The Swiss Jewish community was outraged when the operator of one of the ski slopes in Davos, the capital of the canton of Graubünden, famous for its World Economic Forum, announced in an unmistakable way: Jewish tourists cannot rent sledges, skis and other sports equipment from them. The Federation of Swiss Jewish Religious Communities files a complaint on the grounds of racism.

A sign written in Hebrew was pasted on the door of the Pischa Mountain Railway operating in the Davos area, which makes it clear that Jewish guests are not welcome in the area. The photo taken from the A4 page was also published on the X social media platform, reports hirado.hu.

"Due to various extremely annoying incidents, including the theft of a sled, we no longer rent sports equipment to our Jewish brothers," the message, written in Hebrew, reads.

“This applies to all equipment, including sleds, snowboards, skis and snowshoes. Thank you for your understanding!"

The operator of the ski slope insists on the exclusion

The owner of the restaurant on Pischa Hill and the associated ski and toboggan run supported the announcement. "We don't want this daily hassle anymore, so we use our right to decide who can and can't rent our devices," one operator told the Swiss news portal 20 Minuten . According to the owner, on several occasions the Jewish guests did not return the sleds and other sports equipment rented from them, which were later found outside on the track.

At the same time, the company tries to distance itself from accusations of anti-Semitism.

"The fact that we no longer want to cooperate with them has nothing to do with faith or skin color (...) but only with the fact that we do not feel like fighting and friction on a daily basis," the statement said.

Swiss Jewish religious communities file a complaint

Reto Branschi, the CEO of the company responsible for tourism in the Davos region, refrained from making the announcement. “It does not reflect the attitude of the destination and the tourism operators in our city,” he said. According to the Swiss news portal Blick, however, it has also happened before that Branschi spoke negatively about the behavior of some Jewish tourists.

Jonathan Kreutner, secretary general of the Federation of Swiss Jewish Communities, was shocked to hear the news.

"Even if the business has bad experiences, that's no reason to generalize.

We will file a report for a crime of racism," the general secretary told 20 Minuten.

Cover image: Illustration / Photo: AI Leino / Pixabay