Friday, June 06, 2008

Inbal Hotel Unfurling

Who needs the Orient House?

From: Yonatan Adler [yonatanadler@yahoo.com]
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2008 2:14 PM
Subject: PLO Flags at the Inbal Hotel in Jerusalem

The Jerusalem Inbal Hotel and... the Palestine Liberation Organization?!?!

Last Friday, as I drove by the Inbal hotel in Jerusalem on my way home from Friday errands, I noticed a number of large banner-flags hanging along the facade of the Inbal. There were flags from various countries - the United States, England, Germany, Spain, and... Palestine!!

I couldn't believe what I was looking at - a huge PLO flag draped on the front of the Inbal hotel in the heart of Jerusalem!

When I arrived home, I immediately called the Inbal hotel to ask why they had a PLO flag draped across the front of their hotel. The answer that I received was that the hotel was hosting a conference, and that the organizers had requested that the PLO flag be displayed together with the national flags of various countries.

I promptly returned to the hotel in order to meet with the general-manager of the Inbal, Mr. Rodney Sanders to inquire why an Israeli hotel in the heart of Jerusalem would think to fly a huge PLO banner. Mr. Sanders presented the same laconic reply as I had received on the phone.

Upon leaving the hotel, I found more PLO flags displayed in the lobby, which I photographed (see attached photo - please note the Inbal insignia in the background).



At this point, the security in the lobby quickly escorted me outside, and I was unable to photograph the banner outside.

I believe that the Inbal hotel should be taken to task for this provocative behavior. The general-manager of the hotel, Mr. Rodney Sanders may be contacted at the following email address:
rodneys@inbalhotel.com

Sincerely,

Jonathan Adler

3 comments:

molly r. said...

And the Inbal is such a nice hotel....
What a shame!
What a shanda! I emailed Rodney to this effect.
Everyone should!

Anonymous said...

Dear Mr. Dubin,

I am responding to your note of concern regarding reports of "PLO flags"
displayed at our hotel during the last two days of May.

Firstly, let me say directly that I am very sensitive to the concerns of
our guests, and that I, too, felt uncomfortable when asked, even by the
Israeli government, to fly the colors of the Palestinian Authority at
the hotel.

But that is exactly what happened. The Israel Minister of Public
Security Avi Dicter chose the Inbal Jerusalem Hotel to be the venue for
the International Security Forum, a conference on "Challenges to
Homeland Security", of which MK Avi Dicter was the chairman.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertkoff and a dozen other
internal security ministers from Europe and beyond were invited and
Minister Dicter also invited the Palestinian Minister of Interior.

We were instructed by the Israel Ministry of Public Security and the
organizing committee to fly the flags of all those participating in the
conference, including that of the Palestinian Authority.

While not meaning to add to anybody's distress, I think it important for
me to mention that other prominent hotels are often asked by the Israel
Ministry of Foreign Affairs to host Israel-Palestinian negotiating
sessions. Sometimes this also involves flags.

I can assure you that I, as the General Manager of the hotel had no
intent of making a political statement and have no desire of doing so in
the future.

I would like to apologize for placing the flag on the building. I have
now since learnt how sensitive this issue is to the feelings of our
nation and our people, but I believe I had no choice but to follow the
request of the Ministry.

Yours sincerely,

Rodney Sanders
General Manager



-----Original Message-----
From: Gershon Dubin [mailto:gershon.dubin@juno.com]
Sent: Sunday, June 08, 2008 1:31 PM
To: Rodney Sanders
Subject: Flag

How dare you fly a Palestinian flag, symbol of the campaign to destroy
Israel and all Jews, in the middle of the most Jewish city in the
world?

You owe an apology to the Jews of Jerusalem as well as to all peace
loving people.

Gershon
gershon.dubin@juno.com

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