News
Featured Image

PARIS, France – (LifeSiteNews) – French restauranteurs are rebelling against COVID-19  passports with bright signs.  

Some restaurants in France are refusing to check customers for COVID passes and have put up a “zone libre” (free zone) green label at their entrances as a sign of opposition to the government-imposed measure.  

The green label reads: “Free zone. Here, we value your freedom, your dignity, and your right to medical privacy.”  It is crowned by the slogan: “All are welcome with or without the sanitary pass.” 

The pass indicates whether or not the bearer was fully vaccinated at least 2 weeks before, has already recovered from COVID-19, or has recently received a negative test for the virus. Thousands of people worldwide have died or suffered other serious side effects after receiving the experimental COVID-19 inoculations. In France, an involuntary manslaughter investigation has scrutinised the deaths of three people that followed their AstraZenica jabs. 

QR code labels are also on display at the entrance of many public venues, but many owners argue that checking either for a QR code registration or a COVID pass violates freedom and is not part of their job.  

If the government wants to force people to get vaccinated let them do the work, it’s not my job,” a restaurant owner told RT France.  

“I’m not a policeman or a doctor whose job it is to check people. I’m a restaurant owner.” 

“It’s too much pressure,” complained another owner, who also insisted that checking for IDs and COVID passes was not part of her job description.  

“That’s not what we do. Our job is to make people feel welcomed and to greet them nicely.” 

The resistance to the COVID pass campaign is becoming even something of a marketing argument for some restaurants, and the movement has gained momentum in France, particularly on social networks. A Facebook page entitled “Zone Libre” has been created and already has thousands of followers.  

The label’s visibility is a double-edged sword, however, as failure to check COVID passes can result in a fine of up to $10,500 and/or a prison sentence of up to one year. Some restaurants have adopted a more discreet approach and only express their opposition to the COVID pass via word of mouth. The “Zone Libre” Facebook page tends to publish only vague information. Customers wishing to find out more about restaurants which do not require the COVID pass can do so via private messages.  

The instigator of the movement has said that originally he had no intention to launch aresistance movement in defiance of the government. 

“I just had a feeling we needed a more positive message to counterbalance Macron’s grim words,” the unnamed man told French newspaper Le Figaro.  

Following the president’s announcement, the citizen went to other small businesses in his neighborhood that weren’t subject to the mandate and encouraged them to spread a positive message, reassuring customers by showing them that there were still “spaces of freedom” near them.  

“It was a way to gather behind a joyful slogan, but my intention was not to launch a civil disobedience movement.” 

Other restaurant owners have reacted by simply closing their businesses and attending demonstrations to express their opposition to the measure.  

But many restauranteurs, on the other hand, have chosen to go along with the mandate. They have said they expect implementation to be difficult at first but that they see it as a necessary step towards “a return to normality.” 

What is certain is that the imposition of the COVID pass has generated a sharp decline in daily restaurant dining throughout France, with drops of 30 to 50% depending on the regions. This has further damaged an industry that was barely recovering from successive lockdowns.