Mediocrates
12-16-2003, 06:41 PM
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1071541097017&p=1008596975996
Swedish anti-Semitism rising
Herb Keinon Dec. 15, 2003
Israel is increasingly concerned the Swedish government is not speaking out loudly enough against manifestations of anti-Semitism in Sweden, a government official in Jerusalem said Monday.
The official's comments come in the wake of a large neo-Nazi rally in Salem, a town south of Stockholm, earlier this month attended by some 2,000 people – believed to be the biggest neo-Nazi event in Sweden since the end of World War II.
In addition to the rally, the Swedish committee against anti-Semitism published a report two months ago saying there were 131 anti-Semitic crimes reported in 2003. Dagens Nyheter, Sweden's largest newspaper, published the report in October, and reported that "nobody knows how many incidents go unreported, but the security police expect the number to be large.
"Jews in Sweden today are living in the shadow of a very concrete anti-Semitism," according to the newspaper account based on the report. "Jews in Sweden today often feel compelled to hide their religious identity in public: necklaces with Stars of David are carefully hidden under sweaters and orthodox Jewish men change their kippot to more discrete caps or hats when they are outdoors.
Jews in Sweden nowadays get secret telephone numbers to avoid harassment."
According to the newspaper report, teachers in Swedish suburbs report "widespread and brazen hostility against Jews among groups of Arab and Muslim students. This hostility is expressed by the refusal to concern oneself with anything that even can be considered as Jewish. Students may sabotage or skip teaching of religion when Judaism is the subject, skip homework, books, or examinations on courses about Judaism."
There are an estimated 400,000 Muslims, and 18,000 Jews, among Sweden's 9 million people.
The report said that during history lessons there are confrontations between teachers and students, "who may on one hand claim that the Holocaust never happened – instead dismissing it as Zionistic propaganda – or on the other hand express their admiration of Hitler and regret that he didn't succeed in killing more Jews."
In addition, there have been reports in recent months of sermons inciting against Jews and Israelis at Sweden's mosques.
When asked about this, David Saranga, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said Israel is carefully monitoring the anti-Semitic incidents in Sweden. "We expect the Swedish government to use all the means at its disposal to put an end to these developments," he said.
Saranga said Israel also expects to hear condemnations of these incidents from the Swedish authorities.
Swedish Ambassador to Israel Robert Rydberg told The Jerusalem Post: "I think the Swedish government is doing more than virtually all European governments in combating all manifestations of anti-Semitism, through a well developed education program that reaches school children all over the country. We take anti-Semitism very seriously."
Asked if he believes there has been a rise of anti-Semitism in Sweden, he said: "It is possible that there has been a rise."
But, Rydberg said, "statistics are quite uncertain in this respect, and there is a tendency that when you start to monitor a phenomenon more closely than was done previously, you will discover more than you discovered previously."
Rydberg said the incidents of incitement in Swedish mosques were reportedly extensively in the Swedish press, and the statements "were firmly denounced by all political leaders in Sweden, and by many representatives of the Islamic community in Sweden."
Swedish anti-Semitism rising
Herb Keinon Dec. 15, 2003
Israel is increasingly concerned the Swedish government is not speaking out loudly enough against manifestations of anti-Semitism in Sweden, a government official in Jerusalem said Monday.
The official's comments come in the wake of a large neo-Nazi rally in Salem, a town south of Stockholm, earlier this month attended by some 2,000 people – believed to be the biggest neo-Nazi event in Sweden since the end of World War II.
In addition to the rally, the Swedish committee against anti-Semitism published a report two months ago saying there were 131 anti-Semitic crimes reported in 2003. Dagens Nyheter, Sweden's largest newspaper, published the report in October, and reported that "nobody knows how many incidents go unreported, but the security police expect the number to be large.
"Jews in Sweden today are living in the shadow of a very concrete anti-Semitism," according to the newspaper account based on the report. "Jews in Sweden today often feel compelled to hide their religious identity in public: necklaces with Stars of David are carefully hidden under sweaters and orthodox Jewish men change their kippot to more discrete caps or hats when they are outdoors.
Jews in Sweden nowadays get secret telephone numbers to avoid harassment."
According to the newspaper report, teachers in Swedish suburbs report "widespread and brazen hostility against Jews among groups of Arab and Muslim students. This hostility is expressed by the refusal to concern oneself with anything that even can be considered as Jewish. Students may sabotage or skip teaching of religion when Judaism is the subject, skip homework, books, or examinations on courses about Judaism."
There are an estimated 400,000 Muslims, and 18,000 Jews, among Sweden's 9 million people.
The report said that during history lessons there are confrontations between teachers and students, "who may on one hand claim that the Holocaust never happened – instead dismissing it as Zionistic propaganda – or on the other hand express their admiration of Hitler and regret that he didn't succeed in killing more Jews."
In addition, there have been reports in recent months of sermons inciting against Jews and Israelis at Sweden's mosques.
When asked about this, David Saranga, a spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, said Israel is carefully monitoring the anti-Semitic incidents in Sweden. "We expect the Swedish government to use all the means at its disposal to put an end to these developments," he said.
Saranga said Israel also expects to hear condemnations of these incidents from the Swedish authorities.
Swedish Ambassador to Israel Robert Rydberg told The Jerusalem Post: "I think the Swedish government is doing more than virtually all European governments in combating all manifestations of anti-Semitism, through a well developed education program that reaches school children all over the country. We take anti-Semitism very seriously."
Asked if he believes there has been a rise of anti-Semitism in Sweden, he said: "It is possible that there has been a rise."
But, Rydberg said, "statistics are quite uncertain in this respect, and there is a tendency that when you start to monitor a phenomenon more closely than was done previously, you will discover more than you discovered previously."
Rydberg said the incidents of incitement in Swedish mosques were reportedly extensively in the Swedish press, and the statements "were firmly denounced by all political leaders in Sweden, and by many representatives of the Islamic community in Sweden."