Young Israeli backpacker says Cairns piercing studio turned her away

Mohr Wenger, an Israeli backpacker, was allegedly turned away by a Cairns piercing salon, which has a sign, "no Israelis served here" in the store. Photo/Facebook

A young Israeli backpacker claims she was turned away by a Cairns body piercer, who she said has a "no Israelis served here" sign in his studio.

Mohr Wenger said she was left so shaken by the incident at Cold Steel Body Piercing in what she termed, Australia, the country she had perceived as "the land of no worries", it took her two days to write a Facebook post that has been widely shared, according to news.com.au.

In the post she wrote on Saturday, she said she and a friend travelling around Australia, heard about the studio and excitedly went to have their noses pierced last week.

However, when the man asked where she and her friend were from, he turned them away when they answered "Israel", saying it was "out of principal (sic)".

"After 10 minutes of waiting anxiously for the guy to get off the phone, we came up to him and asked him how much would it cost," Wenger wrote.

"The guy looked kind off (sic) confused and asked us where do we come from? Israel.

"At that moment that guy said he can't pierce our nose because he doesn't serve Israelis out of principal (sic).

"He said he doesn't agree with what our government does and there for we are not welcomed in his shop.

"Principal (sic)? You can't descriminate (sic) people out of principal (sic)."

Wenger said it was then that the man pointed out a sign in his shop that said, "No Israelis served here."

Cold Steel Body Piercing is yet to respond to requests for comment.

Wenger wrote that she was left shaken by the incident, in a country a long way from her homeland, that she had perceived as welcoming to foreigners.

Mohr Wenger, was left shaken by the incident. She perceived Australia to be, "the land of no worries" until the incident. Photo/Facebook

"A sign that means 'I don't want to listen, I don't care who you are but if you are from Israel go away'. That's sugar-coating antisemitism. That's sugar-coating racism," she said.

"I remember learning about such things in history class but I never thought I would be in such a situation myself.

"Not alone at the other end of the world in the land of 'no worries'."

The post has led to a public backlash on cold Steel Body Piercing's Facebook page.

"Your racist, anti-semitic attitude is really pathetic. Why hate people when you know nothing about them!" one man wrote, rating the business one star.

"Very unAustralian as it refuses to serve Israelis. Our apologies to any tourists, as this is not representative of this beautiful country," another woman who also rated the business one star, said.

The emergence of the sign comes a month after a milk bar owner in Melbourne's outer west ignited controversy when he placed a sign in his window banning "14-18 year old blacks".