Due to the annual World Economic Forum conference that takes place there during the winter months and draws leaders and celebrities from all over the world, the town of Davos in eastern Switzerland has become well-known and important.
However, thousands of Orthodox Jewish families use the town as a popular summer vacation destination.
According to a Ynet report, tensions have risen recently between Jewish tourists and the local Swiss population as a result of the tourists’ offensive behavior.
Following a flurry of complaints from locals and property owners about excessive tourist littering and rude behavior in public areas, these tensions reached a boiling point last week.
The local tourism office’s director, Reto Branschi, harshly criticized the Jewish tourists in two interviews with local media. In one of the interviews, he stated, “Some of these visitor groups find it very difficult to respect local laws and the common ways of life here.
However, a recent transgression by one visitor proved to be too much for the regional hospitality industry.
A front-page photograph of human waste left by Jewish visitors on a rental cabin’s balcony appeared in the local newspaper Gipfel Zeitung with the headline: Davos: A “s-t stain” on the balcony.
In the newspaper, it was written, “This undoubtedly comes from someone of Jewish descent.” In the newspaper, the landlord was quoted as saying, “He had never experienced anything like this in all his years and has decided not to rent apartments to these people anymore,” and he expressed hope that the Davos tourism authorities would finally take action on the issue.
The following letter to the editor was also published in the Davos local newspaper: “The behavior of Orthodox Jewish visitors here in Davos is not only borderline at times, but downright presumptuous and transgressive.
Despite my empathy for the suffering of the Jewish people, I found it unacceptable that the victims’ heirs engaged in behavior that is in no way consistent with regional traditions.
The Jewish community in Switzerland, especially Jonathan Kreutner, Secretary General of the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities, is deeply troubled and embarrassed by the rising local hostility toward Jewish tourists.
Kreutner has been in charge of a project in Davos for years that aims to improve relationships and address behavioral and cultural differences between locals and visitors.
The growing number of complaints, however, has led the Davos authorities to decide to stop working with him. “I think the circumstances in Davos are very uncomfortable.
They are only doing this in the case of Jews, which makes it antisemitic, and generalizing the inappropriate behavior of a few people to many is simply racist, Kreutner said this week in an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth.
In response to the headline, which Kreutner claimed “crosses all red lines,” he also filed a police complaint. Kreutner continued, “We don’t understand why the Davos tourism office has decided to cut ties with us. This will only make things worse.
It appears that Davos has made the decision to simply stop accepting Jewish visitors. On the basis of the actions of a few, they have made sloppy generalizations about all Jews.
The canton of Graubünden, where Davos is situated, is said to have launched an investigation into the newspaper headline, the actions of the Jewish tourists, and the claims of racism earlier this week.
The mainstream media in Switzerland has extensively covered this issue. The editor of Gipfel Zeitung reportedly refused to apologize for the image and headline and denied claims of racism, according to a report in the Swiss newspaper Blick. If the perpetrator approaches me and offers a plausible justification for their actions, I will only apologize.
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