Sweden
(Updated December 2003)
Within its general population of 8.9 million Sweden has an estimated Jewish population of around 18,500, most of whom live
in the three large city areas of Stockholm (5500 members belonging to
the Jewish community), Gothenburg (Götheburg, 1800 members) and
Malmö (1200). Around 50% of the Jewish population in these cities
are members of Jewish communities.
There has been a slow but steady upsurge in anti-Jewish
activities since the beginning of the Intifada in September 2000. Perhaps
the most dramatic example from the beginning of this period was in October
2000 when a big anti-Israeli demonstration was held in Malmö and
demonstrators forced their way into a shop owned by Jews and threatened
them. There have been some examples of references to old Christian anti-Jewish
sentiments in the media, where references have been made to concepts
like “an eye for an eye”, child slaughter and Christ-killers;
furthermore, Israeli politics has been compared with Nazi politics on
a few occasions. In the early spring of 2002 the daily Aftonbladet published
an article criticising Israeli politics with the headline “The
crucified Arafat”, a reference to one of the most well known anti-Semitic
myths. References have also been made to “Jewish media power”.
A television programme in November 2001, Mediemagasinet, pointed out
that three out of the six Swedish reporters reporting from the Middle
East were Jewish. The programme put in question the objectivity of these
Jewish reporters. Internet homepages of both the extreme right and the
radical left have used anti-Semitism when discussing the Middle East
conflict. One left-wing homepage, Indymedia, featured an anti-Semitic
cartoon; the Grim Reaper sporting a hat with a swastika and the Star
of David. The Indymedia chat has featured statements referring to well-known
conspiracy themes such as a “New World Order” and a “Zionist
Occupation Government – ZOG”. The anniversary of the November-pogrom
1938 on 9 November 2001 was exploited by some groups for anti-Israeli
propaganda. Nazi groups like the National Socialist Front have applauded
Islamic anti-Semitism and terror, including the acts of al Qaida.
1. Physical acts of violence
On 18 April 2002, a small public meeting with approximately 100 participants
protesting against both anti-Semitism and phobic attitudes to Islam
took place in central Stockholm. The organisers expressed that the rally
was non-partisan and did not take sides in the Middle East conflict.
The rally was organised by a branch of the Liberal Party youth organisation
and several of the participants were Jews. As the rally was about to
end, a much larger anti-Israeli march organised by the Palestinian support
organisation was passing nearby. Suddenly, 100-150 young demonstrators
broke out and charged into the little crowd that was left around the
small demonstration - most of them Jews. The attacking group was threatening
and some violence was seen. Individual attackers could be heard shouting,
“Kill the Jews!” and “We’ll blow you up!” Some
attackers also went around aggressively asking people if they were Jewish.
It should be pointed out that there were also many young Swedish extreme
left-wing people amongst the most aggressive participants.
There were no incidents reported for Stockholm and
Göteburg over the period of May and June. Malmö has witnessed
a consistently high level of anti-Semitic agitation since the beginning
of the current Intifada in the autumn of 2000. The city has a higher
percentage of Muslims than the other two large Swedish cities. Among
the population of around 250,000 inhabitants there are 45,000 individuals
of Muslim background in Malmö. Including the surrounding areas,
the number reaches around 100,000. Though the anti-Semitic sentiments
are not shared by a majority of the Muslim population, indications show
that such sentiments are more common there than among the rest of the
population. Several incidents were directed towards the Jewish cemeteries
in Malmö.
19 May: vandalism inflicted at the Jewish cemetery in Rosengard in the
suburb of Malmö.
3 June: burglary and vandalism in the funeral chapel at the Jewish cemetery
at Föreningsgatan close to the city centre of Malmö.
4 and 6 June: burglary and vandalism at the Jewish cemetery in Rosengard.
Smashed windows and anti-Semitic graffiti.
2. Verbal aggression/hate speech
On 21 May a group of young Arabs were reported yanking at the entrance
doors of the Jewish Community Centre shouting “Fucking Jew!”
(literally “Judejävel”: “Jew Devil!”), and
making obscene gestures at a woman inside.
Graffiti and inscriptions
On 3 June graffiti on the wall of the Jewish cemetery at Föreningsgatan
read: “Fuck the pigs!”, “Smash Israel” and “Never
forget Jenin!”
Publicly distributed leaflets
On 29 May in the northeastern town of Gävle a man was sentenced
to two years prison for running a record company called Sniper Records
and releasing racist and anti-Semitic CDs, some of them in German. The
man admitted passing the profit on to the National Socialist Front.
The local daily Sydöstran reported (6 June 2002) that the library
of the town Karlskrona had found a great amount of anti-Semitic propaganda
slipped into shelves, books and papers over the last year. The library
has now decided to forbid people with openly racist views to visit the
premises. On 14 June several Swedish papers reported that four leading
Nazis, two of them living in Karlskrona, have been sentenced to six
months prison for re-publishing a 1930s anti-Semitic book titled “The
Jewish Question”.
Media
Samtidsmagazinet Salt, an up-market magazine labelling itself “radical
conservative”, released its latest issue at the beginning of June.
Previous issues of Salt had clear anti-Semitic content. In the June
issue one article paid tribute to Holocaust denial, while a well-known
anti-Semitic conspiracy theoretician penned another article.
In March the presidents of the Jewish communities
in Stockholm, Göteborg and Malmö, acting together with presidents
of the Swedish-Israel Society, the Swedish branch of the Israel Information
Office and the Swedish Committee Against Anti-Semitism, published an
article in the main daily, Dagens Nyheter, in which they protested against
“the one-sided reporting in the Swedish media about the conflict
in the Middle East.” In an alarming passage, the article continues:
“As a consequence of the massive anti-Israeli campaign, we have
observed a dramatic increase in anti-Jewish activity and expressions
of anti-Semitism in Swedish society”.
During Easter 2002 the newspaper Aftonbladet attacked Israeli policy
with a headline “Crucified Arafat” referring to the old anti-Jewish
accusation that it were the Jews who crucified Jesus.
Internet
In May and June, the website “Focus Israel” (Brännpunkt
Israel) – run by one of the officials in the Malmö Jewish
community – repeatedly received hate mail with anti-Semitic content.
Karlskrona, a small town in the southeast of Sweden, is the stronghold
of the largest and most active Nazi group in Sweden, the NSF, Nationalsocialistisk
Front (National Socialist Front). The group is known for its high anti-Semitic
profile, also reflected on its homepages, which are directly linked
to the sites of the right extremist and revisionist Gary Lauck from
Lincoln/Nebraska. Another Swedish internet site carries anti-Israel,
anti-Semitic and anti-American material, mainly caricatures similar
to those from a Swedish caricaturist who in the past has drawn anti-Semitic
caricatures for the revisionist Ahmed Rami and his “Radio Islam”
which was a radio station and today is one of the most radical right
wing anti-Semitic homepages on the net with close links to radical Islam
groups.
3. Research Studies
There is no recent report or opinion poll on anti-Semitic aggression
or attitudes.
4. Good Practice for reducing prejudice, violence
and aggression
Individual teachers in some schools have made a point of introducing
the issue of anti-Semitism in class discussions. Reports to the Expo
Foundation from several teachers indicate a growth of anti-Semitic sentiments,
including various conspiracy theories among (predominantly) immigrant
youth with a Muslim background. Such sentiments seem to be closely related
to the media reporting and the development of the situation in the Middle
East. There has been no formal study made about such claims. An example
of good practice is how survivors of the Holocaust have related their
experiences in the schools. A teaching method called “Abrahams
barn” (“Abraham’s children”), pointing out similarities
between Christianity, Islam and Judaism, has – according to teachers
– been reported to be fairly successful in schools with a high
percentage of immigrants. Along with this, teachers in some schools
have reported that a generally increased vigilance against racist and
anti-Semitic expressions has been a successful method in curbing such
sentiments. The Swedish Committee against anti-Semitism has been writing
articles and arranging a series of seminars in different cities and
towns. The seminars were called “Stereotyping immigrants, Jews
and Muslims in media and debate” and got a very good response in
the evaluations.
5. Reactions by politicians and other opinion leaders
EXPO found no example of politicians speaking up against anti-Semitism.
The leftist party Vänsterpartiet announced a campaign against racism,
mentioning xenophobia, homophobia and other forms of racism, but not
anti-Semitism
Sources:
C.R.I.F. - Released by the European Jewish Congress |