FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP
It is the high-altitude hotel-restaurant Pischa, on one of the ski areas in Davos, which has decided to no longer rent its sleds and other snowshoes to Jewish customers, the newspaper 20minuten revealed on Monday.
Swiss police announced Monday the opening of an investigation into suspicion of “discrimination and incitement to hatred” after a high-altitude hotel-restaurant in Davos refused to rent winter sports equipment to Jewish tourists.
It is the high-altitude hotel-restaurant Pischa, on one of the ski areas of Davos, which has decided to no longer rent its sleds and other snowshoes to Jewish customers, the newspaper 20minuten revealed on Monday, publishing a photo of the sign displayed by the establishment and written in Hebrew. This is not the first time that this type of incident has occurred in this region of Switzerland, very popular – in summer as in winter – with ultra-Orthodox Jewish tourists.
The police told AFP they had opened an investigation “for discrimination and incitement to hatred”. Contacted by AFP, those in charge of the establishment did not immediately respond, but explained to 20minuten that Jewish customers often left the equipment on the slopes, forcing them to “collect them, when you can find them”.
The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (FSCI) will file a complaint
In a video published by the daily Blick, the manager apologizes and speaks of clumsy wording. “I am ready to speak to the people concerned”says the manager, Ruedi Pfiffner, who denies any anti-Semitism.
The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (FSCI) will file a complaint. “The poster is undeniably discriminatory”declared the secretary general of the FSCI, Jonathan Kreutner, to AFP: “an entire group of customers are collectively labeled based on their appearance and origin”.
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The Zurich-based Foundation Against Racism and Anti-Semitism (GRA) speaks about “serious anti-Semitic discrimination”, in a statement sent to AFP. She advocates a “fair solution” to avoid any future incidents related to equipment rental, such as depositing a deposit or an identity document.
In Davos establishments discriminate against Jews
According to an article published in August by the local newspaper Davoser Zeitung, between 3,000 and 4,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews vacationed in Davos last summer. Kreutner said while the increase in Jewish guests in Davos in recent years shows that some hotels and businesses offer a warm welcome, others seem “have a completely different attitude”.
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“The recurring problems in Davos are proof of this. Just last summer, the local tourism organization froze its cooperation with us and our dialogue project. It’s obvious there are a lot of things wrong here.”he said.
In 2017, another hotel located in the resort of Arosa, not far from Davos, and which also welcomes many ultra-Orthodox tourists, put up a poster asking its Jewish guests to shower before entering the swimming pool, triggering a lively controversy in Israel.
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