Shuli Zayek, a 50-year-old resident of Kfar Sirkin, was stunned when her request to book a kayaking trip on the Greek island of Cephalonia was denied solely because she is Israeli. In an email exchange with the activity operators, she was informed they couldn't serve her due to the situation in Gaza. "It's a terrible feeling," she told Ynet. "I can't sleep at night; I'm shocked."
"I contacted a company called Sea Kayaking Cephalonia. At first, they were friendly, saying 'yes, of course,' but when I sent another email with Facebook photos of destinations I wanted to visit, which had captions in Hebrew, they must have realized I was from Israel," Zayek said.
"He wrote back, 'Due to the situation, we cannot provide you with service.' When I asked what situation he meant, he said it was the war in Gaza." Zayek said that she wrote back, telling the business owner that Israelis have also suffered terrible things and that he shouldn't judge them, but he responded curtly that he understands but doesn't want to get into it. "I feel like I've been slapped in the face. People talk about these things, but when it happens to you personally... I was stunned to discover this." Despite the upsetting experience, Zayek does not plan to cancel her vacation on the island. "They say most Greeks are friendly, and there are always a few bad apples, but the Greek tourism office needs to know about this."
Israelis have turned into pariahs
Earlier this week, another severe incident of discrimination against Israelis in Europe occurred when a Paris hotel manager refused to accept a reservation from a couple with a three-year-old child and threw them out onto the street at 1:30 a.m. Following a report about the incident on Ynet, the manager of the Novotel Porte de Versailles hotel quickly apologized, compensated the Israeli tourist and reported that the employee who harassed them would no longer work at the hotel chain.
Additionally, about a week ago, Japan’s foreign minister condemned a similar incident in Kyoto. “Refusal to accommodate based on nationality is unacceptable,” Yoko Kamikawa said at a press conference.
This statement followed an incident in which an Israeli tourist named Alex, who booked a room at the Material Hotel, received a message from the hotel manager stating they could not host him due to reports of alleged war crimes by the IDF. "We cannot accept reservations from people we believe may have connections with the Israeli military," wrote the manager, Jeronimo Gehres.