Kempinski Bristol Hotel In Berlin Erases Israel From Phone Book

We may already be used to this type of thing, but when it happens in Germany of all places, it leaves an even more unpleasant taste in the mouth.

das-hotel-kempinski-amA French filmmaker of Jewish origin unleashed a media furor after he revealed that the Kempinski Bristol hotel in Berlin does not list Israel’s dial code, with employee citing “requests” from Arabic customers.

Claude Lanzmann, an author of Holocaust documentary “Shoah,” vented his frustration at the Kempinski Bristol Hotel in Berlin, writing an open letter in the German outlet FAZ.

During his recent stay, Lanzmann tried to find Israel in the list of dial codes provided by the hotel. The country however was not mentioned among the states one can call directly from the room.

“How is it possible, in 2016 in Berlin, the capital of the new Germany, that Israel was eliminated and eradicated?” Lanzmann wrote. Instead, Kempinski Bristol offers an opportunity to dial Israel via an own call center.

Seeking explanation, the filmmaker addressed the issue at the hotel’s reception. The answer he got there, Lanzmann wrote “shocked him.”

The hotel’s clerk said that the measure was “a deliberate decision by the management of Kempinski-Hotels.”
The reason behind the move triggered even more outrage by the filmmaker.

“The majority of our guests are Arabs and they demanded Israel’s to be deleted,” the employee was quoted as saying by Lanzmann.

Israeli ambassador to Germany Yakov Hadas-Handelsman called the case a “great shame,” Suddeutsche Zeitung reports.

“We were appalled and shocked by the incident. It is in itself a great shame. The fact that it has occurred in Germany and at that very hotel chain, is an even greater disgrace. That needs no explanation. We expect that the hotel draws the right conclusions,” the official said.

The hotel claims it was just an honest mistake.

https://www.facebook.com/KempinskiHotelBristolBerlin/posts/1146752375386102
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Which definitely begs the questions:

https://twitter.com/DanielKapp/status/763865672837238784

Let’s be realistic here. The hotel does not dispute the fact Israel was omitted. And it does not make sense that Claude Lanzmann would just lie about this, especially since his claims can be easily checked.

Plus what are the chances Israel would be omitted by accident? We have been omitted from all sorts of maps and websites for years now. Do we just have really rotten luck?

I am not buying it.

4 thoughts on “Kempinski Bristol Hotel In Berlin Erases Israel From Phone Book”

  1. I don’t understand why he was shocked. Isn’t it a usual thing in Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Lebanon or Germany?

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