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Dane bans tourists over Iraq
The owner of a pizzeria in Denmark used to ban just dogs from his establishment. But now he says he also wants German and French customers to keep away because of their countries' opposition to a US-led war against Iraq. Aage Bjerre, who owns Aage's Pizza in Nordby on the island of Fanoe, has said he is tired of French and German attitudes toward the United States, calling them "disloyal" and "anti-American". On Friday, Mr Bjerre put two home-made pictograms on the restaurant door with a bar across each one. One features the silhouette of a man sporting the colours of the German flag, the second those of the French flag. "I am very angry with the Germans and the French," he told JydskeVestkysten newspaper. "The French are cowards and they are banned for life, and as long as the Germans behave disloyally towards the USA, I can't be bothered to make food for them," he said.
A pot of herbs was thrown through the window of his restaurant at the weekend, but Mr Bjerre says that apart from that incident he has been getting a lot of positive reaction to his stand. "I have never sold as much as I did over the weekend," he said. Mr Bjerre could be in breach of Denmark's anti-racism legislation, but told the newspaper he would carry on with the ban regardless.
| I still don't think it's a good thing to exclude entire groups of people based on their nationality. The guy that tossed the pot seems to fit the profile of those he wants to keep out, though... |
The ban is not expected to affect Mr Bjerre's business just yet because the tourist season on the island starts after Easter and peaks during the summer. The island, 320 kilometres (200 miles) south-west of the capital, Copenhagen, is a popular spot for visitors from neighbouring Germany. Of the approximately 100,000 tourists who come, some 60% are German, and then mostly Scandinavians and Dutch. There are few French visitors to the island, which has a year-round population of 3,300. But if Germany decides to participate in an American-led action against Iraq, Mr Bjerre says he will lift the ban.
| That sounds fair, but I think there's probably more chance of the Frenchies changing their stance because the owner of a pizza parlor's mad at them — Jacques should be telling him to shut up any time now. |
Posted by: Bulldog 2003-02-26 |
