War Criminals Not Welcome

Part Two of a series on anti-Zionist boycotts around the world.

[Spotted in Italy, 2025]

An Israeli tourist complained to Israeli Ambassador to Japan Gilad Cohen and Israeli media after he was asked to sign a pledge confirming he had not committed war crimes - looting, attacks on civilians or prisoners of war and acts of sexual violence, torture and murder - when he checked into the Guesthouse Wind Villa on 17th April 2025, in Kyoto, Japan.

The declaration read:

The tourist — who said he is a former combat medic in Israel’s navy — signed the pledge at the reception desk, saying, “In the end…I have nothing to hide.”

He went on, “The statement is true - I did not commit any war crimes,” absurdly stated, “Israeli soldiers do not commit war crimes,” and added:

I signed because I didn’t want to create problems, and because this form means nothing…I don't think he's [hotel owner] antisemitic, just misinformed.

Hotel manager Ace Kishi confirmed that the pledge is “optional,” adding, “So far, no guest has refused to fill out the pledge, and there have been no instances of refusing accommodation.”

The guest, who stayed at the hotel for four days told the manager that he is misinformed about what is happening in Gaza. Kishi said he was happy to discuss the subject if the tourist wanted to engage.

The tourist later contacted the Israeli embassy and its ambassador wrote to the hotel complaining of discrimination “based solely on nationality,” which reportedly “caused the guest significant emotional distress and discomfort.” Cohen called the incident “extremely serious and unacceptable,” and said it “violated Japan’s Hotel Business Law.”

Cohen added, the incident is “not an isolated case.”

More on that below.

Guesthouse Wind Villa did not back down from its position with regards to its pledge and continued to share social media posts opposing Israel’s genocide, the wilful starvation of Palestinians in Gaza, settler attacks and kidnappings in the West Bank and of Israelis protesting their state, carrying pictures of children killed in Gaza.

The hotel also reported donating the fee for the Israeli tourist’s stay to an emergency fund for Gaza and referred to this as “Good money laundering.”

Kishi responded to the ambassador, confirming the pledge did not single out Israelis, but was given to tourists from Russia, Ethiopia, Syria and a handful of other countries involved in “military or paramilitary organisations in the last 10 years,” and reiterated it did not refuse accommodation if guests refused to sign. He ended with an appeal to the Israeli government to cease its violations of international law.

Due to its stance, the hotel received threats from Zionists, including hostile messages, such as, “Do you offer discounts to guests who sniped more than five palestinians in the head at a distance of 250 meters?”

Despite this, the hotel continued to share reports of the genocide in Gaza, as well as letters of support it had received:

Following the ambassador's complaint, the hotel received a notification of suspension from Booking.com, which cited complaints it had acted “discriminatory towards guests.” The hotel said the tourist did not even use this website when booking - he used Expedia.com who have made no complaint - and said the suspension was “unilaterally based solely on online information and the claims of the Israeli ambassador.”

Days later, Booking.com responded with an email berating the hotel with patronising questions and threats. The hotel responded, “At this point, we feel like we’re talking to the Israeli Ambassador.”

Israel’s ambassador contacted Japanese authorities requesting they investigate the incident. The hotel manager responded once more, saying the pledge is implemented to keep his hotel staff safe, telling critical Israeli media:

I don't think it is ridiculous. It is mandatory to serve in the army in your country. Since Israel launched a military operation in Gaza in October 2023, we do not know who may have been involved, as young Israelis are required to serve in the army.

He went on:

For us, war is something distant, and we have never met people who killed women and children or bombed schools. It is beyond imagination.

Kishi continued to defend his decision, saying the tourist was “appropriately subject to the pledge,” because he had admitted online that he, “…was in Gaza as an Israeli soldier…Those we are killing are terrorists."

Japanese authorities investigated the incident but found that the hotel had not violated any law. The ambassador responded, calling it a “fact that the hotel conditioned the Israeli guest’s stay upon signing the said form,” a charge the hotel continues to deny, all while its social media page continued to double down and share reports of Israeli tourists harassing activists at a demonstration for Palestine in Japan, to explain why hotels request signatures for the pledge from Israelis.

The hotel also continued to share daily news on the ongoing genocide and starvation campaign in Gaza and Israel’s further violations of international law, including recent attacks against activists on a Freedom Flotilla sailing to break the blockade on Gaza, along with campaigns demanding the Genocide Convention be upheld. It also shared the recent report of the Israeli assassination of a 12-year-old child eyewitness to the massacre of 15 aid workers in Gaza at the end of March.

On May 5th, the hotel shared a post on Children’s Day in Japan, adding in Gaza, “one child dies every 30 minutes.” It also shared Israeli tourist attacks on restaurateur Nives Monda in Italy and offered her solidarity.

Days later, it posted a revised pledge with a clarification, following further attacks from Israel’s ambassador:

The ambassador made another complaint repeating earlier false claims and welcomed the boycott from Booking.com, while once again demanding authorities intervene. The response to the ambassador’s post by Japanese social media users included comments and images about Israel’s ongoing war crimes.

Kishi once again responded:

If Israeli nationals are more likely to be asked to sign the pledge, it is a consequence of the policies and actions of the Israeli government. If this results in disadvantages for Israeli citizens, the responsibility lies with their government.

When I reached out to the hotel to ask how it was dealing with the controversy, Kishi told me:

Most of the responses have been very positive and supportive. It’s been incredibly encouraging. We’ve also been getting messages of support from people all over the world.

The earlier incident mentioned in the ambassador’s letter took place on 13th June 2024, when former manager of Hotel Material - also in Kyoto - Jeronimo Gehres requested an Israeli tourist cancel his reservation because he may have assisted “in the execution of warfare activities forbidden by international humanitarian law,” which could place the hotel “at risk of being considered accomplices.”

Gehres said the person who had booked the reservation for two, were either serving in the Israeli army at that time or had recently been deployed to Gaza, based on information available from their social media profiles, which Gehres said staff at the hotel routinely looked up following guest bookings in order to offer “better hospitality.”

Despite the tourists’ complaints to an Israeli journalist in Japan, Alex Demri who had made the booking for he and his companion Daniel Hay, responded to Gehres’ request by agreeing to cancel his booking. The tourists also complained to the Israeli embassy in Japan.

After receiving a letter from the ambassador, Gehres rejected the claims of discrimination based on nationality, saying that cancellation was not based on nationality — as the exchange with Demri confirms — but because he had or was serving in Israel’s military. Gehres asked, “Why should we bear the risk of being seen as accomplices by accommodating someone who is part of an organization committing war crimes?

About the Israeli army, Gehres wrote:

…the IDF has become de facto: a criminal organization. Just as every person who chooses to join the mafia is considered a criminal, every person who chooses to serve in the IDF should also be considered a criminal — regardless of rank, role, or position. They all contribute to the ethnic-cleansing, apartheid-enforcing, genocidal killing machine that is the Israeli army.

To accept a reservation from a member of such a criminal organization would be to legitimize what they do in Gaza and occupied Palestine.

The ambassador demanded a formal apology from the hotel, as well as Gehres’ dismissal. Japanese authorities investigated the incident and concluded that the hotel had violated Japan's Hotel Business Act, even though Gehres had not refused accommodation and simply requested the Israelis cancel their booking.

Japan’s Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa also chirped in, calling the incident “unacceptable.”

“Morality comes with a cost”

An online campaign against the hotel ensued when the conversation between Gehres and Demri was leaked online by Zionists two weeks later. Gehres was suspended from work for 10 days and subsequently fired. In November 2024, he filed a legal action against the hotel on grounds of wrongful dismissal. His trial began in January 2025.

Gehres, for his part, has no regrets about his stance against members of a genocidal army.

I asked him how he felt about the recent incident at Guesthouse Wind Villa regarding a signed pledge. He said:

I welcome any measure that forces Israelis to confront the consequences of their actions.

Other protests against Zionists in Japan include one which took place on Wednesday after Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar made an unannounced visit to Tokyo and was confronted by activists who called him a “war criminal” and shouted at him to “stop genocide!”

One activist stormed the conference the Israeli politician attended with Japan’s Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi.

This follows Sa’ar’s secret visit to Britain last month, where activists in London protested and legal groups requested a warrant for his arrest for war crimes, once news he was in the country had leaked.

Elsewhere in Japan, protests against the genocide take place on a weekly basis, including where Zionists have been seen threatening and attacking activists.

On 20th April 2025, in the central city of Kobe, a Zionist harassed activists at a demonstration. When organiser Kasumi Hikita intervened, she was assaulted. Hikita pressed charges and the assailant, who went to the police station claiming he was the victim, was later arrested. Hikita reported threats of rape and murder by Zionists happen on a frequent basis at the demonstrations.

Israeli tourists are increasingly facing a growing resentment around the world as revulsion at the country’s genocide, as well as attacks against those who demonstrate against it, is leading workers and business owners to take matters into their own hands.

Japan is not the only country where hotels have boycotted Israelis.

Last week, following a nationwide boycott of Israel by Norwegian trade unions, one hotel refused to complete a booking, pending consultation with unions.

Another hotel in Norway, shortly after, followed suit.