The Channel 2 News station published a TV report on September 8, 2015 investigating the racism that Arab citizens of Israel face when attempting to enjoy leisure time during holidays in hotel. The journalist demonstrated the increasing racism in Israel by calling several hotels to book a room during Jewish and Muslim holidays. What the journalist encountered was the receptionist warning her that there would be many Arabs during the weekend of her stay, stating it as a “warning”. The journalist proceeded to question why the receptionist was warning her, to which the receptionist responded by saying that it was simply protocol to warn Jewish guests that there would be many Arabs; the receptionist said this was the hotel protocol in any case that a Jewish guest had a problem with the number of Arabs of hotel, they could cancel. The journalist called several hotels in Eilat and Tiberias to see if the hotels would give the same “warning” and she was surprised to see that most hotels are taking on this racist habit. The report ended with demonstrating a young Arab man trying to book a stay in a hotel, but was denied due to the receptionist believing, and bluntly stating, that “Arab 18 year olds” have no priorities and thus are not considered appropriate guests for the hotel. Despite the young man pointing out that the treatment he was receiving would not be given to a Jewish young man, the receptionist still denied him to book his stay. Lastly, the report showed racist comments on hotel pages for having too many Arab guests.
The Mossawa Center finds this type of racism to be much too normalized in Israel, and stands against such behavior. We call on the population in Israel and the international community to consider the development of the racist mentality in Israel and further take action by calling these hotels and show outrage at such racist habits. Our legal team will be looking into this case, specifically in regards to the young man who was denied the opportunity to book a stay at a hotel, which is violating his right to public areas. We hope the population of Israel, all Christians, Muslims and Jews, can stand with Mossawa Center, and fight to change what is becoming the status quo in this country.
Below are the links to the hotels and their phone numbers:
- Club Hotel Tiberias – https://www.clubhotels.co.il/club-hotel-tiberias
Phone Number: +972-4-672-8000
- Astral Eilat (Nirvana) - http://english.astralhotels.co.il/
Phone Number: +972-8-638-8888
- Crowne Plaza Hotel – www.crowneplaza.com
Phone Number: 1-809-457-991
