Claim and counterclaim obscure Leipzig hotel anti-Semitism incident in Germany

THE circumstances around an allegedly anti-Semitic incident that occurred at the Westin Hotel in Leipzig, Germany, on Tuesday are becoming increasingly contested.

German singer Gil Ofarim posted a video to Instagram on Tuesday in which he related how two hotel front desk staff members told him to remove his Star of David as he attempted to check in.

One of the employees accused by Ofarim filed charges of defamation against the musician on Wednesday after being placed on leave while the claims were investigated.

There had so far been no findings of anti-Semitism against the accused hotel employee, said Ricardo Schulz, spokesperson for the public prosecutor’s office. No evidence of a second person mentioned by Ofarim in his video account of the incident had yet been found either, Schulz added.

The public prosecutor’s office is continuing its investigation.

However though, according to its spokesperson, it lacks witness accounts from uninvolved third parties or any supplementary evidence at present.

Ofarim expressed his disappointment on Wednesday that he had not yet received an apology from the hotel. However, he said he was pleased about the many positive reactions his video had triggered.

“I’m glad I did that. I don’t think you should just shut up and let it wash over you any more. I just wish I hadn’t been alone at that moment, and wish other guests might have overheard,” Ofarim said.

Leipzig police spokesperson Olaf Hoppe said on Wednesday that Ofarim had not yet filed a complaint about the incident. “Now we have to wait and see what the investigations reveal and what actually happened on that day,” Hoppe said.

Westin employees themselves staged a rally in solidarity with Ofarim in front of the hotel on Tuesday, during which they ew a banner featuring the Israeli ag, as well as the Islamic crescent and the hotel’s name.

Germany’s Central Council of Jews criticized the reaction of the hotel, however, with the body’s president, Josef Schuster, telling dpa: “After the antiSemitic hostility against a Jew in Germany, the hotel can think of nothing else to do than print the Israeli ag and symbols of Islam on a banner,” adding that the Leipzig synagogue was within easy walking distance of the hotel.

Schuster said that there seemed to be little awareness at the hotel that Jews were part of German society. “We are also more than irritated that a clear apology from the hotel to Gil Ofarim has so far failed to materialize,” he said.

One of the employees accused by Ofarim filed charges of defamation against the musician on Wednesday