So there's an ongoing story in Germany that took an interesting twist.
Last October, Gil Ofarim, a Jewish German rock musician, wanted to check into a hotel in Leipzig, Germany. There were some technical difficulties in the hotel lobby, and eventually, he ended up posting a video on Instagram in which he accused an employee of the hotel of antisemitism. Most importantly, he alleged having been asked to put away his Star of David necklace he was wearing. The story caused a lot of uproar and protests against the hotel, and was even reported by Israeli and UK media.
Hundreds gather at Westin Leipzig following video from Israeli-German dual citizen Gil Ofarim, a local celebrity, who claims check-in manager told him to hide his pendant
www.timesofisrael.com
Critics call the incident a ‘shocking display of antisemitism in Germany in living memory of the Holocaust’
www.independent.co.uk
Ofarim then reported the hotel employee to the authorities. In return, the hotel employee filed a libel lawsuit against Ofarim.
As it stands now, CCTV footage and witness reports overwhelmingly tell a different story: There's a lot of evidence suggesting that Ofarim wasn't actually wearing his necklace visibly inside the hotel lobby, which would make his initial claims rather absurd. On top of that, several witnesses, who insist they would have protested if they had heard actual instances of anti-semitism, claim that Ofarim was upset because other customers were given an expedited treatment by the hotel staff, which was simply because they were returning customers and already had their affairs prepared beforehand, hence they were not affected by the aforementioned technical difficulties and could be fasttracked regardless of whatever problems the hotel staff was facing. Apparently, this upset Ofarim, and he threatened to post a story on social media to hurt the hotel's reputation.
Right now, Ofarim os facing libel charges.
Gil Ofarim, the German Jewish singer who accused a hotel in the city of Leipzig of antisemitic discrimination in an incident that electrified the German media last October, is himself facing charges of defamation and libel as a consequence of his allegations. In an announcement on Thursday, the...
www.algemeiner.com
The singer and his faux hotel experience has made the job of those in Germany working diligently to combat anti-Semitism that much harder.
www.jns.org