Hostel Booted By Birthright Bans ‘Haters Of Israel’ Like… Jon Stewart?

Isreali settlers wave their flags at the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City on May 13, 2018 as they celebrate Jerusalem Day. (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP/Getty Images) Image by Getty Images

By Aiden Pink August 14, 2018

A hostel in Jerusalem’s Old City published a list of Jewish activists, journalists and celebrities who have been “banned…because of crimes committed against the Jewish People.”

The Jerusalem Heritage House’s list, which refers to the people named as “sonei Yisrael” or “haters of Israel,” includes Jewish politicians like Bernie Sanders and Dianne Feinstein; advocacy groups like J Street and the Anti-Defamation League, “all staff” from the Times of Israel, Haaretz, CNN and The New York Times; and celebrities like Jon Stewart, Bette Midler and Natalie Portman.

The list was published on Twitter by Jacob Kornbluh of Jewish Insider.

Apparently there’s a Sonei Yisrael (haters of Israel) list #smh pic.twitter.com/RHOfENAIRE

— Jacob Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) August 14, 2018

The Heritage House, which says it has hosted more than 60,000 people since it opened in 1985, did not respond to a request for comment from The Jerusalem Post.

The hostel came under heavy scrutiny last year after Haaretz reported that a popular operator of Birthright trips run by the Orthodox Union had been referring participants to stay there for free in order to extend their 10-day trip. While at the Heritage House, residents were encouraged to volunteer in illegal West Bank outposts. Residents also reported seeing pictures and books about Rabbi Meir Kahane, whose political party was banned in Israel for racism and whose Jewish Defense League was classified by the FBI as a terrorist group.

The trip provider quickly stopped promoting the hostel following the original report.

The Heritage House has also been threatened with a discrimination-related lawsuit for not accepting non-Jewish guests.

Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink

Aiden Pink is the Deputy News Editor for the Forward. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

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. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO