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Davos in Graubünden

Photo: Markus Schreiber / AP

An anti-Semitic notice has appeared in the Swiss ski resort of Pischa near Davos. A sign read in Hebrew that sports equipment would no longer be given to Jews.

They would no longer lend sledges, skis or snowshoes to the "Jewish brothers" - after "a series of very annoying incidents," as they said. Among other things, a sleigh was stolen.

Zurich local councilor Jehuda Spielman first pointed out the controversial sign on Sunday.

The Swiss police have now started investigating possible discrimination against Jews. A private person pointed out the notice to the police on Sunday, said Graubünden police spokesman Roman Rüegg. Officials then examined the note. It is now being determined whether the offense of discrimination or incitement to hatred is met.

Apparently the message was aimed at Israeli Jews, who have increasingly been traveling to Davos for their summer or winter holidays in recent years. The business owner has not yet commented on the accusation of anti-Semitism.

The Swiss Association of Jewish Communities sharply criticized the incident: "The poster is without a doubt discriminatory," wrote its general secretary Jonathan Kreutner in an email to the AP news agency. »That shocks me. This is really a new level of audacity." It is clearly anti-Semitism - a whole group of guests are being collectively condemned because of their appearance and their origins.

Every year the global elite meet in Davos for the World Economic Forum.

Tourism officer Reto Branschi told the “Davos-Zeitung” in August 2023 that there were problems with Orthodox Jewish guests who lacked respect. “I really have the feeling that things are boiling,” Branschi said at the time.

The “Jüdische Allgemeine” countered that “public sentiment was being created against Orthodox Jews.”

ala/AP