What was supposed to be a relaxing evening out for three Jewish families on a summer holiday in Greece turned into an ordeal they’ll never forget.
After days of island hopping in the Aegean, they stopped at the well-known Axiotissa Taverna in Naxos, only to end up being thrown out and branded with offensive slurs.
A Sticker Sparks the Tension
Things began calmly. Jude Lobb, 48, was dining with her husband Andrew and their teenage daughters.
They had been enjoying their evening—until one of the teenagers went to the restroom and noticed political stickers plastered on the walls.
One sticker in particular read, “Boycott Israeli apartheid.”
Trying to peel it off led to immediate confrontation.
A waitress spotted the action and scolded the teen.
Soon after, the owner himself stormed over, furious at the attempt to remove the sticker.
From Calm to Chaos
According to Lobb, what started as a small argument quickly escalated.
“The waitress said removing the sticker was unacceptable,” she recalled.
“When I asked why they singled out this issue with so many crises in the world, the owner came right up to my face and screamed, ‘Get the f** out of my restaurant!’*”
Lobb says he shouted so loudly that other diners turned their heads.
To their shock, the owner labeled them “Zionists” as the entire restaurant looked on.
Public Humiliation
As the families gathered themselves to leave, the situation grew uglier.
Nicola Gee, 50, who was there with her husband Dan and their two daughters, said the reaction from other diners was the most devastating part.
“They clapped and jeered at us,” she said.
“It felt like being branded with yellow stars from the Holocaust.”
The insults didn’t stop at the doorway.
The owner followed the group into the car park, shouting accusations of “killing babies” and “supporting genocide,” while some other diners joined in.
The families filmed part of the confrontation as proof.
Trapped in the Car Park
The chaos intensified when the group discovered the gate to the restaurant’s car park had been locked.
They couldn’t leave until they paid their bill.
Despite the humiliation and shouting, they eventually settled the payment just to get out safely.
“We thought about calling the police,” Gee admitted, “but we were worried the police might side with them. All we wanted was to leave as quickly as possible.”
The Impact on Their Children
For Lobb, the most painful part was watching her daughters struggle to process what happened.
One of them even tried to reason with the owner about Israeli hostages, asking if he knew about young brothers Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who were murdered in Gaza.
The owner brushed it aside.
“They didn’t care about facts,” Lobb said.
“We’ve spent our lives teaching our children about antisemitism, but to live through it like this was devastating.”
Fears of a “New Normal”
Gee worries that such open hostility could become more common.
“I see friends posting hatred online about Israel, much of it false,” she explained.
“That hatred filters down, and suddenly it’s in a little Greek taverna, spilling onto families just trying to eat dinner.”
The Restaurant Defends Its Actions
When contacted later, the restaurant’s owner, Giannis Vassilas, insisted they had done nothing wrong.
He argued that removing the sticker was vandalism and accused the group of reacting aggressively to his political stance.
Vassilas stressed that his opposition was directed at Israeli government policies, not Jewish people, and said diners applauded because they agreed with his position.
“We have every right to express our views,” he added.
A Clash of Perspectives
While the families left shaken and humiliated, the restaurant stood firm, framing the confrontation as a matter of free expression.
The dispute has since spilled online, with Google reviews filling up with criticism of the owner’s actions.
A Night That Won’t Be Forgotten
For the 13 holidaymakers, what began as a simple dinner became an unforgettable lesson in how global conflicts can intrude on the most ordinary of moments.
For them, the scars are less about a ruined meal and more about the chilling reminder of how quickly prejudice can surface.
