The Arab Ajial school of Jaffa will take legal action against the Superland amusement park of Rishon Letzion after having allegedly been refused into the facility because of their ethnicity.
According to Khaled Shakra, a teacher of the Ajial school, he was about to confirm the booking for his class’ end of year celebration at the park, when he was asked for the details of the school. Once the theme park discovered the name and location of the school, Shakra was told that the days he had asked and was previously approved for were no longer available. He then tried to call Superland again, this time using a Hebrew name, and managed to confirm the reservation for the same days he had previously required.
Exclusion of Arab customers is becoming an increasingly frequent tool of segregation, which adds to a backdrop of systematic discrimination of citizenship rights, employment opportunities, redistribution of resources and social welfare. The Superland amusement park is not the first facility in Rishon Letzion to reject customers because of their ethnicity. Mohammad Safouri and his wife Sama tried repeatedly to make a reservation in Soho restaurant, a well-known eatery in town. Due to their name, they were told that there was no availability or that the computer system for the reservation was down. Similar to Sultani, Safouri did not encounter any problems in booking a reservation when he called back later the same day and provided a Jewish name.
The segregation policies enacted by Israel are not confined within the boundaries of the state, but also extend throughout the West Bank. The Kalia Beach Dead Sea Resort, owned by the illegal Israeli settlement of Kibbutz Kalia, denied access to Palestinian customers claiming no availability, while Israelis and foreigners continued to be allowed in the facility.
