Antisemitism in Sweden

Winds of Change translates an article from the Swedish newspaper DN Debatt, about the disturbing rise of anti-Jewish hatred among Swedish Muslims:

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.

During lessons in history confrontations arise between teachers and students, who may on one hand say 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.

There are quite a few websites in Swedish on the Internet that cover Arab and Muslim political, cultural or religious topics. Many of these are spreading gross anti-Semitic propaganda together with information about Islam.
[...]
The problem is furthermore aggravated by the almost complete silence which is surrounding this form of Jew-hatred. If anti-Semitism among Arabs and Muslims in Sweden is discussed at all in Swedish media and debate, it tends to be in the form of trivializations or denials of the problem.

There are even examples of commentators who allege that anti-Semitism in Sweden today is a made-up problem, which is grotesquely exaggerated by the Jews to get the attention away from the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

The reason for the silence is probably multi-faceted. Perhaps some journalists and commentators regard their knowledge of Islam as insufficient for an appraisal of Islamic anti-Semitism. Perhaps they think it's difficult to draw a clear line between criticism of Israel and anti-Semitism. Perhaps they try to avoid criticizing a group which already is vulnerable and discriminated in the Swedish society out of a fear of adding to racism in general and islamophobia in particular.

You don't need any more profound knowledge about Islam, however, to be against anti-Semitism spread under the guise of religion: condemnation of Jew-hatred is not about criticism of Islam. You don't need any deeper knowledge about the Middle East conflict to realize that talk about a Jewish world-conspiracy or ritual murder of Muslim children cannot be considered legitimate criticism of the policies of Sharon's government. If this agitation against Jews had been spread by neo-Nazi groups it would in all probability be treated with great indignation and receive strong condemnations by the same journalists and politicians who turn a blind eye when it comes to Jew-hatred spread in the name of Islam. [emphasis added]

Posted by damian at October 21, 2003 06:35 AM