Israeli tourist Galit Ben-Shimhon announced her intention sue a bar on the island of Lesbos after I found a sign there that said “No Zionists allowed.”
The story was originally published by the Israeli publication Mako and later retold by Channel 9. According to Ben-Shimhon, she was traveling in Lesvos and went to pay for a drink she ordered on the beach when she noticed the advertisement.
— in one of the establishments in Lesvos, a tourist saw a sign “Zionists are not allowed”;
— she asked the employee to remove the ad, but was refused;
— after that I contacted the owner and gave the establishment 24 hours to remove the sign;
— Ben-Shimkhon stated that otherwise she would go to court;
— Greek law does provide for criminal liability for discrimination in the sale of goods and provision of services, but the qualifications of this particular case must be determined by the court.
“At first I thought I read it wrong.”
According to the tourist’s story, at first she decided that she was mistaken when she saw the ad. Then she approached the employee and asked to take it off. She, according to Ben-Shimhon, refused and explained the establishment’s position as supporting the Palestinians.
The Israeli woman emphasizes that the bar’s pro-Palestinian position did not outrage her. She said an establishment has the right to express political views, but there is a legal line between making a political statement and refusing to serve a certain group of people.
After the conversation, Ben-Shimhon left the bar, found out the owner’s information and contacted her. She warned that if the ad is not removed within 24 hours, legal action will follow based on Greek and European non-discrimination legislation.
What does the Greek law say?
The key regulation here is Law 4443/2016 about equal treatment. Its Article 11 provides for liability for discrimination in the sale of goods or provision of services to the public on the grounds of race, colour, national or ethnic origin, ancestry, religious or other belief, disability, age, marital or social status, sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics.
For such a violation the law provides imprisonment for a term of six months to three years and a fine from €1,000 to €5,000. Thus, the wording published in a number of media about punishment “up to six months” does not correspond to the current text of Article 11.
However, an important legal nuance remains: the term “Zionist” denotes a political or ideological self-identification and does not in itself automatically equate to Israeli citizenship, Jewish origin or nationality. Therefore, the question of whether a particular sign falls within the protected grounds of discrimination will depend on the circumstances of the case, the actual practice of the establishment and the assessment of the competent authorities.
Another conflict occurred on the island
Ben-Shimhon also spoke about another episode in Lesvos. According to her, leaflets were distributed accusing the Israelis of allegedly “taking over” the island and acting against the interests of local residents. Because of these materials, a conflict occurred involving a group of Israeli tourists, which, according to her version, almost escalated into a fight.
The tourist claims that she intends to consider legal action in connection with these leaflets. At the same time, her assertion that it is not local Greeks who are behind such initiatives, but visiting activists with “progressive” views, remains her own assessment and has not been independently confirmed.
Not the first such dispute
The story in Lesbos came shortly after another conflict in Athens, where an Israeli couple said they were asked to leave a bar after the owner learned where the patrons were coming from. Such episodes occur against the backdrop of extremely heated public debate in Greece around the war in Gaza, Israeli actions and numerous pro-Palestinian actions.
However, individual conflicts in themselves do not yet allow us to talk about mass or systemic practice. In each case, it is necessary to distinguish political protest and harsh criticism of the State of Israel from possible discrimination against specific people on national, ethnic or religious grounds.
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