Australian Piercing Store Refuses To Serve Israelis
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) — A retailer in the Australian North Queensland city of Cairns displayed a sign in its window saying that it does not serve Israelis.
Israeli tourist Mohr Wenger posted a photo of the sign in the window reading “No Israelis served here” on Facebook.
Wenger wrote in her post that she and a friend with whom she was traveling around Australia entered a body piercing store to have their noses pierced only to be told by the owner that he would not serve them since they were from Israel.
The owner of the Cold Steel Piercing store told the women that “he doesn’t serve Israelis. He said he doesn’t agree with what our government does and there for we are not welcomed in his shop. He even pointed out a sign that we missed saying ‘No Israelis served here,’” Wenger wrote.
“A sign that means ‘I don’t want to listen, I don’t care who you are but if you are from Israel go away.’ That’s sugarcoating anti-Semitism. That’s sugarcoating racism,” she also wrote.
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