{"id":15985,"date":"2015-03-12T19:04:24","date_gmt":"2015-03-12T17:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=15985"},"modified":"2015-03-12T10:16:40","modified_gmt":"2015-03-12T08:16:40","slug":"15985","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=15985","title":{"rendered":"Rising anti-Semitism challenges Sweden\u2019s proud and tolerant self-image"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Rising anti-Semitism challenges Sweden\u2019s proud and tolerant self-image<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n

Petra Socolovsky<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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When a militant extremist stormed into a kosher supermarket in Paris shortly after cartoonists were massacred at the Charlie Hebdo publication, Swedish media described it as a hostage situation at a food store.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

There was no mention of an anti-Semitic motive<\/strong><\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now, the discourse has come full circle, with a full-throttle discussion in media about the magnitude and roots of anti-Semitism in Sweden, which prides itself as a beacon of tolerance and open doors.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSweden has awoken from its fairy tale dream\u201d of being a racism-free society, said Willy Silberstein, president of the Swedish Committee Against Antisemitism, SKMA.<\/span><\/p>\n

Swedes see their country as a refuge from the world\u2019s conflicts and oppression; they\u2019ve accepted large numbers of refugees from Somalia, Iraq and now Syria. About 15 percent of the population was born abroad, and in just a few decades the homogeneous land of blondes has turned into a multiculturally vibrant society.<\/span><\/p>\n

But the attacks in Paris triggered a debate that flooded op-ed pages with a crash course in the history and origins of anti-Semitism in Europe and the Middle East.<\/span><\/p>\n

The defining moment was when a TV reporter, who is not Jewish, put on a yarmulke and a hidden camera and walked around Muslim neighborhoods in Malmo, Sweden\u2019s third-largest city. Viewers of the popular show Uppdrag Granskning were shocked to see the reporter being insulted and threatened.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was a wake-up call for many Jews, too.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was born in Sweden. But there are places I can\u2019t access, wearing my Star of David necklace or a kippah,\u201d said Silberstein, whose organization has tried to alert the authorities to anti-Semitism in Malmo for years.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to a 2013 European Union survey, Swedish Jews were already more afraid of wearing Jewish symbols, like a skullcap or Star of David, than Jews in Belgium, Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, Latvia and the United Kingdom.<\/span><\/p>\n

After the TV program, the debate on the editorial pages intensified. The government allocated $25 million to an educational effort against anti-Semitism and racism, and Prime Minister Stefan Lofven spoke at Stockholm\u2019s Great Synagogue to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia sat in the front row.<\/span><\/p>\n

Soon after, an attack on a Copenhagen cafe, where a freedom of speech event was being held, and on a nearby synagogue brought the fear even closer. The first target was Lars Vilks, a Swedish artist best known for his provocative depictions of Islam\u2019s Prophet Muhammad; a Jewish security guard was killed outside the synagogue.<\/span><\/p>\n

Security outside Jewish institutions and schools in Sweden was ramped up, with police carrying machine guns, scenes that were at odds with Sweden\u2019s self-image as a safe and open society.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe kids are not allowed to go outside at recess, because of security concerns. The school is like a bunker,\u201d said Petra Kahn Nord, whose three kids attend a Jewish day school in Stockholm.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her oldest son\u2019s spring break camp was canceled because of security concerns, and now she\u2019s mulling a move to the U.S. or Israel. \u201cParents at the school are looking at the website of the U.S. Embassy and checking out work opportunities in America now. Many don\u2019t feel safe in Sweden.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Swedish Security Service estimates that almost 300 Swedish citizens are fighting with the Islamic State group in Syria. Sweden has no legal framework to stop them from leaving and then returning to the country; security officials can only ask the 130 known Swedish fighters to let them know when they are leaving Sweden. New legislation is expected to regulate such travel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Swedes also are struggling in their approach to immigrants from the Muslim world. Resentment is growing, evidenced by the nationalistic anti-immigration party, the Sweden Democrats, winning 13 percent of the votes in last fall\u2019s elections.<\/span><\/p>\n

Muslims who are openly hostile to Jews are a minority. But Islamic studies scholar Eli Gondor notes that many immigrants \u2014 especially those from the Arab world \u2014 experienced decades of anti-Israel propaganda back home, much of it rooted in anti-Semitic notions.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut these are not Swedish values,\u201d said Siavosh Derakhti, founder of the group Young Muslims Against Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia. \u201cAnd if they want to live in Sweden, they have to adapt. They call me a racist for saying this. That\u2019s the problem in Sweden. People are afraid to set limits, afraid of being called racists.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Anti-Semitic stereotypes are not limited to immigrants. When Swedish Public Radio recently interviewed the Israeli ambassador to Sweden, Isaac Bachman, the reporter repeatedly asked him: \u201cAre Jews responsible for the rise in anti-Semitism?\u201d Bachman finally answered that the reporter\u2019s question was like blaming a rape victim for being assaulted.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like such a betrayal to ask that question when a Jewish synagogue guard had just been murdered in Copenhagen,\u201d said Negar Josephi, a Swedish Public Radio freelance contributor who wrote an op-ed in protest.<\/span><\/p>\n

Swedish Public Radio apologized, saying the host was stressed out. \u201cRight. As if someone would suddenly say the N-word on air, because they are stressed out,\u201d said Josephi.<\/span><\/p>\n

Josephi believes there is a deep lack of knowledge of Jewish history and Middle East geopolitics. \u201cMany Swedes can\u2019t tell Jews and Israelis apart,\u201d she said. After the Copenhagen attacks, a Swedish TV reporter, describing the memorial at the Danish synagogue, saw an Israeli flag and called it \u201cthe Jewish flag.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As the debate takes on political overtones, with some leftists saying the problem is mainly Islamophobia and claiming that the political right only focuses on anti-Semitism, Derakhti, the young Muslim activist fighting against discrimination toward any minorities, said Muslims and Jews need to stick together. \u201cIt should not be a competition about which minority is the most discriminated,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have to help each other.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Derakhti joined a human \u201cring of peace\u201d around a Stockholm synagogue, standing hand-in-hand with others in a statement against anti-Semitism, modeled on a similar event in Oslo. Addressing the crowd in the cold winter twilight, Lofven, the prime minister, told the crowd that it\u2019s up to Swedes to decide what kind of society they want.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe cannot allow hate to take hold of society,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

(Petra Socolovsky is a Swedish freelance journalist based in Washington.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Copyright: For copyright information, please check with the distributor of this item, Religion News Service LLC.<\/span><\/p>\n

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twoje uwagi, linki, wlasne artykuly, lub wiadomosci przeslij do: webmaster@reunion68.com<\/a><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Rising anti-Semitism challenges Sweden\u2019s proud and tolerant self-image Petra Socolovsky When a militant extremist stormed into a kosher supermarket in Paris shortly after cartoonists were massacred at the Charlie Hebdo publication, Swedish media described it as a hostage situation at a food store. There was no mention of an anti-Semitic motive. Now, the discourse has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15985"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15985"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15985\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15990,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15985\/revisions\/15990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15985"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15985"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15985"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}