Members of a religious bank were instructed by management of King David Hotel in Jerusalem to remove their yarmulkes and hide their tzitzis since some guests found the religious symbols offensive, Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) reported.

According to the report, the hotel invited the Inbalim (ענבלים) orchestra to perform for hotel staff, most being Arab. A half hour before the event hotel officials noticed two of the band members wore kippot. They were asked to remove them and hide tzitzis to avoid offending the Arab staff.

Band manager Noam Cohen, who happens to be non-religious, refused the request but offered they would all wear caps, the religious and non-religious band members alike so they would appear the same. However, the shameful incident did not end here for they saw one of the religious performers displayed his tzitzis, which he was asked to hide inside his pants.

According to Galei Tzahal, hotel manager Chaim Shkedy explained “I am not ashamed over what I said for I speak the truth. I asked for an Arab band for tonight. When I arrived I saw guys with kippot. I asked ‘for an Arab audience you bring fellows with kippot? Does this sound logical? For an event in honor of Muslims to davka do so’”.

Band leader Cohen asked why he views the situation this way and another hotel official is quoted saying “you live in the same country as I and this is simply an effort to exhibit respect to a segment of the population, nothing more”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)