"I told the CEO of the hotel that there was nothing he could do to make it up to me, it's antisemitism and I want you to promise me that something like this will not happen again, neither to Israelis nor to other people in the world," Mahmoud Omari, the Israeli who about a week ago was thrown out of the Novotel Porte de Versailles hotel in Paris with his family at 1:30 a.m., told Ynet. Omari added that the manager apologized to him for the incident and paid for his and his family's stay in the French capital.
On Monday, the French newspaper Le Parisien reported that a couple who arrived with their three-year-old daughter at a hotel in Paris' 15th arrondissement encountered a receptionist who refused to confirm their reservation, and even threw them out into the street while telling them: "You will not get a room in this hotel." The family filed a complaint with the Paris police.
In a conversation with Ynet, Omari said that he spoke with a receptionist and tried to book a room at the hotel, but at some point she was replaced by another clerk of South African origin, and when he saw in their passports that it was an Israeli family, he refused to continue the booking process.
"He started shunning us and said there were no rooms. I immediately went into Booking.com and made a reservation that was confirmed, but he went to serve other customers and told other clerks not to serve us. I asked him, 'What is your name,' and he told me, 'My name is Jezreel, Jezreel.' It was then that I realized that we have a problem with him."
Omari said that the receptionist treated his family with contempt and racism, and even told them: "Israel, you think you are the kings of the world, you will not get a room in this hotel; Israelis will not sleep in this hotel."
When Omari tried to enlist the help of the hotel security guard, the guard sided with the receptionist. The couple was thrown out of the establishment with their young child and they returned to a hotel at the airport where they had stayed earlier. On Friday they lodged their complaint with the police.
The hotel is owned by the Accor chain, an international French hotel group. Omri said that the day after the incident the CEO of Accor called him and apologized. He also received an SMS message in which the hotel manager wrote to him that he "deeply apologize(s) for what happened to you and your sweet family. This unfortunate situation shouldn't have happened and be sure that all the necessary actions have been taken to prevent such a situation" from happening again. The manager also wrote that the receptionist will not work at the hotel again.
Omari praised the conduct of the Israeli embassy in Paris that helped the family. Israel's ambassador to France, Joshua Zarka, said Monday night that "our consular service received information about the incident on Thursday and provided continued assistance to the family in their difficult time and even demanded an explanation from the hotel management about the incident. We fully condemn the behavior of the hotel's reception staff and any other staff that took part in evacuating a family with a three-year-old girl on the streets of Paris in the middle of the night just because they are Israelis. We expect the hotel management to assist the police investigation on the issue and trust the French authorities to ensure that these employees will never be able to discriminate against hotel guests again."
First published: 17:10, 06.25.24