The Interreligious Working Group in Switzerland IRAS COTIS, an association of 70 religious communities, has suffered a setback. The two Jewish representatives on the committee have decided to resign from the association in protest. They are demanding that President Rifa’at Lenzin take a clear stand on the Swiss-Palestinian Association (SPA).
The Secretary General of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG), Jonathan Kreutner, confirmed to the Keystone-SDA press agency on Sunday the information published in an article in the NZZ am Sonntag. He criticised Rifa’at Lenzin for her links with the Swiss-Palestinian Association.
Since the Hamas attack on the Gaza Strip a month ago, the SPA’s position has apparently become more radical. The Jews of Switzerland are calling for an “unequivocal distancing from this orgy of violence and its perpetrators”.
“By refusing to withdraw from the association, Lenzin is legitimising the SPA’s position and statements of recent weeks”, continued Kreutner. In his view, this represents a fundamental breach of trust towards the Jewish community in Switzerland.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Multinational companies
Azeri fossil-fuel cash cow brings controversy to Switzerland
Is artificial intelligence an advantage or a disadvantage for workers?
What is your experience with AI at work? Have you already used it? Has it helped you work better? Or has it caused you more stress, more work or caused you to lose your job? Tell us about your experiences!
Swiss price watchdog slams excessive prices for generic medicines
This content was published on
The cheapest generic medicines available in Switzerland are more than twice as expensive as in other countries, according to a study by the Swiss price watchdog.
Nature should not figure in net zero calculations: academic study
This content was published on
The natural removal of CO2 from the atmosphere by forests or oceans should not be included in the net-zero balance of climate protection measures, argue researchers.
This content was published on
None of the 15 major Swiss retail banks is meeting international climate and biodiversity targets, according to a ranking by WWF Switzerland.
This content was published on
Nestlé's new CEO Laurent Freixe, has presented plans for the future of the world's largest food company, after his first few weeks in office.
Swiss foreign minister calls on Moscow to end Ukraine war
This content was published on
It's high time Moscow ended its war against Ukraine, Swiss foreign minister Ignazio Cassis tells the UN Security Council.
This content was published on
The only alternative to the UN Palestinian agency’s work in Gaza is to allow Israel to run services there, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA Commissioner-General, told reporters in Geneva on Monday.
Study reveals food culture differences between Switzerland and neighbours
This content was published on
Three-quarters of Swiss people consider eating to be a pleasurable, social activity, a new survey reveals. Healthy eating, however, plays a much less important role, it found.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.