A Norwegian teenager was physically removed from a Bergen convenience store on New Year’s Eve after a clerk learned he was a Jew.
Nataniel Elpeleg was headed into town with friends to celebrate the new year when they stopped at a Narvesen convenience store to buy hot dogs.
The teenager reportedly struck up a conversation with a clerk, who told him he was from Yemen and the Palestinian territories. Elpeleg said he was naively excited and told the clerk he was half-Israeli.
“I really want to have peace with you guys. I hope we can be friends in the future,” Elpeleg recalled.
“Are you a Zionist?” the clerk allegedly responded.
“Being a Zionist means supporting the right of Jews to have their own state. I agree with that, so I am a Zionist, but right now, I just want to buy a sausage,” Elpeleg reportedly said.
The clerk allegedly responded by calling Elpeleg a “child murderer” and told him he was no longer allowed in the store. Elpeleg began to film the incident, which was uploaded onto social media.
“Get out! Get out!” The store employee shouted as he pushed Elpeleg out of the store.
“We only want to buy a sausage,” said Elpeleg. “Is it because I’m Jewish?”
“Yes!” The clerk allegedly said.
The video shows the clerk performing a rude gesture as he returns inside the store.
Elpeleg said he was disappointed that no one else in the store said a word in his defense. There were several customers and other Narvesen employees present, but no one intervened.
While he believed he handled the incident very calmly, the entire incident left the youth very frustrated that “Jews still experience these incidents.”