Law enforcement authorities in France have initiated a criminal inquiry into the conduct of a refreshment stand proprietor who was captured on video telling a Jewish individual near Lyon that there were "too many Jews" and that the situation "upsets people," Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez stated, according to JNS.
The footage from the establishment, which began circulating online on Friday, depicts a middle-aged woman with blonde hair leaning against a checkout register counter rolling a cigarette as she talks with a patron.
During the exchange, she said to him, "There are too many of you." Upon his inquiry regarding who she was referring to, she replied, "The Jewish community," adding that this "upsets people."
The customer appears to state that the owner refused to serve him, telling another bystander: "There are laws, madame, to say we won’t be admitted because we’re Jewish...."
Minister Nuñez indicated that the encounter occurred at a venue in Les Deux Alpes, situated in the vicinity of Isère and Lyon.
After the recording spread rapidly across social media platforms, police opened an official investigation.
Aurore Bergé, the Cabinet minister overseeing Gender Equality and Combating Discrimination, released a statement on Saturday clarifying that the video captured "tourists who were denied access to a refreshment stand at a resort in Isère." She further asserted, "Such antisemitic conduct and remarks cannot be tolerated."
Bergé confirmed that the woman making the comments is the proprietor of the refreshment counter, writing, "She has been summoned and will be questioned by the National Gendarmerie this afternoon."
In her statement, Bergé emphasized, "No antisemitic act, racist act or act of hatred can be tolerated. Antisemitism and racism are not opinions; they are criminal offenses. I will intervene systematically to ensure that nothing is overlooked and to uphold our laws and values."
The occurrence at the resort coincided with a second severe antisemitic incident in France on the same day, during which an Australian Jewish couple on holiday were confronted with death threats and hostility from an Irish national inside a local supermarket.
Captured on the woman's mobile device, video of the confrontation went viral on social media within hours, accumulating around one million views.
According to statements given to law enforcement and shared online, the initial interaction was friendly. The individual introduced himself as "Paddy from Ireland" and struck up a conversation after spotting the husband wearing a French soccer jersey and hearing the pair speaking English. They shook hands and briefly discussed international soccer teams.
However, the mood shifted dramatically when political topics were brought up, specifically regarding Ireland's foreign policy stances and public support for terrorist groups like Hezbollah and Hamas. Following expressed criticism of those positions, the Irish man became hostile and verbally aggressive.
Footage shows the man launching into severe antisemitic abuse against the visitors, making the statement: "It’s a pity Hitler didn’t finish the job."
Faced with his aggressive demeanor, the wife began filming with her phone camera. Recognizing that he was being recorded, the man escalated his threats, explicitly telling the couple: "I’ll put a bullet in your heads."
Yonathan Arfi, who heads the CRIF umbrella organization representing French Jewish communities, denounced both events in a public release. "In the meantime, let us reject both discrimination against Jews and the rhetoric that equates Nazism and Zionism, which is nothing but a challenge to the right to existence of the State of Israel," Arfi wrote.