Ocean bouncer fired after saying ‘you Jews are rich so just pay your way in’ to Jewish students

A group of Jewish students from Trent and UoN were verbally assaulted in an alleged antisemitic attack in the queue outside of Ocean by a bouncer.

The bouncer had been fired by his agency after the group and Andy Hoe, owner of the Ocean nightclub, reported the hate crime to the Nottinghamshire police.

Celebrating a friends birthday, Gabi, a Jewish student at UoN, told The Nottingham Tab that a bouncer began making antisemitic comments at their group after her friend asked if she could skip the queue because it was her birthday on the Monday.

"After asking the bouncer if we could be let in early, he said we weren't allowed to as it wasn't currently her birthday. We explained that it was a Jewish festival on Monday, so we couldn't celebrate then, to which he responded: 'All you Jewish people are spoilt brats'."

The group of students spent an hour and a half in the queue until 11:45pm, during which Gabi claimed the bouncer hurled several antisemitic remarks at her and her group.

The remarks included:

"I don’t care about all you Jews"

"You Jews are rich so just pay your way in"

"You Jews should go in last"

"Make sure you stand in silence"

"You Jews think you rule the world but you don’t rule Ocean"

"I'm sorry your friends have ruined your birthday by being Jewish"

Despite the bouncer verbally attacking Gabi and her friends, they were adamant to enter the nightclub, keeping quiet in the queue so as to not "provoke the bouncer".

Gabi's post on Facebook about the incident at Ocean

As soon as they entered Ocean, they attempted to report the incident to a staff member in the cloakroom. However, the same bouncer came up behind them and asked "Are you trying to get me in trouble for getting you to wait patiently?" Gabi recounts that they decided to leave reporting the incident because they felt uncomfortable and threatened by the bouncer.

The following day, Gabi reported the incident to the police, Andy Hoe, and the Community Security Trust (CST), a Jewish charity who deal with antisemitic attacks in the UK. Andy Hoe confirmed that a report was made on the night to the agency which supplied the bouncer.

Andy Hoe told The Nottingham Tab that the bouncer has been barred from work at Ocean and has been fired from his agency. He worked three shifts at Ocean and was called in on Wednesday as a few extra bouncers were needed due to an increase in numbers on the night.

This is the second alleged antisemitic incident occurring at Ocean this term. On the 13th of October, a Jewish student was verbally attacked after another student allegedly shouted "fuck Israel and all you Jew people" to her whilst in the bathroom at Ocean.

Daniel Kosky, Campaigns Organiser of UJS, said: "We were disgusted to hear of yet another incident of antisemitism at the Ocean nightclub in Nottingham. Jewish students should not have to face racism on their nights out.

"We are working closely with CST to support the victims and have raised this incident with relevant individuals and organisations in Nottingham, including the University of Nottingham Students’ Union. If any Jewish students are worried about antisemitism or are in need of support, contact us and CST."

A spokesperson for the Nottinghamshire Police said: "We are investigating a report of an antisemitic hate incident toward a 21-year-old woman and her friends outside Ocean nightclub in Greyfriar Gate, at around 10pm on 23 October.

"Enquiries are continuing into the incident. The force is committed to tackling hate incidents and we take reports of them seriously.

"Whether it be on social media or in person, it is unacceptable to make abusive and derogatory comments relating to a person’s race, gender or religious beliefs."