Trampoline club defends rejection of Jewish camps

Club de Trampoline Acrosport Barani in Laval is at the centre of a controversy over its policy on Jewish camps.

MONTREAL — A recreational trampoline centre remains firm in its policy of no longer accepting Jewish camps as clients because they have had “too many problems” with them in the past, but it claims it’s not being discriminatory.

Club de Trampoline Acrosport Barani in Laval, which has been at the centre of a controversy since refusing a reservation from a Jewish day camp on May 15 – explicitly because it was Jewish – posted an explanation of the incident on its Facebook page three days later.

“We do not reject the Jewish community to come to our place. We refuse camps that are not able to respect our regulations,” the unsigned statement reads.

The company, which says it has been around for more than 30 years, reiterates that it is justified in refusing to do business with those groups with which it has had a bad experience due to “unpaid bills or bills paid several months late, failure to comply with the regulations (children and chaperones) and requests impossible for us to fulfill (e.g. prayer room). We can no longer accept or accommodate certain groups in our facilities. It is a question of safety first and foremost.”

That response is not satisfactory for the director of the rejected camp, Rabbi Levi Raskin of Camp Ohr Menachem, which is run by Beth Chabad in Côte St. Luc. He recorded and released on the Internet an excerpt of his May 15 telephone conversation with a woman who works at Acrosport.

In the recording, he tries to make a reservation for a single visit by the campers for this summer, after a camp staff member earlier that day had tried unsuccessfully to do so.

The woman repeats that Acrosport is not making reservations. When Rabbi Raskin asks why, she asks the name of the camp, and he gives it. She replies, “because it is a Jewish camp and we have had problems before.”

Acrosport’s explanation is also not good enough for B’nai Brith Canada, which says Acrosport’s refusal to take bookings from Jewish camps is “a serious violation of human rights” and it should apologize.

CEO Frank Dimant said B’nai Brith has received complaints from other Jewish camps that Acrosport was turning them away.

“The explanation offered to us by management of Acrosport is inconsistent with not only the recordings, but other statements they have given to the media,” he said.

“We await for Acrosport to apologize, take full responsibility and put in place measures to ensure that these actions are not repeated.”

B’nai Brith says it will also advise the Gymnastics Federation of Quebec that it must ensure that its affiliates are not violating human rights.

The Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA), which initially felt the company might be violating the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms, now accepts Acrosport’s explanation.

The charter prohibits even the private sector from discriminating on the basis of religion.

“The owner assured us the centre is open to the Jewish community, and we consider the matter closed,” said CIJA spokesperson Eta Yuding

On May 16, François Leblanc, who identified himself as the son of the owner of the club, told The CJN that as a private enterprise, it can choose with whom it does business.

He did not specify which Jewish camps have not paid their bills or that do not respect the safety regulations. He also alluded to certain “accommodations” sought on religious grounds.

Rabbi Raskin told The CJN that he has been bringing campers to Acrosport for at least five or six years, without any incident, and denied that his camp, which serves about 80 kids, did not pay on time. “We have no choice but to pay. They demand payment in full 30 days after the reservation,” he said.

However, Rabbi Raskin said he has had the sense that “they don’t like us… We do feel they always had a problem with us.”

As for the campers’ behaviour, he said Ohr Menachem counsellors are not allowed to accompany them into the trampoline area. Acrosport staff are completely in charge of the site.

“Still, we watch from the side, and we have heard the staff using foul language with the children,” said Rabbi Raskin, who said he has had no direct contact with Acrosport since May 15.

He notes that trampolining is an exuberant activity, and it’s natural for kids to get a little “wild.”

In the interview with The CJN, Leblanc cited language as a possible aggravating factor in this incident, because the woman who took Rabbi Raskin’s call is francophone.

He said it is “unfortunate” that she was “misunderstood” because of her lack of ease in English, but no apology is in order.

Leblanc noted that the 22-second excerpt posted by Rabbi Raskin – which went viral – is not the complete conversation and omits problems cited elsewhere.

He said he is, in fact, annoyed that Acrosport has since been “harassed by hundreds of calls” from the Jewish community.

In the Facebook post, Acrosport repeats that point, adding that it has also endured “insults because we do not speak English.”

Even if Acrosport apologized, Rabbi Raskin said it’s unlikely the camp would return there.

“An apology is a minimum, but it resolves nothing. It does not change what is in their hearts,” he said.