Israeli Guests Barred From Hostel In Uruguay
RIO DE JANEIRO (JTA) — A Uruguayan hotelier rejected an Israeli couple as guests claiming he disagrees with Israeli politics.
Amit Bradush, 22, and his partner received a personalized message from the hotelier via the Booking.com platform explaining their reservation had been canceled because his political view was “very contrary to the policies of your country,” reported El Pais news website.
“I had not seen that they were from Israel, I strongly oppose the policies of their country, they are not welcome in my house,” Buena Vista ecological resort’s owner Mauricio Pinero wrote, saying that the pre-payment had been reimbursed. He added that young Israeli guests who are on their post-army trek are particularly difficult.
“I am neither a discriminator nor an anti-Semite. The kids who come after finishing military service in Israel have a profile of celebration, arrogance and things that are not good. We work with a different type of audience. It is not a problem with anyone in particular,” he added.
Jewish and Israeli officials have criticized the action, which drew intense media coverage in Uruguay.
“We repudiate what happened with two young Jews who were not admitted to a hostel in Barra de Valizas because they came from Israel,” read a statement released by the Comite Central Israelita, Uruguay’s umbrella Jewish organization.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO