Israeli musician Gil Ofarim claims to have been the victim of an antisemitic incident in the Leipzig "Westin Hotel" alleging an employee there asked him to hide his Star of David necklace he was wearing. Ofarim spoke on the antisemitic incident on his Instagram account.
A computer glitch at the hotel caused a long line of guests; Ofarim said he had lined up like everyone else but other guests were being given priority over him. After asking why others were being checked in ahead of him after 15 minutes of waiting, he was told by the hotel manager to remove his Star of David to proceed with check in.
Olaf Hoppe, spokesman for the Leipzig police, said that the alleged statement by the hotel employee was "clearly antisemitic". The police will forward the content of the video to the public prosecutor's office who will then check whether it is criminal in nature. As Hoppe further explained the police were not on site during the incident.
According to Ofarim’s management he is considering filing a criminal complaint. So far there has been no official apology from the hotel. He had to digest the events in Leipzig first and was visibly shocked. "Today would have been his father's birthday, so he does not want to give any further personal interviews on this topic for the time being," it said.
A spokesman for the Westin Leipzig said they were concerned about the report and were taking the matter extremely seriously. The company is trying to contact Ofarim to find out what happened.
Numerous users on social media were shocked. The chairman of the Central Council of Jews, Josef Schuster, wrote in a statement on the short message service Twitter that the hostility was terrifying. It is to be hoped that the hotel will take personal consequences. He also hoped "that in future we will meet with solidarity when we are attacked."