A Tuscan bed and breakfast sent a message declaring support for the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement and accusing Israel of committing genocide to an Israeli traveler planning a 30th birthday trip with her parents, informing her of their opposition to Israeli policies after learning her nationality.
The traveler, who requested to remain anonymous, had booked a two-night stay for September 21–23 at B&B L’Imbrunire in Tuscany through the booking platform Holidu. After reaching out via WhatsApp to inquire about paying directly at the property rather than through the website, the host instructed her to cancel her online reservation so they could rebook her directly.
However, once the guest provided her details and the host recognized she was from Israel, the property sent a message invoking the BDS campaign.
"Excuse me. I see you're Israeli. For transparency, we support the BDS (No Room for Genocide) campaign. We do not want to support the policies of the state of Israel in any way, and we categorically condemn those who practice systems of injustice and oppression," the property wrote. "We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people. This campaign, which we support, takes a stand against Israel's military occupation and pledges not to contribute in any way to Israel's grave violations of the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the Palestinian people. I hope you understand!"
The guest told The Jerusalem Post, “they didn’t explicitly say that I couldn’t stay there. However, the message was very strongly worded and made me feel that I might not be welcome or safe if I did stay there. That was where the conversation ended.”
Confronted with the property's political stance, she decided to cancel the reservation. Following the exchange, the guest took to Google reviews to raise awareness of her experience; she noted that "there were a lot of comments of my friends and me” however, they have all since been deleted from the business's Google listing.
'I never imagined that in 2026 I would experience something like this in Europe'
In a statement to the Post, the guest said, “I never imagined that in 2026 I would experience something like this in Europe. I approached them simply as a traveler, excited about visiting Italy with my family. The moment they discovered I was Israeli, that changed. Suddenly I was being judged not for anything I had said or done, but simply for where I was born and the passport I carry. As a Jewish Israeli, that is frightening and deeply painful. Europe’s history should have taught us where the normalization of excluding people because of their identity can lead. Political criticism is legitimate. Holding an individual traveler responsible for the actions of an entire government is discrimination.”
B&B L’Imbrunire did not respond to a request for comment by the time of publishing.