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
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.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Dive In
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Fast Forward Deborah Lipstadt says Trump’s campus antisemitism crackdown has ‘gone way too far’
-
Fast Forward 5 Jewish senators accuse Trump of using antisemitism as ‘guise’ to attack universities
-
Fast Forward Jewish Democratic Rep. Jan Schakowsky reportedly to retire after 26 years in office
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 3
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
- 4
Opinion I first met Netanyahu in 1988. Here’s how he became the most destructive leader in Israel’s history.
In Case You Missed It
-
Opinion Gaza and Trump have left the Jewish community at war with itself — and me with a bad case of alienation
-
Fast Forward Trump administration restores student visas, but impact on pro-Palestinian protesters is unclear
-
Fast Forward Deborah Lipstadt says Trump’s campus antisemitism crackdown has ‘gone way too far’
-
Fast Forward 5 Jewish senators accuse Trump of using antisemitism as ‘guise’ to attack universities
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.