Anti-Semitism and Malmö are words that
frequently appear together. Jews are turning
their back on the southern city in the Wake
of several incidents while potential Jewish
tourists have expressed concern over the
city's safety. The Local's Patrick Reilly
donned a kippah for a day to find out
what the situation is really like.
**
Last month The Local received an email from a Jewish
reader in America who is contemplating a visit to Sweden.
"With the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe, and some very
"With the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe, and some very
scary stuff in Sweden (Malmö comes to mind), why should
a Jewish guy visit Sweden with his family? I don't wear
tzitzit or a yarmulka, but I look ethnic. I am asking this
without sarcasm," said the reader.
**
**
In 2010 the Simon Wiesenthal Centre, which represents
Jewish interests abroad, issued a travel warning for
Malmö urging “extreme caution.” A year later a Holly-
wood film company scrapped plans to shoot a Jewish
themed movie in the city because of concerns about
anti-Semitism there.
Last year the Wiesenthal Centre said “they see no
Last year the Wiesenthal Centre said “they see no
reason to relax or revoke” their travel warning to
Jews considering a visit to southern Sweden.
**
**
A few months afterwards the Jewish Community
centre was attacked in a bomb blast. Former mayor
Ilmar Reepalu was accused of anti-Semitism during
his latter years in office, which coincided with a rise
in hate crimes targeted against Jews – although few
ever made it to a prosecutor.
**
Jews who are open about their identity in Malmö
**
Jews who are open about their identity in Malmö
are few and far between. There is the Rabbi Shneur
Kesselman, who dresses in full traditional Jewish
attire, and there is chef Shmuel Goldberg who wears
a kippah.
**
Both have experienced harassment. Kesselman had
Both have experienced harassment. Kesselman had
the word 'Palestina' carved into his car while Gold-
berg says he is frequently verbally abused. Earlier
this year he was confronted in central Malmö by an
angry man in an incident which almost became violent.
He was encouraged to report it to the police who
classified it as a hate crime.
***
Och vad hände då Patrick Reilly ?
Blev han skjuten, knivhuggen eller
nedslagen på Möllevången ?
***
Min kommentar:
Den som händelsevis trodde att anti-
semitismen i Malmö väsentligt minskat
sedan Reepalus avgång bör ju studera
t ex de otäcka incidenterna i samband
med schlagerfestivalen...
Läs
*
**
Läs också JTA om EU-undersökningen om
antisemitismen i Europa:
A quarter of respondents in a survey of Jews
from nine European countries said they avoid
visiting places and wearing symbols that
identify them as Jews for fear of anti-Semitism.
Fear of wearing a kippah and other identifiably Jewish
items was especially strong in Sweden, where 49 percent
of 800 respondents said they refrained from such actions, a
ccording to the yearlong survey conducted among more
than 5,100 Jews by the European Union Agency for
Fundamental Rights.
In France, 40 percent of approximately 1,200 Jews
said they avoided wearing such items in public, followed by
Belgium with 36 percent, according to preliminary results
from the survey obtained by JTA.
In total, 22 percent of respondents said they avoided
“Jewish events or sites” because of safety concerns.
“The results show that a majority of European Jews
are experiencing a rise in anti-Semitism,” Gert
Weisskirchen, a former representative of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in
Europe for fighting anti-Semitism, said Tuesday
at a conference in Kiev, Ukraine.
