An Israeli Krav Maga instructor who lives in London, England is speaking out after his employer allegedly told him to remove his kippah while conducting training.
Golan Levy told the Jewish Chronicle that the security company he works for, Securitas UK, ordered him not to wear his kippah after one of its clients complained.
Levy, 60, also alleged that he was told to remove an Israeli flag that could be seen in the background of the room he was using to teach classes through Zoom.
“I felt very embarrassed that I’d been told not to wear the kippah,” he said.
“And, regarding my national flag, it’s like all my belief and all my feelings towards my faith, nationality, and how I’d been brought up, everything has been taken away from me, someone stepped on me.”
Levy usually wore a baseball cap over his kippah to keep it on his head. He also had not previously received any complaints about his kippah or the flag.
Levy contacted the Community Security Trust (CST) in December after his three-month contract ended. The advocacy organization instructed him to speak with the security firm’s human resources department, and to ask for a written apology.
The CST urged Securitas UK to “resolve this situation and to treat all Jewish employees with dignity and respect."
The security firm told the Chronicle that they were committed to “treating all employees equally, fairly and with respect, dignity and common courtesy, irrespective of race, ethnic or national origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, marital or parental status, disability or other distinguishing characteristics protected by applicable law and regulations.”