Antisemitism in Sweden
Antisemitism in historical Sweden primarily manifested as the confiscation of property, restrictions on movement and employment, and forced conversion to Christianity.
It was discussed in committee whether Jews should wear a distinguishing mark when walking in the street – perhaps a red or yellow hatband, but this idea was rejected.
[4] Poor Jews were subject to deportation, pursuant to a law banning Romani people, tight rope dancers and sellers of barometers.
[5] In 1870 Jews received full citizens' rights and the first Jewish members of the Riksdag, Aron Philipson and Moritz Rubenson, were elected in 1872.
[6] However Swedish non-Protestants, most of which were Catholics and Jews, were still not allowed to teach the subject of Christianity in public schools or to be cabinet ministers (statsråd) (these restrictions were not removed until 1 January 1953).
[citation needed] Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg also saved thousands of Hungarian Jews in Budapest by providing them with "protective passports".
The fascist Nysvenska Rörelsen (NSR, New Swedish Movement, formed in 1941 as Svensk Opposition) attempted to distance itself from its own history and Nazi Germany.
The NSR cultivated ties to similar organizations in other countries and established an employment office in Malmö for expatriate Danes and Norwegians who had fled to Sweden after collaborating with wartime German occupation forces.
Sweden remains home to active neo-Nazi or white supremacist organizations espousing antisemitic beliefs, including Nordic Resistance Movement.
"[16] In 2010, alleged antisemitism among Muslims in Malmö received media attention after a controversial interview with the then city's mayor, Ilmar Reepalu.
While the party (founded in 1988) describes itself as social conservative and nationalist,[25] it initially had ties to fascist, white supremacist and other far right groups.
[35] On 13 January 2009, Molotov cocktails were thrown inside and outside a funeral chapel at the old Jewish cemetery in the city of Malmö, south Sweden, in what seemed to be an antisemitic act.
"Malmo is a place to move away from, right now many Jews in Malmö are really concerned about the situation and don’t believe they have a future here", he said, citing antisemitism as the primary reason.
Per Gudmundson, chief editorial writer for Svenska Dagbladet, has sharply criticized politicians who he claims offer "weak excuses" for Muslims accused of antisemitic crimes.
[20] On 6 September 2012, the international United Nations Watch organization discussed the antisemitic attacks in Malmö and stated it considered the phenomenon extremely serious, given Sweden's candidacy for membership in the UN Human Rights Council.
[40] The organization called on Sweden to supply adequate protection for the Jewish community and to develop special initiatives aimed at educating against antisemitism.
It also reprimanded Reepalu for what it viewed as his multiple defamatory and incendiary remarks concerning the Jewish community in Malmö and the antisemitism it faces.
[42] In 2013, Siavosh Derakhti, a Swedish-born son of Iranian immigrant parents and founder of Young People Against Anti-Semitism and Xenophobia, received the first Raoul Wallenberg Award, an honor named after the Swedish diplomat who saved thousands of Jews from Nazi death camps during the Second World War.
Because of his social activism focused on reducing antisemitism and xenophobia, the selection committee said Derakhti set a "positive example" in his hometown of Malmö and throughout Sweden.
[45] In December 2017, after president Donald Trump announced that Jerusalem will be recognised as the capital of Israel by the United States, there was a spontaneous demonstration in a central square Möllevångstorget where some 200 people who shouted that "an intifada has been proclaimed from Malmö and we will shoot the Jews".
[49] The city was also fined $25,000 by the International Tennis Federation[50] (lowered to $5,000 on appeal) and forced to pay an additional $15,000 to recoup revenues lost when spectators were barred from the match.
[61] In an interview with the Sunday Telegraph in February 2010, Reepalu was asked about reports that antisemitism in Malmö has increased to the point that some of its Jewish residents are (or are considering) moving to Israel.
Lofven and Social Democratic secretary Carin Jämtin subsequently agreed to meet with Jewish community leaders to discuss the comments and actions of Reepalu, who was being criticized by members of his own party.
"[63] In a 2014 interview with the newspaper Dagens Nyheter, Björn Söder at the time party secretary of the Sweden Democrats and Second Deputy Speaker of the Riksdag stated that, in his view, people with dual national identities would not necessarily identify as Swedish and immigrants should have to undergo Cultural assimilation.
[64][65] Söder stated that officially recognized minorities, including Jews, Sami, and Tornedalians in many cases had dual cultural identities and would probably be proud of both heritages.
Whilst at a party, believed to have taken place in 2011, he laughingly told a story about former co-workers with Nazi sympathies mocking Jews and comparing them to sheep.
[73] During the same month, the parliamentarian and second vice party leader Carina Herrstedt was confronted with having sent an allegedly racist, antisemitic, homophobic and anti-romaniyst email to her then spouse in 2011.
The email, which had been leaked from the party's internal servers, for instance contained phrases that named black football players from the team Landskrona BoIS as niggers whilst also picturing Romani people as thieves.
[74] In December 2016, the parliamentarian Anna Hagwall was expelled from the party after using arguments associated with antisemitism to promote a bill that she introduced in parliament intended to reduce concentration of media ownership in Sweden.
[75] In September 2017, it was brought to light that 14 active or former municipal representatives of the party had supported the Nordic Resistance Movement, a Neo-Nazi organization, financially through memberships or purchases of antisemitic and racist literature or souvenirs.
