Swiss hotel pool sign warns Jews to shower

GENEVA— Switzerland’s tourism office on Tuesday decried an “unfortunate” incident in which a small Alpine hotel posted a sign asking “Jewish guests” to shower before swimming in the hotel pool.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center demanded the closure of the Paradies Arosa hotel, and issued a statement calling on “the broader Jewish community and their Gentile friends to blacklist this horrific hotel.”

Swiss Tourism spokesperson Markus Berger called the sign unacceptable, adding: “It always needs to stay in perspective: This is one unfortunate incident.”

The sign read: “To our Jewish Guests, Please take a shower before you go swimming. If you break the rules, I am forced to close (sic) the swimming pool for you. Thank you for your understanding.”

Tzipi Livni, a former Israeli foreign minister, posted an image of the sign on Facebook and wrote that “there can be no tolerance and no indifference” to anti-Semitism and racism.

Switzerland’s Foreign Ministry said it has been in touch with the Israeli ambassador and “outlined to him that Switzerland condemns racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination in any form. Switzerland has been strongly committed for years . . . to raise awareness to the dangers of racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination.”

Officials said the hotel in the eastern town of Arosa apologized for the incident and took the sign down.