The investigators in the case of the anti-Semitism allegations by singer Gil Ofarim against the Westin Grand Leipzig are recreating the contentious situation in front of cameras.
Leipzig – In the case of Gil Ofarim against the Westin Grand Hotel in Leipzig, the disputed video material from the surveillance cameras is evaluated. The incident has now been re-enacted and recorded by the cameras. An expert will now evaluate these recordings, announced Chief Public Prosecutor Ricardo Schulz on Tuesday (December 7th, 2021).
Ofarim reported in a video on his Instagram channel in early October that an employee of the hotel had asked him to remove his chain with a Star of David when he was about to check in. Ofarim then filed a complaint. The decision to re-enact the case was made after evaluating and appraising the results of the report, which has been available since mid-November, said Chief Public Prosecutor Schulz.
Gil Ofarim versus Westin Grand Hotel in Leipzig – video material will be re-evaluated
Part of this was examining the video footage from the hotel’s surveillance cameras. “The expert will now add the new knowledge and the conclusions to be drawn from the expert’s point of view to his existing report,” said Schulz. However, the people who were directly involved at the time did not participate in the re-enactment.
The chief public prosecutor did not provide any further details. The investigating authorities would only comment on one of the possible overall assessments and the findings obtained up to that point after the comprehensive investigation has been completed. When and with what result the investigations will be concluded cannot yet be said. The Leipzig public prosecutor’s office has received several reports of the incident – also from the accused hotel employee against Ofarim for defamation.
Regardless of how the Ofarim case ends, the anti-Semitically motivated terrorist attack in Halle in October 2019 makes it clear: anti-Semitism in Germany was never over. (na / dpa)
