A Jewish friend

of mine was refused service yesterday,

She has been shopping in the same little "organic" grocery for many years. It carries some things she finds hard to get anywhere else. She considered herself to be a good customer who always paid cash and took an interest in the owner's grandchildren. She had even helped by giving free tutoring to one of the children when an exam was coming up.

Yesterday she was told "please don't come again". The problem? Someone else had told the owner this was woman was Jewish. It was something the owner already knew but now there are threats from the owner's community.  The threats have been visible, a little graffiti. It is enough to make the owner stop. He's frightened.

I am appalled. My friend Y.... was very, very upset.

"What have I done to hurt them? I live here. I have never been to Israel. I do not like or support the war," she told me through tears. "I thought S.... (the owner) was a friend."

I thought he might have been too but apparently the threats have been too much. It is likely young men who are behind the threats but, before anything could be done, they would have to be caught in the act.

My indigenous friend M... knows about discrimination. His skin colour marks him out immediately. At times he has been refused service.  I have a friend who uses a wheelchair. She has faced discrimination too - perhaps because her disability is visible.  It does not matter that she is a high ranking member of the legal profession.

But Y... is much more vulnerable right now. It seems she is being held responsible for decisions made in another country, a country she has never visited and is not likely to visit. That is wrong, very wrong.

The war in the Middle East is causing war here too. People have to learn to live together.