Switzerland
SwitzerlandFlash 90

A restaurant manager in the Swiss ski resort of Davos has been fined for refusing to rent winter sports equipment to Jews, prosecutors said Wednesday, according to the AFP news agency.

The manager was sentenced to a fine and a suspended fine for "discrimination by refusing to provide services on the grounds of race, ethnicity or religion", the office of the southeastern Graubunden canton's public prosecutor told AFP.

The saga came to light in February, when the 20minuten newspaper published a picture of a sign put up at the plush Pischa station above Davos, the resort known for hosting the annual World Economic Forum of the globe's business and political elites.

The sign, in Hebrew, said that due to various incidents, "including the theft of a sled, we no longer rent sports equipment to our Jewish brothers".

The policy applied to all winter sports equipment including sleds, airboards and snowshoes, it said, ending with "thank you for your understanding".

20minuten said the restaurant had told the paper in a written statement that they "no longer want the daily hassle" of Jewish guests leaving sledges on the slopes, or equipment not being returned or "returned defective".

Following a media storm in Switzerland, the restaurant manager apologized and reversed the decision, according to AFP.

The size of the fine was not announced, and as the man in question did not appeal, the case did not go to court.

The Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities filed the legal complaint.

"We are pleased that the public prosecutor's office acted quickly and consistently," its general secretary Jonathan Kreutner told AFP on Wednesday.

The incident came against a backdrop of rising antisemitism across Europe and beyond, largely in connection with the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip which began after Hamas’ massacre in Israel on October 7.

Last year, the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities called on the government to monitor antisemitism and to enact new laws to limit hate speech.

The call followed a troubling report showing that antisemitic attacks increased in Switzerland in 2022.