‘You think we respect your people?’ – Israeli traveler pressured to cancel reservation for Zurich apartment rental over Gaza war.
By David Rosenberg, World Israel News
A Swiss property manager pressured an Israeli Jewish traveller to cancel their reservations recently, harassing the would-be guest over Israel’s handling of the ongoing war against Hamas.
The incident is the latest in a series of cases in which Israelis who booked hotels or rental units abroad were either pressured into cancelling their reservations or outright refused service.
According to a complaint filed by the Israeli human rights group B’Tsalmo, an Israeli traveler, G., was pressured into cancelling his Booking.com reservation with ViaDukt Apartments for a rental unit in Zurich, Switzerland recently.
After booking the unit, G. was contacted by Anna, the unit’s manager, who demanded he explain Israel’s conduct during the current war against Hamas before he makes use of his reservation.
“Hello, I am writing you from Viadukt Apartments. You have booked our room for Sunday,” Anna wrote.
“Before you travel and stay at our place, I want to ask you what happens in Gaza? How can your government kill thousands of innocent Palestine people?”
Anna then sent thumbnails of a photographs from the Gaza Strip, writing “Your government is a terrorist organisation.”
In response, G. asked her whether “you respect me as a proud Jewish person.”
“Omg,” Anna wrote back. “You really think we respect your people??? Your hand [sic] are full of blood of innocent people.”
ViaDukt Apartments currently holds a 1.0 star rating on Google Reviews, with multiple guests complaining of the staff’s behavior.
A Serbian venue has already been dropped by Booking.com for similar harassment of an Israeli who reserved a rental unit.
In June, a Paris hotel refused to honor a reservation made by an Arab-Israeli family, leaving the family of three out on the street in the middle of the night.
In Japan, the Hotel Material in Kyoto nixed an Israeli man’s reservation and informed him that the venue could not do business with him due to alleged war crimes in Gaza and his possible ties to the IDF.
The operator of a British vacation apartment also forced an Israeli guest who had booked a stay to cancel the reservation, citing the war in Gaza.