Hotelier Seeks To Make Amends for Anti-Semitism
A Muslim hotel owner in Southern California condemned anti-Semitism and agreed to donate money to two pro-Israel groups in order to head off a protest rally.
A jury in Santa Monica Superior Court earlier this month found that Tehmina Adaya, the owner of the Hotel Shangri-La in that city, discriminated against the nonprofit Friends of the Israel Defense Forces when it held a fundraising event at the hotel.
On Aug 24, Adava announced that she would donate $3,600 each to the Koby Mandell Foundation, to help families of terrorism victims, and Zahal Disabled Veterans Organization, which helps disabled Israeli veterans. The donations were part of an agreement with the western region of the Zionist Organization of America, which had planned a demonstration in front of the hotel to mark the Santa Monica district court’s decision that found Adaya guilty of discrimination against the FIDF group.
Adava also said the Shangri-La would host a private event for Jewish and pro-Israel leaders to be coordinated and led by the ZOA, the Los Angeles Times reported.
On July 11, Adaya abruptly ended a pool party that had been approved by members of the hotel’s management in advance, ordering that all informational brochures and the group’s banner be removed from the premises. She allegedly yelled, “Get these [expletive] Jews out of my pool,” according to testimony.
Adaya and her hotel were found to have violated the state’s Unruh Civil Rights Act, which bars hotels and businesses from discriminating on the basis of sex, race, color or religion.
It was alleged during the trial that Adaya, a Pakistani-born Muslim, ordered the group to stop its event because she believed that her family would cut off her financing for allowing Jews to use the facility. Adaya inherited the hotel from her father, Ahmad Adaya, a real estate mogul and philanthropist who died in 2006.
The jury awarded the Friends of the IDF more than $1.2 million in damages.
“I care deeply about the hurt, anger and misunderstanding that has resulted, and I want the Jewish and pro-Israel community to know I condemn anti-Semitism,” Adaya said in a statement following the announcement
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!