French police are questioning the manager of a southern France activity park after the facility denied entry to a group of 150 young Israeli tourists, amid rising global outrage over the country's ongoing genocide and blockade on Gaza, which led to a famine.
The manager of the park in Porte-Puymorens in the western Pyrenees was detained on Thursday for "discrimination based on religion" over the incident the same day, prosecutors in the nearby city of Perpignan told AFP.
"This is not our conception of the Republic, this is not our conception of human dignity," Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau told BFMTV, describing the incident as "serious."
The man had said that he refused access to his establishment due to 'personal convictions,'" the prosecutors said.
The group of 150 Israeli holidaymakers, all minors, aged 8 to 16, and on holiday in Spain, were refused entry "even though a reservation had been made long in advance," the prosecutors said.
The manager, 52, has no criminal record but faces up to three years in prison if he is charged with discrimination based on religion while providing a service.
The group of Israeli holidaymakers "changed their plans and travelled, on three buses, to another site in France, with security ensured by the gendarmerie without any incident at that time," the prosecutor's office told AFP.
The number of reported anti-Semitic incidents in France soared in 2023, in the wake of Israel's genocidal attacks on Gaza, which killed over 62,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
Reported antisemitic acts in France surged from 436 in 2022 to 1,676 in 2023, before dipping from that high level to 1,570 last year, according to the interior ministry.
Israeli tourists visiting different countries have faced reactions, including protests.
Last month, hundreds of pro-Palestinian Greeks staged protests, rallying at the Greek islands of Crete and Rhodes, against the arrival of the Israeli cruise ship Crown Iris and others.
Israel has imposed a blockade on Gaza for 18 years, and since March 2, 2025, it has closed all crossings, blocking the entry of humanitarian aid and worsening conditions for the 2.4 million people who live in the enclave.
The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a cease-fire, killed more than 62,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since late 2023. The relentless bombardment has destroyed the enclave and led to a famine.
