Stockholm officials are concerned that despite last month lowering the national terror threat level, the threat against Sweden’s Jewish population continues to grow.
The government has responded by launching a ten-year ‘national strategy,’ which Moderate Party culture minister Parisa Liljestrand conversely described as “very urgent,” to combat antisemitism.
But critics warn that the actual cause of this growing problem is being ignored.
Swedish comedian and writer Aron Flam said—in a thinly veiled comment on migration—that the government “can’t even mention where the threat is coming from and they are doing nothing (right) to stop what is coming.”
Om du är jude och har möjlighet fly landet. Lita inte på dem som ljuger om trygghet. De kan inte ens nämna var hotet kommer ifrån och de gör inget (rätt) för att stävja det som kommer: https://t.co/QccOPe8Xxy
Sweden Democrat MP Richard Jomshof asked whether this was being ignored as “a matter of cowardice” or because of “a total lack of understanding of simple causal relationships.”
Justice minister Gunnar Strömmer said that antisemitism “finds nourishment from different sources,” pointing in particular at “right-wing extremists, left-wing extremists and Islamism.”
Highlighting the significance of the issue, Liljestrand also described speaking to parents “who are considering changing their children’s last names.”
There are those who do not dare to show their Star of David openly. They avoid ordering a taxi directly to the synagogue, because they do not want it to be visible where they get off. This is incredibly horrific – how antisemitism characterises people’s lives in our time and how difficult it is to live an open Jewish life.
These same anxieties are being experienced elsewhere across Europe, especially in Belgium, where europeanconservative.com late last month pointed to similar reports of Jews choosing not to wear their kippahs in public and considering leaving their neighbourhoods altogether.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
