Swiss police probe hotel ski rental ban for Jewish guests 

Davos is a popular Swiss ski resort KEYSTONE/© KEYSTONE/Gian Ehrenzeller

The Pischa mountain restaurant in Davos, Switzerland, has sparked a police investigation after announcing it will no longer rent out snow sports equipment to Jewish guests.  

This has caused another scandal in the alpine resort involving this group of guests. The Graubünden cantonal police have launched an investigation on suspicion of discrimination and incitement to hatred. 

The restaurant at the Pischa mountain station no longer rents out sledges, airboards, skis and snowshoes to Jewish guests. They are being informed of this in a letter in Hebrew posted on site and addressed disrespectfully as “our brothers”, the online portal 20 Minuten reported on Monday. 

According to the letter, various “annoying incidents” had led to the rental stop. 

The media office of the Graubünden cantonal police confirmed the matter to the Keystone-SDA news agency on request. The police had received a report from a private individual. “We have classified it as a possible official offence and have therefore started an investigation,” said media spokesman Roman Rüegg. 

On enquiry, the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG) spoke of a new “level of audacity”. “An entire group of guests is being collectively denigrated on the basis of their appearance and origin,” wrote SIG Secretary General Jonathan Kreutner in a statement. 

This is not just a moral and tasteful offence. “We will take legal action or file a complaint for violation of the criminal offence of racism”, Kreutner announced. 

For the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, the rental ban is not an isolated incident. There is a lot wrong in Davos. There are hotels, restaurants and shops that do not warmly welcome Jewish guests. “Just last summer, the local tourism organisation put cooperation with us and our dialogue project on ice,” wrote the Secretary General. 

The mountain restaurant and the Davos Kloster tourism organisation could not be reached for comment until Monday afternoon. Sportbahnen Pischa explained that the restaurant is an externally leased location of the mountain railway. The company is not familiar with the matter. 

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