Swiss lawmaker raps Israel for tolerating Charedim
Roger Deneys made his controversial remarks after a Swiss hotel appeared to discriminate against Orthodox Jews
Commenting on a public outcry over signs that urged Jews at a Swiss hotel to shower before entering the pool, a state lawmaker from Geneva said “Israel should apologise for its excessive tolerance of strictly-Orthodox Jews who prevent peace in Palestine.”
Roger Deneys, a Socialist representative at the Grand Council of Geneva, made the assertion Wednesday on Facebook.
Deneys deleted his comment shortly after posting it and apologised for having written “nonsense,” the online edition of the Swiss Le Matin daily reported Thursday.
Over the weekend, signs placed at the Paradise Apartments in Arosa, some 80 miles southeast of Zurich, urged “Jewish guests” to shower before entering the pool and access a refrigerator at set times. Observant Jews who were staying at the hotel stored kosher food in the hotel refrigerator.
The signs generated a storm of criticism, including by the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, at whose urging the hotel was removed from the online reservations service Booking.com. Israel’s deputy foreign minister, Tzipi Hotovely, said that the incident reflected the prevalence of anti-Semitic sentiments in Europe at large.
Deney told Le Matin he had reacted “too fast and stupidly” because he was angry at Hotovely for her “disingenuous reaction, in which she demanded apologies from Switzerland.” He added: “I had no intention of discriminating against the Jewish community.”
In a statement to the media, Hotovely’s office did not demand Swiss authorities apologise for the incident. She did, however, urge the prosecution of the person responsible for posting the signs. Her statement said that Israel’s ambassador to Switzerland requested the Swiss Foreign Ministry deplore the hotel staff’s actions.
Ruth Thomann, who runs the hotel, told JTA on Monday that she removed the signs shortly after they were put up. She said she meant no offence to Jews and that she merely sought to convey information relevant only to the Jewish guests.
Thomann said only the Jewish guests were entering the pool without showering first while wearing T-shirts and they alone were allowed, as a courtesy, to put food in the staff’s refrigerator.
“I may have selected the wrong words; the signs should have been addressed to all the guests instead of Jewish ones,” she added.
The sign about the pool read: “To our Jewish Guests: Please take a shower before you go swimming and although after swimming. If you break the rules, I’m forced to cloes the swimming pool for you.” [sic]
The sign about the refrigerator read: “To our Jewish guests: You are allowed to approach the fridge between the hours: 10.00-11.00 in the morning and 16.30-17.30 in the evening. I hope you understand that our team does not like to be disturbed every time.”
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
