A well-known Jewish family was thrown out of a store in Vietnam after the owner said he considered people from Israel “not welcome.”
Dani Namdar and his wife Raizel, the Australian-Swedish couple who run the vlog ‘That Jewish Family’, were visiting Train Street in Hanoi with their two young children when the owner ‘started spewing hate’.
They were sitting at a table outside the store when the “pro-Palestine” owner began shouting at them after noticing that Mendel, 3, was wearing a yarmulke.
“Get out of my shop. Away! Don’t sit there. My shop doesn’t accept people from your country,” he told the family.
When Mr. Namdar asked if his wife and children were being thrown out because they were Jewish, the shop owner said, “No, no, no. I don’t support it.”
Mendel said the man told him to take off his yarmulke and said to his mother, “I want to keep it on… we keep it on even when we sleep.”
‘That Jewish Family’ shared footage of the incident on Instagram and has been viewed more than two million times in the past two weeks.
“This isn’t Germany in 1938. This is a ‘pro-Palestinian’ shop owner in Vietnam yesterday,” the caption reads.
‘You’re saying anti-Zionism isn’t anti-Jewish? We were quietly chilling on the famous train tracks in Hanoi for a photoshoot when a “pro-Palestinian” shop owner started threatening our children when he saw Mendel’s Kippah.’
The parents described the incident as “very traumatic” and said it is difficult to explain anti-Semitism to such a young child.
“How do you explain to a three-year-old what he saw? That someone doesn’t like him because of the way he was born,” the video’s caption continued.
‘We talked a lot afterwards and it made me so sad that a three-year-old had to be abused like that.’
A second clip showed the owner giving the family the finger, saying, “Free Palestine” and “Only people and animals are welcome.”
When Mr. Namdar asked if he was considered a “human being,” there was silence.
At one point, the owner laughed as he told the family to be careful with their children because “Israel sends bombs.”
“Be careful here. The baby is not safe. The bombs are automatic, they fly on the baby,” the owner said, referring to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Despite this, the family said that Jews are not victims and that they will not let anyone take away their pride.
“This is so important to share because we cannot close our eyes to reality. Anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism, period,” the caption read.
‘I don’t care, try saying it isn’t true, but if my three-year-old daughter gets thrown out of the store for wearing a yarmulke, you can’t convince anyone otherwise.’
‘And then you say that only people, cats and dogs are welcome in his shop, and not us, come on.’
Dani Namdar and his wife Raizel, from the vlog ‘That Jewish Family’, were visiting Train Street in Hanoi with their two young children when the owner ‘started spewing hate’
But not everyone supported “That Jewish Family”; many said they would gladly support the man’s store.
“Calm down. Not like your kids were torn apart after being told to evacuate to a safe place,” someone said.
“Thanks for the great review. I’m definitely going to the restaurant now! That guy is a hero,” a second person commented.
Others described the shop owner’s behaviour as ‘absolutely disgusting’.
The family said this was the only anti-Semitic experience they had in Vietnam and that everyone else was very friendly.
‘A comment on the previous post read something like “I’m just going to focus on your guys’ reaction. Everything else is just noise” and we couldn’t have found a better resonance with it,’ the caption concluded.
“There may be a lot of hate, but we must focus on love because that is what will heal the world.”
Daily Mail Australia contacted the family for comment.