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Israeli Court Awards Damages To Bedouin Family Excluded From Swimming Pool

By Howard M. Friedman

In Israel, the Beersheba Magistrate's Court today awarded damages equivalent to $2560 (US) to a Bedouin family who were denied entry to a swimming pool in the town of Ofakim. According to YNet News, plaintiffs in the lawsuit alleged discrimination on the basis of religion, race and nationality. They claimed that the pool owner objected to the mother's veil, saying it would drive away his other customers. Pool owner Zion Peretz allegedly demanded that she remove it, or else that the family return at a later time to swim. Peretz admitted that he did not let the mother enter, but said it was because a rabbi and his six children were swimming in the pool and he had promised them not to let women enter. The judge rejected that as a defense and held that the pool owner's discrimination had insulted plaintiff family in a significant manner.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on July 20, 2009 (boomark / email).