Is this antisemitism or not? You decide

It’s hard to miss the prominent sign that hangs over Pun Pun Thai Food restaurant, located in the paradise island of Koh Phangan, in Thailand, which reads “No X Israeli tourist.”

If the owner’s lack of proper English writing leaves you wondering what that means, it’s a loud and clear message that Israelis are not welcomed in the eating establishment.

At least one courageous woman decided to question the proprietor, in an attempt to better understand his motivation. Asking him if this was due to the religion of Israelis, he assured them it wasn’t but was, instead, based on the “impoliteness, disrespect and abuse” claimed to have been, experienced by staff.

Imagine the humiliation felt by one particular potential Israeli patron, who was actually “stopped by an employee who pointed to the small sign at the entrance?”

Not only was Itsik, the Israeli tourist, in question, advised that his business wasn’t wanted, but apparently was also the victim of blatant discrimination for his crime of looking Jewish. Refusing to be treated with contempt, he confronted the owner who contended that “a group of Israelis had previously visited, but only two of them ordered food. Consequently, his decision was to refuse entry to all Israelis.”

The island, a popular Israeli tourist stop, became a point of controversy after Itsik’s post went viral, once he shared his upsetting experience. It didn’t take long before feedback revealed that another Israeli tourist suffered a similar experience.  Her boyfriend was kicked out of the restaurant for the offense of not eating, despite her own order of food at the same place.  

Now you be the judge. Do these two incidents fit the description of the “abuse, impoliteness and disrespect,” claimed by the owner? Because most of us would, instead, call it the freedom of choice not to eat while accompanying a companion who does want to eat. It’s done all the time.

Consequently, the libelous claims sound bogus, leaving one to believe that there is more behind the accusations which were the impetus of banning Israelis from the establishment.

But it didn’t stop there, because local reports also asserted that there were multiple incidents, resulting in “discomfort to staff and the local community,” supposedly leading to the conclusion that Israelis should be classified as unwelcome visitors.

The only problem with this dubious tale is that there don’t seem to be any corroborating witnesses who have come forward to detail what they saw as behavior which could be characterized as abusive.  

The mere allegation that discomfort was felt by both staff and the local community, is a completely subjective feeling. In fact, without substantiation, this claim can be viewed as hearsay, unable to stand up to scrutiny.

Nonetheless, one thing is for sure. The insulting decision of banning an entire nation of people, as was done by this Thai man, is to take a broad brush and paint 100% of that race as evil individuals who are unworthy of service.

Such ignorant representations display an obvious bias as well as the impossibility that an entire people can be defined in only way. The truth is that there are bad and good in every land under the sun. The inability to recognize that fact, is to reveal one’s own shameful prejudice and belief that an entire ethnicity should be disenfranchised.

Among the many Instagram, Facebook, Reddit posts, as well as other sites, which have carried the story, no concrete, detailed incidents, accompanied by eyewitness accounts, are given to back up what appear to be flimsy accusations, which amount to nothing more than Jewish persecution.

Frankly, it’s hard to believe that Jews, who generally are big lovers of food, comprise the only ethnic group who are guilty of having dishonored the bizarre sensitivities of this restaurateur.

The unrealistic expectation that diners should eat alone if their traveling companion is either not hungry, wants to eat somewhere else or simply unable to dine, for a particular reason, is highly offensive, in and of itself.  

Sadly, this is not the first time that a shop, restaurant, waterpark or campsite has chosen to ban Jews from receiving their services. In my August, 2025, article entitled, “No Jews allowed in the year 2025,” published in All Israel News, I outlined the shocking refusals of an Australian hair salon, a French vacation resort, a Dutch waterpark, a London Hospital, the vacation island of Maldives and an Austrian campsite, to render their services to Israelis.

That article was followed up with another one In September, 2025, entitled, “German pizza owner loves children unless they’re Jewish,” also published in All Israel News.  

In a despicable act of clear antisemitism, the owner of Zulu Pizza, located in Furth, Germany, likewise, hung a sign in his establishment, forbidding Israeli diners to enter his eatery.

All of this points back to the dark days of Nazi-occupied Europe which began its attacks against their Jewish population by excluding them from full social participation along with all citizens. Other merchants likely felt compelled to comply with a growing trend of discrimination against the race which was suddenly scorned. Now it’s happening all over again.

Except this time, rather than openly admitting to being an antisemite or a Jew-hater, the exclusion of Israelis is cleverly camouflaged under the guise of “their having deserved it for being bad patrons.” If that doesn’t fall under the category of cowardice, what does?

As contemptible as Europe was in the 1930s, at least there was no pretense about the loathing that was felt for Jews. Eighty years later, the fear of being labeled anti-Jewish must be carefully shrouded with a good cover story, so as not to appear to be socially unacceptable.  

But this latest concocted allegation of abusive Israelis stinks to high heaven, and anyone, with even the slightest moral compass, should realize that patronizing such a business is facilitating the open display of Jew-hatred. Such a reprehensible act should not be tolerated by any cultured and civilized people.

It’s a pity to think that a vacation spot, known for its unspeakable beauty, would end up representing the ugly ignorance of people who have decided that Jews are worthless to them, even at the price of losing their business.

But you be the judge as to whether or not it constitutes antisemitism! Because the Thai owner says it doesn’t!