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Liberal leader meets embattled Malmö Jews

Published: 25 Apr 10 13:31 CET | Print version
Updated: 26 Apr 10 09:41 CET
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/26278/20100425/

Education minister Jan Björklund met with representatives of the Jewish Community in Malmö on Saturday to discuss a recent rise in the level of harassment and threats faced by Jews in the southern city.

The Liberal Party chief said city leaders needed to do more to tackle the problem after police statistics showed a doubling in 2009 of the number of hate crimes registered against Jews.

"The fact that Jews are choosing not to continue living in Malmö creates unpleasant historical associations. It's a worrying situation," said Björklund.

The minister laid part of the blame for developments in Malmö at the feet of Mayor Ilmar Reepalu (SocDem), who Björklund said had made ill-advised comments that had fuelled anti-Jewish sentiment in the city.

The meeting with Björklund was one of several the Jewish Community has had of late with top Swedish politicians.

"The fact they're meeting us sends an important signal," said spokesman Fredrik Sieradzki.

Community members told Björklund about Jewish children who did not feel safe at their pre-schools and families who had elected to leave Malmö to escape persecution and harassment.

Fredrik Sieradzki spoke of a rabbi who is subjected to harassment on an almost daily basis.

"This can be in the form of verbal attacks and threats. It has also happened that he has been chased."

The community previously felt its concerns were met with silence from city leaders.

"But now I think the message has been received," said Jehoshua Kaufman.

Speaking to The Local in January, Fredrik Sieradzki said elements on the far-left and a “very small segment” of the city’s growing population of Muslim immigrants from Arab countries in the Middle East are responsible for growing anti-Semitism.

“This is a small group of extremists who have decided to go after Jews wherever they are in the world and regardless of their relationship to Israel,” he said.

TT/Paul O'Mahony (news@thelocal.se/08 656 6513)

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16:17 April 25, 2010 by mehrdad1111
its all about muslims and leftists.

muslims begun their antisemitism as muhammad killed 1000 jewish men and gave their wifes and kids as slaves to his men.

and socialists are always antisemitic. hitler as a nationalSOZIALIST or stalin. there is little difference between socialists from right and left when it comes to antisemitism.

yes, hitler was NOT a facist. he was a socialist. things like volkswagen (public car), volksempfänger (public radio) and the fact that hitler was in the communist party before he went over to the NSDAP speak for themself.

socialists are dirt. they always lead the humanits into one disaster after the other.

and no normal person needs to speak about the deep rooted antisemitism in the islamic world.

they are simply allies in malmö. leftist mayor, his "red SA" and his arab hordes on the streets.
16:24 April 25, 2010 by ringorm
Perhaps they should move to Norway instead.

Norge chocksänker invandringsprognos

OSLO. Kulturberikningen i Norge är allvarligt hotad. Nu chocksänker norska Migrationsverket, UDI, sin prognos för i år från 18 500 till 13 500 förväntade asylsökare. Samtidigt slår grannlandet Sverige nytt invandringsrekord.

http://www.friatider.se/norge-chocksanker-invandringsprognos
17:55 April 25, 2010 by Kevin Harris
Well done Jan Björklund. The Jews of Malmö looked to their local leader for the protection and support they are entitled to, and got nothing but insults. Björklund and the government are right to by pass the SD Mayor Ilmar Reepalu, who clearly doesn't know, or more likely doesn't care what is happening to the Jews in his city. It must be very embarrasing to have national politicians come visit to clean up a mess that he, in part, was responsible for creating. Time to resign Mr Reepalu, you brought shame to Malmö, shame to Sweden and are unfit to be mayor.
18:13 April 25, 2010 by xykat
I personally feel for the Jews in Sweden. About 10 years ago I was walking down the street and this young teenage blonde teenager spit at me and called me a Jew. I am actually not Jewish but I probably look Jewish. I'm an American of mixed Latin (Spanish/French) and northern European (German/English/Dutch) racial background. I guess my mixed heritage makes me look typically Jewish.

I understand people wanted to protect their countries heritage but not when they go to the extremes of harrassing, hurting or killing people.

I am happy that after 15 years Sweden is a country that is becoming like America. Having a country of racial diversity is good. It enriches the culture and has been happening to Sweden for at least the past 250 years.
18:21 April 25, 2010 by calebian22
Not one word regarding who is behind the rise in attacks. Geez, I wonder which demographic is behind the increase?
18:38 April 25, 2010 by harrylatour
You are attacked,,it is against the law,,,you are abused in the street it is against the LAW,,,the perpetrators should be arrested without hesitation.There is no religion in the world that should give ANYONE imunity within the LAW!!
18:43 April 25, 2010 by boby
Only thing I wish for Reepalu is that his sons convert to Islam and go to live in Iraq and that his daughters mary Muslim men and move to Afganistan so he and his family are very close to the people he loves and care for so much.
19:02 April 25, 2010 by Nemesis
I am glad to see Jan Björklund trying to help clear up this mess left by the mayor or Malmö.

In Malmö people people to realise there is a growing problem of extremism which is being ignored and allowed to fester.

Eventually it will explode. When it does I hope people like Ilmar Reepalu are brought to task for there part in it.
20:13 April 25, 2010 by powerofknowledge
@mehrdad1111

sorry ur VERY SICK man,

u came to Sweden from IRAN

and trying to make problems here coz of the prosecution there unfortunately i dont have time to reply to u and explain to others wat u r trying 2 do if some IRANIAN LEADERS there made mistakes and kill people by the name of religion itsnt religion problem, try to go thier ad change this if u like that!

#2 islam and muslims antisemitis i think u know that islam is the only religion that recognize BOTH christianity and judiasim as divine religions thus from GOD and they lived there for 100s of years without problems its not allowed even in islam to make pictures for Jesus, virgin Marry OR moses PBUT and if u dont believe in them u r not muslim,,if u claim that u r atheist for some reason in ur mind u have the right for that but u dont have the right to attack people and change the truth, Swed is a free country at the same time there are ETHICS to be repected, read the history, and by the way there is a difference between Zionism(as political view) and Judiam its the same like difference between your leaders in iran and other leaders in other islamic countries,,,,and by the way all muslims respect Jews and Chritians coz they beleive in wat they do and beleive in the return of Jesus before judgment day and they eat the Halal food if the animals slaughtered by a Jewish or Christian person, do u know that by the way.

there are some extremists in all religions, and there are some Athiest who r also extremists and not all of them are pacificsts as some claim,,

My advice to u is finding something fruitful to do here in Sweden as a new here, find a Job or Study and be positive person instead of only making comments on the local...and sorry i dont have time 4 more cheers
20:29 April 25, 2010 by powerofknowledge
@xykat

and @mehrdad1111 and @All

sorry 4 that i really share that with u we shuld respect each other regardless of the religion

mehrdad1111 by the wy do u know that Mohammed PBUH ordered us to repect and defend Jewish and Christians who lived in our countries they are called Ahlu Alzhima i dont know excatelly the translation but it means that u r responsible to defend them coz they r minority,and its not only the money that they paid for the state as taxes as some websites say @All sorry for some mistakes in spelling im in hurry but someone elicited me to comment here
20:52 April 25, 2010 by laura ka baal
Perhaps they should ove to GERMANY "AGAIN".
21:21 April 25, 2010 by wxman
Between the Swedish xenophobic Nazis and the Islamist invaders, I'd recommend all Jews in Sweden move to a safer country.
22:47 April 25, 2010 by tigerstripe
Can anyone clarify who is behind these attacks? Is it a specific group? I find this an important detail.
23:34 April 25, 2010 by mehrdad1111
@powerofknowledge:

the usual muslim crap comes out of your mouth...mullahs have nothing to do with islam....extermists in all religions....muslims respect christians and jews.

in your little fantasy world maybe.

the islamic reality allover the ummah tells another story. mullahs who only studdied the quran for 30-40 years in ghom have nothing to do with islam? extremists in all religions but only muslims explode about few harmless cartoons of muhammad while jews and christians react mature. muslims respect jews and christians? thats why 8 of 10 countries in the top 10 of intolerance against christian are muslim regimes. and thats why the whole arabic world was made "judenrein" by islamofacists.

in your little sick brain, the islamic reality has nothing to do with islam.
23:58 April 25, 2010 by Xcellent
they love to whine all the time, get a life ! move on, WW2 is over, take a tissue and wipe your fake tears!
05:16 April 26, 2010 by Frank Lee
This situation is ghastly, but here's the additionally annoying part: when Swedes come to America and talk politics, it's always about how America has terrible problems. They will--universally, without exception--try to hide their own problems, ignoring or lying about the troubles at home. If an American dares to raise a point about, say, the ant-semitic atmosphere in Malmoe, the Swede will dismiss the question in a condescending tone and insist that we provincial Americans are ignorant about everything outside of America. In fact, the Swede will claim, Americans are ignorant about America as well, at which point the Swede will launch into yet another lecture about how much smarter Swedes are, how much better Sweden is, blah-dee-blah-blah. I feel terrible for the Jews in Malmoe, but naturally I feel some satisfaction witnessing the deterioration of Sweden from a distance. Swedes have done a good job of teaching me Schadenfreude.
08:40 April 26, 2010 by calebian22
"they love to whine all the time, get a life ! move on, WW2 is over, take a tissue and wipe your fake tears!" -@Xcellent

People like me will cancel out your ignorance and bigotry.
09:13 April 26, 2010 by peropaco
What Malmo has done to the Jews make sense though. The city need all the room it can get to accommodate all the radical pigs they are importing into the city and country for that matter. Hence to logic to sic the dogs on the Jews will most definitely solve the housing problem. Muslims breed faster than rabbits and in economic indicators terms this mean more buying power. Over five years, ten muslim family will multiple into 100. The same amount of Jewish family over the same period of time will decrease to five families because they will be forced to leave.
15:18 April 26, 2010 by Audrian
It is a pity people can not distinguish between Jewish people and the Apartheid Israel. Some of the Jewish people in Apartheid Israel are willing participants of Apartheid rule. The rest are against it. The same is true of those living in the Diaspora. Our role in the rest of the world should be to help the people of this troubled land reach peace. In the short run, Israel is powerful enough to ethnically cleanse Palestinians, but in the long run its behavior will come to haunt it.

Modern science is progressing very fast. The technology to produce germs weapons is within the capability of Palestinians. Other insidious techniques of wars might also be discovered to change the balance of power against Israel. Already the Lebanon (Hisbula)-Israeli war has shown that Israel is beginning to loose the military edge.

The role of the rest of the world should play is to stop this madness. Unfortunately the US, which could have helped, is part of this madness.
15:49 April 26, 2010 by JordanR
When you see Jews or Gays fleeing a city, you know fascism is on the rise and its best to try to keep up.

As for "Apartheid" Israel... well, lets see. Israel has over 1 million Muslim citizens with equal rights and opportunity. The Arab world on the other hand is now 99% Jew-Free.

There were once a million, they all had to flee.

There is an Apartheid Audrian, just not the one you are referring to.
17:44 April 26, 2010 by Abbot
@Audrian.

The Gaza Conflict showed that Israel learnt her lesson from fighting with Hezbollah and has adapted to the change in battlefield conditions. That is what all the moaning about Gaza is really about: that the Jews adapted and won big.
18:03 April 26, 2010 by sissygirl
Really, what is going on in Malmö? When I read the Local, almost everyday there is an article about something bad that happened in Malmö?
23:04 April 26, 2010 by Hagrid
@Audrian

Never mind your gross lies about Israel, I guess you could be excused for being an ignorant fool, who wouldn't know what "Apartheid" is even if it hit you in the head.

But what really boggles the mind with your post, is what the heck does it have to do with the given story? This is not a story about Israel nor the Palestinians. The fact that Swedish Jews are mentioned as victims of senseless violence, does not mean you can hijack the discussion here for cynically advancing your political agenda regarding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. There is absolutely no connection.

@Xcellent - too stupid to merit a serious response.

@JordanR - Well Said. But two small corrections: it's more like 99.99% Jew-free, and, not all Jews could flee, some (like many of Libya's Jews) were simply murdered or forcefully converted to Islam.
03:05 April 27, 2010 by Greg in Canada
Strange bedfellows these neo Nazi Swedes and Muslim extremists. It's not like they even like each other but have a common imagined enemy that binds their hate and bigotry in the same direction.

Sweden is really becoming a f*cked up country thanks to these above mentioned idiots. Not anything like the Sweden of the 1970/80's that I knew and respected.
13:06 April 27, 2010 by soultraveler3
@sissygirl

Malmö is becoming a lawless paradise for criminals (organized crime) and extremists. The police either can't / don't do anything about it.

There are rumors that some of the police are being paid by organized crime groups. The "good" cops have trouble actually doing anything because the laws in Sweden are so lax. Going after criminals is almost pointless because they either get a slap on the wrist or a few months in a comfy Swedish jail.

The politicians don't seem to want to do anything to fix the problem. Maybe they're being paid as well or just afraid that if they do something it won't be seen as PC. Maybe the police are afraid for themselves as well.
17:44 April 27, 2010 by saab
@ Audrian

Israeli Arabs / Muslims serve in the Israeli Knesset: apartheid?

Israeli Arabs / Muslims can attend Universities: apartheid?

Israeli Arabs / Muslims get free health care (from primary care to to well baby care to bone marrow transplants): apartheid?

Israeli Arabs / Muslims can start businesses, own homes, own cars, and yes pay taxes: apartheid?

Jews in Libya, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, etc: subjected to Nazi like ordinances and laws, killed in pogroms, sent to prisons. Many fleed. But no, that making the Arab countries Judenrein is not apartheid.

Harassing Jews who are full fledged members of the Swedish community in Malmo: No, that is not apartheid.

Tell me, why are more Muslims killed by Muslims than by non Muslims? Shia on Sunni, Sunni on Shia, etc etc. If you are so exorcised about the Pal-Israeli issue that it pervades every post on anything that features that three letter word J-E-W, then you are indeed ill and need some medication.

Sweden has a checkered history with respect to its Jewish citizens. Some of it is good, some of it is not good. Let the government now come forward and crush this, not because the world is watching, not because of echos from the past but because it is the right thing to do.

Oh and one more thing: the Jews's connection with the land of Israel extends thousands of years. It seems to me that there is no distinction between Israel and the Jewish people. Is there a distinction between Sweden and the Swedish people?

And thanks to Hagrid and JordanR
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