Hotel Owner Assuages Pro-Israel Group

To smooth relationships with Jewish organizations, part owner of has announced plans to donate $3,600 each to the Koby Mandell Foundation and Zahal Disabled Veterans Organization.

The announcement was made Aug. 24, two days before the Zionist Organization of America was to protest the Santa Monica hotel over a recent jury verdict that found owner Tehmina Adaya violated a California civil rights law by trying to evict a Jewish group from the pool two years ago.

"I care deeply about the hurt, anger and misunderstanding that has resulted and I want the Jewish and pro-Israel community to know I condemn anti-Semitism," Adaya said in a statement. "I support Israel and seek to enhance relationships with people of all backgrounds."

The protest was subsequently canceled.

Steve Goldberg, national vice chairman of the Zionist Organization of America, told the Los Angeles Times that he was satisfied with Adaya's actions. "To me this is humbling herself whether she means it or not," he told the newspaper.

In the civil rights case, a Santa Monica jury awarded punitive, compensatory and statutory damages totaling about $1.6 million, according to the hotel.

Here's how the New York Times summarized the case:

In 2010, Ms. Adaya, who is a Pakistani-born Muslim, ordered the closing of a poolside event sponsored by Friends of the Israeli Defense Forces, but she eventually allowed the group to stay after insisting that signs and literature identifying its purpose be removed. In testimony by a former employee and others, she was said to have given the order with an obscenity aimed at the Jews in attendance and to have said that her family members would cut off her financing if they learned of the gathering.

Adaya is a Santa Monica resident and a four-year board member of the Santa Monica Convention and Visitors Bureau. She has said she will appeal the decision.

"She’s not an anti-Semitic person," the hotel's Chief Business Development Officer, Ellen Adelman, told Patch in a phone interview. "The fact that she is Muslim and they were from Israel, a charity from Israel, complicated this decision and made it more political than factual."

Stay connected with Santa Monica Patch throughout the day on Facebook and Twitter. Subscribe to our free daily newsletter for email updates.