Status: 06.10.2021 6:03 p.m.
After the anti-Semitism allegations against a Leipzig hotel, the Leipzig public prosecutor’s office has started investigations into the case. The accused employee filed charges of defamation and threats.
Due to the anti-Semitism allegations of the musician Gil Ofarim against a Leipzig hotel, the authorities have now started investigations. “The public prosecutor’s office is examining the allegations made against the hotel employee,” said a spokesman for the prosecution.
At the same time, the accused hotel employee filed charges of defamation. The man described the incident “very differently,” said a police spokeswoman. The employee also filed a second threat report because he had received threatening messages via his Instagram account. The public prosecutor’s office had also received a complaint from an uninvolved third party for inciting hatred against the hotel employee.
After accusations of anti-Semitism against the Leipziger Hotel, investigations are underway against both sides
Matthias Koch, MDR, Tagesschau 8:00 p.m., October 6, 2021
A spokesman for the public prosecutor said there was no evidence in connection with right-wing and anti-Semitic crimes against the accused hotel employee. No further information has yet been obtained about a second person mentioned by Ofarim in a video about the incident.
Ofarim: “It was the same”
Ofarim reported in his video published on Instagram on Tuesday that he was asked on Monday in the hotel to remove his chain with a Star of David. He was said to have been told that he was only allowed to check in when he took off the star.
In an interview with “Spiegel online”, the musician Ofarim stated that he was sticking to his portrayal: “It was exactly as I said in the video, there was no argument or anything like that.” He found it “shameful and sad that I have to justify and explain myself after this incident”.
Controversial expression of solidarity
The Westin Hotel in Leipzig was on leave of absence for two employees. According to a spokeswoman for the Marriott group, this will initially apply for the duration of the investigation.
Solidarity action by Westin employees after the incident at their hotel.
Image: dpa
At a solidarity rally in front of the building on Tuesday evening, employees held up a banner on which the hotel name, the flag of Israel and the Islamic crescent could be seen.
“After the anti-Semitic hostility towards a Jew in Germany, the hotel can think of nothing else than to print the Israeli flag and symbols of Islam on a banner,” said the President of the Central Council, Josef Schuster, of the German Press Agency.