Iranian diplomat asks hotel to remove Israeli flag ahead of embassy event, but Arab-Israeli manager tells him: ‚If you don’t like it, use another venue‘
On Wednesday the Iranian embassy in Prague organized an event at a well-known hotel in the Czech capital. Prior to the event, a senior embassy official was shocked to see an Israeli flag flying high at the head of a line of flags situated near the entrance to the hotel.
The diplomat spoke to the hotel manager and demanded that the Israeli flag be taken down, but the manager, and Arab-Israeli from Nazareth, rejected the request.
„The (Israeli) flag will remain at the front of the hotel always,“ the manager told the Iranian official. „If you don’t like it, you are welcome to hold the event at another hotel.“
The angry Iranian diplomat had no choice but to accept the hotel’s position, and the event was held as scheduled.
|
|
|||||||||||
According to the Yedioth Ahronoth daily, Israeli Ambassador to Prague Yaakov Levy reported the incident to the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem, and said the Pakistani embassy was scheduled to hold a reception at the same hotel next week.
This was not the first time the presence of the Israeli flag resulted in a diplomatic incident. A few years ago former Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki visited Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan. Upon his arrival at the local Holiday Inn, Mottaki noticed an Israeli flag flying proudly near the entrance. An infuriated Mottaki asked that the flag be removed, but his request was denied.
Itamar Eichner in der größten israelischen Tageszeitung Yediot Acharonot am 27.03.2011
