneficiaries of a genocide do not get to enjoy tourism abroad. Is that unequivocal enough for you?

cygnus ,
@cygnus@lemmy.ca avatar

Yes, thank you for being forthright about your views, unlike most others here who are tiptoeing around it.

Steve ,

Punishing unknown people for the actions of their government?
As a US citizen, this is concerning.

My government has done all kinds of shit I have no control over, and don’t condone.
Should I be held responsible for any of it?

ProvableGecko ,

Certainly something to think about isn’t it?

Steve ,

That doesn’t answer the question. Is it okay to punish people for something they have no control over?

nondescripthandle , (edited )

Im not the one who made the claim, but punishing people over things they have no control over are exactly what sanctions are. Its commonplace and often done simply to protect national interests against foreign ones, no matter who’s right or wrong.

Steve ,

That is true…

ProvableGecko , (edited )

Well, like you said USA has punished and still to this day punishes many peoples of the World far far far FAR more severely than forbidding them to go on vacation for doing far less or even nothing at all. All I’m saying is as an American it would be a nice thought experiment for you to consider why you are or should be an exception.

BakerBagel ,

Maybe America would stop being such a shit show if other countries actually stoped cowtowing to American demands and forced is to behave properly.

Steve ,

Sure. But that’s a different issue. That doesn’t require punishing some random citizen; One who has nothing to do with, and no control over what the US, or Israel governments do.

BakerBagel ,

You don’t have a right to travel abroad. Am i being punished for not being allowed to fly to Russia, Iran or North Korea? I’m not Muslim nor do i work in ONG, so am i being punished for not being able to travel to Saudi Arabia? What about Cuba? South Africans had serious visa restrictions during Apartheid, which was absolutely justified when they were an openly racist regime.

cygnus ,
@cygnus@lemmy.ca avatar

I regret to inform you that according to Lemmy you are personally responsible for the actions of every other American, and are by extension a terrible human being who should never be allowed past the borders of your country.

BakerBagel ,

We are all at least a bit responsible for what our governments do in our names.

MyEdgyAlt ,

I don’t want to be held responsible for the appalling actions of my government, but as a voter I understand why people in other countries would. I have more control over it than they do, so them influencing me influences my government.

Samvega ,

Punishing unknown people for the actions of their government?

Yes, I agree, killing innocent people because of the country they are in is terrible.
So terrible that the act of limiting the leisure options of the people who support those actions becomes morally acceptable, because shaming bad behaviour is actually a good thing to do.

gedaliyah ,
@gedaliyah@lemmy.world avatar

Does that include Chinese tourists? What about Palestinian Israelis?

BakerBagel ,

Correct. Citizens of a government that is conducting a genocide ahould not be welcome in other countries.

cygnus ,
@cygnus@lemmy.ca avatar

Only in cases of genocide?

Count042 ,

Found the person that wouldn’t participate in sanctioning apartheid south Africa.

cygnus ,
@cygnus@lemmy.ca avatar

I 100% support sanctions against governments and specific individuals.

Crackhappy ,
@Crackhappy@lemmy.world avatar

A lot like being German in 1949.

corsicanguppy ,

was “not able to accept reservations from persons we believe might have ties to the Israeli army,”

Doesn’t Israel have mandatory service of 1-2 years for young adults? This means every citizen has ‘ties’ to their army. I wonder whether the news is avoiding that fact since it changes a few narratives, if so.

Iceblade02 ,

Yes. Pretty much every Israeli citizen will have “ties to the Israeli army”.

LEDZeppelin ,

Whoever said history repeats itself was spot on

doodledup ,

What are you referring to? This about the war in Gaza.

some_guy ,

What are you referring to?

Similarities to efforts to collectively end apartheid in South Africa.

xc2215x ,

Not a shock. The war has changed a lot.

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