A Jewish journalist was thrown out of a restaurant by a bartender for his religious beliefs, according to The Daily Mail. The 29-year-old Elad Eliahu was on a date at Swell Dive in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn when the bartender, Alvin Dan, walked up to him and intentionally mispronounced his name before threatening him.
Dan reportedly warned Eliahu that he was going to embarrass and humiliate him if he did not exit the establishment, threatening to tell the other patrons that he harassed abortion patients. The scene was made in front of Eliahu’s date and the other customers. The encounter was posted on social media by Dan where he boasts about kicking the “proud Zionist” out of the bar and ruining his date.
https://twitter.com/elaadeliahu/status/1645464569974861827?s=20
“The unsuspected look on her face when she had no idea that she was about to go home with a proud Zionist who loves to show up at abortion clinics to harass protestors,” Dan said on the video.
The main video of the encounter reveals that Dan was harassing Eliahu after he left the bar and proceeded to walk down the street. Now, Eliahu is suing the bar for discrimination based on his religion, creed, and national origin. The lawsuit filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court states that the incident also cost him additional dates with the woman he was with. He had told her to leave the venue ahead of him for her safety, but she was nervous about following him again.
Eliahu informed the New York Post that he was angry about the incident but tried to stay calm during the verbal assault. He posted his video to his 22,000 followers on social media and asked the bar to respond to him privately. The owner allegedly said that Eliahu’s problem is with the bartender, “not the bar.” Eliahu contends that this would not have happened if he was not Jewish.
