Israeli tourist cancels Italy hotel stay after receiving ‘No Room for Genocide’ email

An Israeli tourist cancelled a hotel booking in Italy after receiving an automated confirmation email stating that the property supported a pro-BDS campaign called “No Room for Genocide.”

The traveller, identified only as R, had booked a stay at the Decumani Hotel De Charme in Naples but decided not to continue with her trip to the hotel after reading the message.

Speaking to Israel’s N12, she said: “I wrote that I didn’t feel safe to go there. It made me a little less eager to travel, but I’m getting over it. It’s still a very unpleasant feeling, and it ruins my mood even before the trip.”

The confirmation email stated: “This property endorses the No Room for Genocide campaign and respects freedom and human rights of communities suffering racist, ethnic, social, and other forms of harm and discrimination. We warmly welcome Palestinians, refugees and all those peacefully resisting oppression and struggling to attain their internationally recognised rights.”

The wording matches text published in campaign materials by BDS Italy, which encourages participating accommodation providers using booking.com to include the message in their automated confirmation emails.

According to the campaign’s guidance, the aim is to discourage individuals it alleges are connected to war crimes from staying at participating properties and to increase pressure for legal action against Israelis accused of involvement in alleged international crimes.

The campaign toolkit also advises participating businesses to seek additional information from guests in certain circumstances, including their nationality or military service, although it is not clear whether this occurred in the Naples case.

In a statement to Jewish News, Decumani Hotel De Charme confirmed it supports the “No Room for Genocide” campaign but rejected any suggestion that it discriminates against Israeli or Jewish guests.

The hotel said the campaign message forms part of a standard automated pre-arrival email sent to every guest, regardless of nationality, and stressed that it does not know guests’ nationality until they check in.

It said it had “never requested” information about guests’ citizenship, military service, political views or personal beliefs and had “never refused an Israeli guest, cancelled a reservation because of nationality, or denied accommodation on the basis of nationality, ethnicity, or religion.”

The hotel added that the guest had chosen to cancel the booking voluntarily and said it had welcomed around 100 Israeli guests over the past year, offering them “the same warm hospitality we offer every visitor.”

It also said it was “genuinely surprised that a message centred on peace, human dignity, and respect for international law could be interpreted as a source of fear or insecurity,” adding that its intention was “not to target or exclude any individual, nationality, ethnicity, or religion.”

The incident comes weeks after concerns were raised in Britain over the treatment of Jewish guests at a Travelodge hotel in north London.

Last month, a visibly Jewish guest reported finding the words “Free Palestine” displayed on the television in his hotel room at the Travelodge Manor House. A second visibly Jewish guest later said the same message appeared in his room, while the first guest also alleged he experienced hostility from a member of staff at reception.

The latest incident is likely to add concerns among some Israeli and Jewish travellers about encountering politically motivated messages while travelling abroad.