A short video circulated on social media has sparked an uproar in France after a business owner at the Les Deux Alpes resort in the Alps was seen complaining to a customer about the presence of Jewish vacationers at the site. According to reports, she refused to sell products to Jewish customers. The 22-second video went viral and drew angry reactions, the website of the French newspaper Le Dauphiné Libéré reported Saturday.
In the video, the woman, who owns a food stand near the resort’s summer toboggan run, is seen saying at the start of the conversation: “There are too many of you.” The customer asks her: “Who is ‘too many of us,’ ma’am?” She responds explicitly: “The Jewish community. There are too many of you.”
Video from the ski resort in the French Alp
(Video: From social networks)
“And then what?” asks the man filming the conversation on his cellphone. “And then what? At some point, it’s too much for people,” the woman replies.
In another part of the conversation, published on social media, the man who filmed the video makes clear that statements of this kind cannot become routine, and reminds her that France has laws punishing discrimination and antisemitic remarks.
The stall owner said she refused to sell products to Jewish customers
(Photo: From social networks)
The video, which was posted among other places on X, formerly Twitter, was forwarded to France’s interior minister and justice minister, as well as to the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France. French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said: “The National Gendarmerie has opened an investigation in cooperation with the prosecutor’s office. The woman involved will have to answer for the remarks that were made, which I strongly condemn and which have no place in our republic.”
Le Dauphiné Libéré reported that no police complaint has been filed at this stage. However, French police investigators are expected to soon carry out checks in an effort to verify the video and obtain the business owner’s version of events.
The incident occurred at Les Deux Alpes, a popular mountain resort in France that also operates during the summer months. The video sparked a broad online debate about the treatment of Jewish vacationers and the rise in antisemitic remarks in France.