Swiss police have launched a criminal investigation into a mountain equipment store's announcement that it would no longer rent out skis and sledges to Jewish customers.
The store, located in the popular ski resort of Davos, where the world business forum is held annually, decided to revise its policy, removing the ban announcement, which was also duplicated in Hebrew.
But many believe that the case is a clear violation of Switzerland's laws against discrimination and incitement to racial and religious hatred.
The Federation of Jewish Communities of Switzerland launched its own investigation, calling the store's ad an obvious form of discrimination.
PHOTO AUTHOR, AFP Photo caption, Davos not only hosts world business forums, but Russian oligarchs and oil sheikhs also rest here
An ad posted in the store's window stated that due to a number of incidents, including thefts, "we no longer provide sports equipment to our Jewish brothers."
The shop, which is part of a mountain resort with a restaurant, initially reported that employees had encountered rare cases of rental equipment simply not being returned, and staff were tired of scouring the slopes of all the surrounding mountains for abandoned sleds.
Within 24 hours of their appearance, the announcements sparked a flurry of protests.
The mayor of Davos, Philip Wihelm, told the Swedish media:
"Any and all forms of anti-Semitism, racism and discrimination must be condemned. It's not about Davos."
The store manager apologized, agreeing that the ad was "poorly worded". He also stated that Jewish customers would be welcome.
But Swiss anti-racist activists have noted that mentioning an entire racial, religious or ethnic group based on the bad behavior of individuals is something more serious than just a poor choice of words for an announcement - in fact, it is a classic sign of racism and discrimination.
They noted that a much better method of combating theft and damage to skis and sleds, which is used by many sellers, is to withhold the customer's documents or credit card while using the sports equipment.
Moreover, this is not the first case of problems with Jewish visitors in Davos. The city became popular with Orthodox Jews, and while the number of such guests increased, the head of the city's tourist board reported cases of guests being rude to their hosts.
In addition, the city recently decided to create a working group to deal with disputes between tourists and resort owners. Both parties acknowledge the difficulties in the relationship.
These developments come amid incidents of anti-Semitism in Europe, which have increased since October 7 last year, when Hamas attacked Israel and hostilities broke out in the Gaza Strip. That is why the advertisement in the shop window looks not so much stupid as dangerous.
PHOTO BY GETTY IMAGES image captionNot all ski resort visitors behave themselves, especially when taking off their skis
After all, Swiss resorts, including Davos, have been hosting large groups of well-behaved people for years. One can think of Russian oligarchs, and oil tycoons from the Persian Gulf states, and young bankers from Zurich, especially notable for their wild parties and cocaine habits, or even British vacationers with "package" vacations and a passion for loud après-ski fun to deep night
None of these groups appears to have caused as much concern in the mountain shop as the Jews.
