Switzerland has witnessed an alarming rise in antisemitism following the October 7 attacks by Hamas and the subsequent Israeli response. A report by the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG) and the Foundation against Racism and Antisemitism (GRA) highlighted an almost three-fold surge in antisemitic incidents, jumping from 57 in 2022 to 155 in 2023.
‘Since October 7, more than 1,600 antisemitic incidents have been recorded in French-speaking Switzerland. That’s more incidents than in 10 months than in the previous three years,’ said Johanne Gurfinkiel, General Secretary of CICAD, a Swiss campaign group against antisemitism.
Antisemitism often rears its ugly head in times of crisis. According to a 2020 survey, 39% of the Swiss population at times resort to Jewish stereotypes, characterising Jews as people who are ‘power-hungry, money-grabbers or politically radical.’
Perhaps it should come as no surprise, therefore, that a shop in the famous resort of Davos announced in February that it would no longer rent skis and sledges to Jewish customers.
The incident was felt around the world. When asked by Le Mondehow it has affected the ultra-orthodox Jewish community globally, a resident of an ultra-orthodox neighbourhood in Stamford Hill in north London saidthat ‘a red line had been crossed’.
Serious acts of religious-based violence have occurred in Switzerland in the last year, too. A 15-year-old Swiss national, who had originally relocated from Tunisia, attacked an orthodox Jewish man in Zurich in March and declared his allegiance to the Islamic State. Investigations found that the teen was radicalised in Tunisia, and on internet forums.
The attack led to calls for the revocation of his Swiss citizenship, with Zurich’s security director Mario Fehr stating: ‘I don’t see why we as a society always have to take responsibility for everything that happens somewhere in the world.’
This is not the only case where the Swiss courts have been questioned.
Le Temps, a Swiss daily newspaper, reported in June that Geneva prosecutor Frédéric Scheidegger pushed for the for pre-trial detention of a defendant due to their religion. The defendant’s identity has not been disclosed.
According to the prosecutor’s reasoning, the defendant – who is Jewish – was deemed a flight risk. The prosecutor believed that the defendant might have fled to Israel to take advantage of a law that allows Jewish people to settle freely in the country, even if they are citizens elsewhere.
This reasoning potentially augurs the uneven application of the law by sanctioning individuals on religious grounds. Its logical extension is arguably that any Jewish individual in Switzerland could be detained before their day in court – for fear that they might abscond to Israel.
However, the Criminal Appeals Chamber rejected this challenge in a decision dated June 10, which ruled out any latent anti-Semitism and stressed that the criterion of religion can indeed, in certain circumstances, be considered in assessing the situation.
A further case involving Jewish businessman Beny Steinmetz has likewise yielded accusations of discrimination within Switzerland’s legal system, not least the alleged explicit antisemitic remarks made by the trial’s Court President.
According to a person present in the courtroom during Steinmetz’s recent case, following a joke made by a witness about confusing two people who use the same hairdresser, Catherine Gavin, Court President, allegedly responded with the following comment: ‘Ah, yes, it’s like the Jewish nose.’
The comment caused significant discomfort in the Swiss-Jewish legal community, although Steinmetz’s lawyers decided ‘not to push’ the matter. Johanne Gurfinkiel, who was made aware of the incident, noted that his organisation CICAD ‘deplores the fact that the words of certain public figures and elected representatives are helping to fuel this poisonous climate.’
Catherine Gavin has not commented on the alleged incident, but concerns remain that the high standards of Switzerland’s courts are not being upheld.