Woman says shop owner refused service over her Jewish, Israeli identity

A brewing conflict over a business owner abruptly ending an appointment with an American-Israeli Jewish client and posting a video of their exchange that later went viral is raising questions about civil rights and what constitutes unlawful discrimination.

The Brandeis Center, a national nonprofit legal advocacy organization that works to combat antisemitism, submitted a complaint on the client's behalf to the Virginia attorney general's office on Sept. 2, asking its civil rights division to investigate whether the business owner illegally turned the woman away because of her identity.

The Aug. 13 appointment at Karimi Brows in Alexandria, Virginia, was going well until client Jessica Walton told business owner Fatana Karimi, who is from Afghanistan, that she'd recently finished writing a book about the country that included a Jewish/Israeli protagonist, the complaint said. Walton then disclosed her Jewish identity and status as a dual American and Israeli citizen.

Karimi immediately "changed course, removed her gloves, terminated the appointment and directed Jessica to leave while product remained on her eyebrows," the complaint said.

"Ms. Karimi stated, in sum and substance, that it is against her political beliefs to provide service to an Israeli," the complaint said.

Karimi disputed such allegations in social…

Original source: https://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/