Israeli-Austrian musician Erwin Yabor kicked out of Vienna restaurant 'for speaking Hebrew'
Israeli-Austrian entrepreneur and cellist Erwin Yabor, who divides his time between Tel Aviv and Vienna, said on Saturday night that he was thrown out of a restaurant in Vienna together with his friends solely for speaking Hebrew.
Yabor wrote on the social network 𝕏: "Just yesterday in Vienna, Austria, violinist Hagai Shaham, pianist Yulia Gurevich, and I were enjoying a quiet moment at a small and pleasant Italian restaurant – having a quick bite before our concert. Naturally, we were speaking Hebrew among ourselves."
Yabor continued, "After we received our order, the waiter came back and suddenly asked what language we were speaking. I casually replied, 'English and German.' ‘No, no,’ he insisted. ‘What were you speaking just now?’ I answered, ‘Hebrew, of course.’ He looked me straight in the eye and said, without hesitation: ‘In that case, leave. I won’t serve you food.’"
The musician described how he felt: "The initial shock and humiliation were profound. But what struck us even more was what happened afterward – or more precisely, what didn’t. The people around us were clearly stunned, some gave us sympathetic glances, and then, quietly, they went back to their dinners, their conversations, their wine – as if nothing had happened. Welcome to Europe, 2025."
Yabor concluded: "Still shaken, we went on stage that evening, heavy-hearted, seeking refuge in the music we love. Performing Dvořák’s ‘Dumky Trio’ in front of a sold-out hall offered us a rare kind of healing – a fleeting yet powerful moment of grace amidst the dissonance."
Later, the restaurant where the incident occurred was identified as Pizzeria Ramazotti in Vienna.
Dov Gil-Har is a corespondent for KAN 11.
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