“The hotel manager explicitly told my brother-in-law, that we were being evicted because we are Jewish. He also referred to my children as “barbarians” in the hotel lobby in front of other guests, telling us to F-off,’’ said Yaniv Bender, an Israeli who was on skiing holiday earlier this week.
“Arguments can happen every day,” says European Jewish Association Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin, but invoking someone’s Judaism and insulting their children is utterly reprehensible and inexcusable.”
A case of apparent blatant antisemitism in Switzerland affecting a high profile Israeli businessman and his family who were on skiing holiday has been reported to the European Jewish Association (EJA), a Brussels-based organization representing hundreds of Jewish communities across Europe.
Yaniv Bender, a senior figure in Israel’s financial community and his family, a group of eight people, were staying at the five star Tschuggen Grand Hotel in Arosa, an Alpine resort in Eastern Switzerland, on skiing holiday earlier this week.
Following a complaint lodged by Bender, the hotel manager evicted the family on the 14th January at 11 pm, calling the police to do so.
Explaining the story to the EJA, Bender said : “Following an issue at the hotel I took my complaints to the manager, where things quickly escalated. Never in my life – where I am fortunate enough to staying in similar establisevicted, have my family or I been treated in such a blatant antisemitic way. It felt more like 1939 than Switzerland in 20025.’’
”Despite repeated pleas for compassion, the hotel management escorted us into the freezing cold parking garage late at night, treating us with disdain;”
“The hotel manager explicitly told my brother-in-law, that we were being evicted because we are Jewish. He also referred to my children as “barbarians” in the hotel lobby in front of other guests, telling us to F-off,’’ he added.
“This incident has left my family traumatized: My children are now ashamed of their Jewish identity and remain visibly distressed. My wife has been inconsolable since the incident, devastated by the humiliation and distress. For me, as a father and protector of my family, the experience was deeply humiliating and emotionally damaging,” Bender said.
The European Jewish Association said it is taking this case ‘’very seriously’’. ‘’We are approaching the highest ministerial and diplomatic levels in Switzerland to conduct a through investigation into the case, ensure a full apology is offered to Mr Bender and his family, and demonstrate that antisemtism will never be tolerated in this country,’’ stated EJA Chairman Rabbi Menachem Margolin.
“But nothing can be done to rectify the antisemitism that he and his family have suffered. In life, and on travels, disagreements can and do happen. But using Judaism as the reason for an eviction, and insulting children, calling the police and evicting a family of whom one was injured and one was sick with fever is reprehensible and inexcusable,’’ Margolin added.
“That this happened at a supposedly 5 star hotel clearly shows that antisemitism isn’t just at street level, but still pervades across society. Cases like Mr Bender’s are sadly becoming more common, as antisemtism rises,’’ he concluded.
In 2017, another hotel in Arosa had been accused of antisemitism after beeing accused of posting signs telling Jewish guests to shower before using the pool and restricting their access to a kitchen freezer
According to the latest survey by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) of antisemitic sentimentd in 103 countries , Switzerland ranks at the 19th position. 1,6 million people in this country harbor elevated levels of antisemitic attitudes, the ADL survey noted.