Invercargill New Zealand – An Invercargill cafe owner who says refusing to serve two Israeli women was one small protest from the bottom of the South Island.
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Mustafa Tekinkaya, who is Muslim and originally from Turkey, asked the two women to leave his Melvana Cafe after hearing them speak Hebrew and establishing they were Israeli .
He says his actions were a protest over the conflict in Gaza where 1,000 people have now died, half of them women and children.
“And they are killing our future. The human future. And I just wanted to like make a voice, as one little man in the bottom of the South Island.”
Mr Tekinkaya says he is happy the women have complained loudly about his actions, as that is exactly what he wanted. He says he enjoyed the reaction when he refused them service.
“One woman I didn’t serve made huge noise. I love it, I love it – it’s how I want it to be.”
Race Relations Commissioner Joris de Bres says refusing to serve the women because they are Israeli is a clear breach of human rights. He says whatever the rights or wrongs of the Palestinian situation, it is against the law for providers of goods and services in New Zealand to discriminate in such a way.
Mr de Bres says it is important people respect the right of others to hold a different opinion and not discriminate against them on that basis.
![Israeli nationals Natalie Bennie, left, and Tamara Shefa, with Mrs Bennie's two children Noah, 2, and Ella, 4, were told to leave Mevlana Cafe in Invercargill because they were from Israel. [photo credit atlas]](http://www.vinnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/isra.jpg "isra")
But Mr Tekinkaya remains unrepentant and is unconcerned about any complaint to the Human Rights Commission.
“This is my side. If they’re taking their side they are not welcome in my shop.”
Israel’s ambassador to New Zealand has called on the Government to take action.
Australian-based ambassador Yuval Rotem said he wanted the government to ensure nothing similar happened again.
“This anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish sentiment needs to be stopped.
“At this moment you don’t need to bring the Middle East into New Zealand … you need to take the spirit of New Zealand into the Middle East,” he said.
They shouldn’t be giving that chazir any yidishe gelt anyways.
Of course the government will not bring charges, well it’s New Zealand.
You have to answer any country. The only answer ALL these countries understand is when you hit them in the pocket!! It has worked in the past and it will work NOW! Wherever the violence is really bad and the govt, does very little, we answer by not buying their products. Remember Purim is coming. We do not need French wines.We will buy Israeli and US and candies from Israel. We will boycott. Chanel just laid off 200 workers. What does that say? Buy US and give a job to an American!!
all jews who know of his shop should stop going and as well if there r any suppliers who r jewish should stop doing bussiness with him to protest the rockets hitting cilvians.
good, he saved them from eating his non-kosher food…
Sue him for all he is worth and when CAIR or whoever comes to his defense sue them as well.
Had this gone the other way there would be no end to it.
After spending a number of years residing in New Zealand I can assure you that nothing at will be done by the government. They are extremely bias to Israel and welcoming to all anti Israel factions. It is unfortunate that a western and democratic style country can be so blatantly ignorant of world issues and be affected by the vastness of the Muslim and thier financial power.
I wonder what would happen if a yid doesnt serve one of there pigs.
cair would be all over the place on it.
time to boycott all arabs, lets see who will be the loser
If the store owner would be Jewish and the customer Arab… what would have happened???
anyone have the number of the cafe
the situation is so retarted, I seriousely don’t get it the muslims are forever bombing and killing jewish civillians including women and children, why suddenly are the so against it if that’s what they do themselves!! such hypocrytes!!! suddenly they whine and cry about dead relatives who blow themselves up purposely!! i really dont get it!! why are the media and the red cross so passionate to the dead and wounded and when these terrorists bomb and kill israelis they dont give a hoot!! can anyone explain??
Mevlana
61 Tay St
Invercargill
Invercargill City
03-218 6468
she is a self hating leftist “who doesnt support war in general” and is against the action in gaza
HAVE FUN EVERYONE!!! HERE IT IS
Mevlana Cafe
03-214 1790
sorry I couldnt provide you with the area or country code (i think you omit the 0 when calling international, but this was from the new zealand phone directory)
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37 Esk St Invercargill
03-214 1790
There is no reasoning with these people, there never really has been.
Although it is certainly better for Jews to avoid these goyish establishments completely, that does not excuse the way these women were treated.
To dial add +64 before the number and omit the 0. FYI New Zealand is around 18 hours ahead of NY and around 11 hours ahead of Israel. Lets teach the guy a lesson!
By the way, if you just till him how angry you are that is exactly what if wants.. Stay calm and scare him! Tell him you are organising a boycott of his cafe etc
you know what these jews who don’t stand behund their country and are not loyal to their hmeland deserve this treatment!! shame on them
I just called, a woman answered and got to hear the beginning of “Hatikva.” She hung up after about 2 seconds, though.
Tell him to stop using his PC with its Israeli Intel chip!
In Europe this happens all the time. Jews who are local residents and citizens don’t get served a coke at a caffe. The waiters would say we don’t serve “you”.
I just called, got an answering machine with a NZ woman speaking. Didn’t leave a message, though, couldn’t think of anything pithy yet not obscene to say. I’ll phone back tomorrow & have my grandchildren sing Am Yisrael Chai. That’ll do it!!
Hello all…I am a journalist for the New Zealand newspaper The Sunday-Star Times and I live in Invercargill where this cafe is.
I am most intrigued with your interest in this story. Could you please indicate where you are from?? I might write a story highlighting the international outrage…
Thank you. Karen
I can be reached at [email protected]
In return let’s boycott all the MUSLIM CANDY STORES all over Boro Park. Let them see hoew it feels. Let them go out of of business.
Hello, I am friend of owner’s daughter. This is disgusting to hand out the cafe number on the internet and now she is receiving right now phone calls all day and last night of people from all around the world.
Tell the feakin Turk in New Zealand that the Turks have massacered a million Armenians, while all Israel is trying to do is protect its citizenery!
Shia Talzara,
I safely assume had those women speaking in Hebrew said they were Moslem then your friend’s father would have served them and not kicked them out of his shop. Israeli or not.
When someone refuses to serve someone because of their religion or their nationality they insult everyone of that religion or that nationality. Your friend’s father insulted those of us who are Jewish and those of us who are non-Moslem Israeli. He brought the rest of the world into this. Had your friend’s father not wanted to receive calls unrelated to his business then he should have not performed hostile and obnoxious actions that, to a wise businessman, was unrelated to that business As he himself said, he wanted these two Israeli women to go to the press. And so they have.
good on him, all he did refusing to serve those people was to make a protest against the killings that is going on in Gaza, after seeing on TV the awful death and destruction that the Israelis are doing I dont blame him one bit.
It’s a bit ridiculous to hold Mr Tekinkaya’s grandfather responsible for Armenian massacres. Genetically, the people living in Turkey are descended from whoever was there when the Ottoman and other Turkic groups conquered the ruling groups e.g. Byzantine. The conquered people took on the language of their new rulers and developed their own dialects which were distinct from the Ottoman language which was an aristocratic form with Persian influences. Subsequently Turkish poetry and song were held in low regard until the Ottoman empire ceased to be and the Turkish nation arose through Ataturk. You could say the people living on Turkish soil now were as much colonised by the Ottomans as their neighbours. The Armenian massacres happened prior to Turkey emerging from the remnants of the Ottoman empire. As for whether NZ is pro or anti-Israeli, the reality is we are an ally of the United States and whatever actions and stances we take are negotiated with the United States. For example we are given instructions to accept refugee quotas and you will find the refugees are former allies of the United States who have sought refuge when the regieme has changed to their disadvantage. Unlike others here, I met Mr Tekinkaya a year ago, when I was strolling past his shop and he is not a fundamentalist. He is not taking a stance against Jews, just this latest Gaza issue. Turkey and Israel, until recently, had strong military to military relations including joint military exercises.