Sunday Telegraph ägnade igår Malmö en
stor artikel. Med utgångspunkt i Judith
Popinkis livsöde berättar man om den
ökande antisemitismen i Malmö och var-
bölden Reepalu. Tyvärr inget nytt, men väl
värt att läsa och begrunda:
***
"When she first arrived in Sweden after her rescue
from a Nazi concentration camp, Judith Popinski
was treated with great kindness.
She raised a family in the city of Malmo, and for
She raised a family in the city of Malmo, and for
the next six decades lived happily in her adopted
homeland - until last year.
**
In 2009, a chapel serving the city's 700-strong
Jewish community was set ablaze. Jewish
cemeteries were repeatedly desecrated, worshippers
were abused on their way home from prayer, and
"Hitler" was mockingly chanted in the streets by
masked men.
"I never thought I would see this hatred again in
"I never thought I would see this hatred again in
my lifetime, not in Sweden anyway," Mrs Popinski
told The Sunday Telegraph.
"This new hatred comes from Muslim
"This new hatred comes from Muslim
immigrants. The Jewish people are afraid now."
Malmo's Jews, however, do not just point the finger
Malmo's Jews, however, do not just point the finger
at bigoted Muslims and their fellow racists in the
country's Neo-Nazi fringe. They also accuse Ilmar
Reepalu, the Left-wing mayor who has been in power
for 15 years, of failing to protect them.
**
Mr Reepalu, who is blamed for lax policing, is at
Mr Reepalu, who is blamed for lax policing, is at
the centre of a growing controversy for saying
that what the Jews perceive as naked anti-Semitism
is in fact just a sad, but understandable consequence
of Israeli policy in the Middle East.
While his views are far from unusual on the European
While his views are far from unusual on the European
liberal-left, which is often accused of a pro-
Palestinian bias, his Jewish critics say they encourage
young Muslim hotheads to abuse and harass them.
**
The future looks so bleak that by one estimate,
The future looks so bleak that by one estimate,
around 30 Jewish families have already left for
Stockholm, England or Israel, and more are preparing
to go.
With its young people planning new lives elsewhere,
With its young people planning new lives elsewhere,
the remaining Jewish households, many of whom are
made up of Holocaust survivors and their descendants,
fear they will soon be gone altogether.
Mrs Popinski, an 86-year-old widow, said she has
even encountered hostility when invited to talk
about the Holocaust in schools. "
****
