A disabled Israeli woman in a wheelchair was denied transportation in Milan after a company refused to accept her booking, citing her Israeli nationality as their reason.
World Israel News Yael Mehodar, who uses a wheelchair and is currently visiting Milan, attempted to reserve an accessible ride in advance through a company that advertises services for customers with disabilities. Instead, her request was rejected.
In an email riddled with grammatical errors, the company told Mehodar her booking was being denied because she is an Israeli citizen. The message accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing and starvation” in Gaza and declared the company would refuse service to Israelis until “the genocide ends.”
The business further claimed that its refusal to serve Israeli customers was not discrimination against the Jewish state’s citizens, but a protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Speaking to Channel 12’s Morning News on Sunday, Mehodar said the ordeal had made her feel unsafe and unwelcome in the picturesque Italian city.
The “Israeli Not Welcome” white on blue posters, which appeared especially prominently in the quarter where a majority of the Jewish community and school are located, had no sponsor logos to identify culprits, but the police immediately launched an investigation and reportedly located and arrested six young men and women who had similar signs in their possession.
Jewish municipal councilor Daniele Nahum, of the Azione party, denounced the placards, saying, “Posting discriminatory signs against any nationality is an operation worthy of the fascists of the 1930s.”
Targeting a people was wrong and it could lead to endangering the lives of Milan’s Jews, he added, citing the statistic that there has been “a 400% increase in antisemitism” in Italy, which is “a very worrying situation.”
Mehodar added that she had also encountered large pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Milan during her trip, which left her feeling unsettled.
She said that receiving an explicit rejection of service simply for being Israeli made her feel “horrible.” Following the incident, Mehodar said she concealed her nationality when contacting other transportation companies, fearing she would face further discrimination.
Numerous Israeli tourists have reported discrimination due to their nationality since Oct. 7. Shlomi, an Israeli who has been living in Milan for four years, told the Israeli Mako news site that the Israel-Hamas war has turned many in the city against both Israelis and Jews.
“Friends who were close to us cut off contact, the streets began to be filled with antisemitic graffiti, the radical left here draws parallels between Israel and fascists, and thus more and more hatred is created against Israelis and Jews.”
Spray-painted graffiti that appeared on a bridge over a main road leading into Milan over a year ago that equates Jews with Nazis has yet to be removed, he complained, and “in general, there are a lot of swastikas everywhere in the city.”
People please wake up here then its not only italy that is so but the whole european union is exactly so as italy. they hide this behind the many never again and stop the start thing and they lock anyone up that really supports Israel and her fight for freedom. we here in germany have the facts that our streets in berlin and near it are full of hamasses with the uni and left antifa followers and what do they scream out …the river and sea thing not to forget the many sayings of how they want to kill all Jews and supporters. people europe is against us and it lets the others do what they want and anyone not with this is a nazi and antisemite. europe is going mudslime and soon all will know it when they call out the new europistan or so.
As far as I’m concerned, any country that treats a disabled person like this, regardless of ethnicity, deserves to have its country fall to the 7th-century scum they have allowed to invade. I support the Jewish people and IDF
I have tended, in the past, to try to find some glimmer of sanity in European countries, by saying that NOT ALL citizens of XXXX country (Ireland, Britain, France, Spain, ad nauseum) are antisemitic sh*ts. That is starting to wear very thin with me. There are now whole blocks of countries in that godforsaken continent that I refuse to visit. I am pretty well sick to death of them all.
Hi Crown please dont give up hope then we are here only in hiding then to out ourselves would only get us locked up as nazis or we get a few visits from the many nwo, ngos or antifa, and when that wont work we get a courtdate and jailtime. we are here and we wont go away only as bob marley once sang he who runs today can fight another day and this other day is comming soon. dont give up on us here!.
I won’t, Daniel.
Thanks Az Gal that means alot to me.