הפרלמנט בשטוקהולם אישר את מינויה של שרת האוצר מגדלנה אנדרסון הסוציאל-דמוקרטית, במקום סטפן לופבן, שכשל בהעברת רפורמות בשוק הדיור. שעות אחרי מינויה, אנדרסון הודיעה על פרישה ועל כוונתה להקים ממשלה חדשה בראשות מפלגה יחידה.
רויטרס ודיויד סטברו
הפרלמנט בשוודיה אישר היום (רביעי) את מינויה של שרת האוצר מגדלנה אנדרסון לראשות הממשלה. אנדרסון בת ה-54, המנהיגה החדשה של המפלגה הסוציאל-דמוקרטית, היא האישה הראשונה במדינה המכהנת בתפקיד. אולם שעות ספורות לאחר מינויה לתפקיד, אנדרסון הודיעה ליו"ר הפרלמנט על התפטרותה. ראשת הממשלה הטרייה מסרה את ההודעה לאחר שמפלגת הירוקים פרשה מהקואליציה החדשה, בעקבות אי אישור תקציב המדינה בפרלמנט. אנדרסון אמרה כי היא שואפת להקים עתה ממשלה חדשה שתישען רק על מפלגתה שלה. בפרלמנט השוודי, ריקסדאג, יש 349 מושבים. 117 מחוקקים תמכו במינויה של אנדרסון, 174 התנגדו, 57 נמנעו ומחוקק אחד נעדר מההצבעה. אף שהיו יותר מתנגדים מאשר תומכים בהצבעה, המינוי של שרת האוצר לראשת הממשלה אושר בכל זאת. הסיבה לכך היא שראשי ממשלה בשוודיה יכולים להתמנות ולמשול כל זמן שהם נהנים מרוב פרלמנטרי של מחוקקים שלא מתנגד להם – מינימום של 175.
מפלגת הירוקים הודיעה כי תתמוך בפרלמנט בהצבעה עתידית על קואליציה חדשה בראשותה של אנדרסון וכך גם מפלגת השמאל "ואנסטרפרטייט". מפלגת המרכז הודיעה כי תימנע בהצבעה. שלוש המפלגות חלוקות אמנם בהצבעה על התקציב אך מלוכדות ברצונן למנוע ממפלגת "השוודים הדמוקרטים" הפופוליסטית והמתנגדת להגירה לקחת חלק בכל ממשלה עתידית. עוד טרם התפטרותה, לאנדרסון לא היו צפויים יותר מדי ימי חסד, ומתברר שאפילו לא אחד. בדברים שנשאה הבוקר לאחר המינוי הבהירה אנדרסון כי היא נערכת להנהיג את המדינה גם אם הפרלמנט ידחה את התקציב לטובת חוק התקציב של האופוזיציה השוודית. "אני בדעה שתקציב האופוזיציה בכללותו הוא משהו שאני יכולה לחיות איתו", אמרה.
In an exclusive interview with Haaretz, Swedish prime minister Stefan Löfven explains his policies on Israel, and reaffirms his support for Holocaust commemoration, better U.S.-Europe relations and a revived Iran nuclear deal
GOTHENBURG, Sweden – Just weeks after Sweden hosted the Malmö International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, Stefan Löfven, the country’s prime minister and the driving force behind the forum, is stepping down as head of the Social Democratic party – and the government. While the 64-year-old premier, whose tenure is coming to an end this week after more than seven years, has recently been praised internationally for his role in confronting antisemitism, his policies concerning a host of other issues, both foreign and domestic, have also attracted attention. Among these are his country's unique handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the way it is dealing with challenges posed by a looming refugee crisis in Europe, relations with Iran, and Sweden's recently improved ties with Israel. Talking to Haaretz during a party congress in Gothenburg, Löfven addresses these subjects and offers some initial insight into his political legacy.
It’s recently been announced that you are the recipient of the Aron Isaac Prize that's awarded by the Jewish community in Stockholm for your “efforts to ensure that the victims of the Holocaust are not forgotten and to counter antisemitism and racism in today’s society.” When and why did you decide to make these issues part of your job as prime minister?
“This is a deep conviction that I’ve held all my life, ever since I can remember. When I became prime minister, it was obvious to me that I would take part in Holocaust commemoration, and naturally I met more and more people, I heard more stories and I promised the survivors that I’d do all I could both as prime minister and as a fellow human being. For example, when (Holocaust survivor) Max Safir called me a few years ago and asked me to help found a Holocaust museum in Sweden – that felt like something I could do, so we started a dialogue with survivors and organization and we’re well on our way now (the museum will open next year). Then, when the 20-year anniversary of the Stockholm International Forum on the Holocaust took place, we thought that since these problems still exist, we have to do more.”
Löfven is referring to the 2020 conference of an organization initiated by then-Prime Minister Göran Persson as an international partnership to fight antisemitism and promote Holocaust remembrance, education and research. 21 years later, Löfven created the Malmö forum to continue to address the same problems. “I started with a deep personal conviction,” he stresses, “and the prime ministerial role gave me the possibility to do a lot more”.
Stefan Löfven Photo: Kristian Pohl/Regeringskansliet
Despite the awards and ceremonies, Sweden’s Jewish community still has many unresolved problems. With possible changes in the country’s school system, will it still be possible to have a Jewish school in the country? Will circumcision for religious purposes stay legal? And for how long will hate crimes and bullying of Jewish children and teachers continue in Swedish schools? Has enough been done in these areas? Is there more than just rhetoric?
“It’s true, we do still have problems. That’s why, in the short run, we’re investing more in security. Yes, it will be possible to have Jewish schools in Sweden even if independent religious schools which receive public funding will be prohibited in the future. The Jewish minority is one of our national minorities, which means that its language, culture and schools are protected. [Five minorities are protected by law in Sweden: Jews, the Roma, the Sami people – Sweden’s indigenous inhabitants – Swedish Finns and the residents of the Torne Valley.]. I don’t see any danger for the right to conduct circumcisions since there’s no majority against it. Sure, there are still problems and that’s why the Malmö forum was all about commitments, not about speeches. It was about two kinds of commitments: first, never to forget, which is why different countries undertook to have various memorial events and memorial sites, and second, the fight against antisemitism, which is also about commitments. In our case, this means doing more in schools, investing more in research so that we have a better understanding of the forces behind antisemitism and so on. We want to spread this to other countries, organizations and companies (such as social media companies for example). Everyone can make commitments. Individual schools can commit, more companies can make commitments, sport organizations can make commitments. That’s the way to address these issues". More than 40 countries and more than 20 international organizations, civil society organizations and private sector giants such as Facebook and Googel participated in the Malmö Forum and made pledges to combat antisemitism and promote Holocaust remembrance.
Löfven has served as prime minister since October 2014. Though born in Stockholm, he grew up in northern Sweden with a foster family, since his biological father died before he was born and his biological mother was unable to raise him. His foster parents were working-class Swedes – the father a lumberjack and factory worker; the mother, a homemaker. After completing his high school and a couple of years of military service in the Swedish Air Force, he became a welder. As a metal worker, he became a trade unionist and worked his way up the ranks until 2005 when he became the head of IF Metall, one of Sweden’s largest and most powerful blue-collar unions. In January 2012, Löfven, who had been active as a young man in the Social Democratic youth league, was elected head of the party at a point when the Social Democrats were in the opposition and suffered a leadership crisis. Löfven became Sweden's Prime-Minister after the 2014 general elections and won a second term four years later, despite the fact that the Social Democrats had their worse showing in over 100 years in those elections. The fact that country's four center-right parties would not cooperate with the populist right-wing Sweden Democrats at the time created a situation in which Löfven was able to form a coalition with the Green Party, bolstered by a left-wing party and a couple of center-right parties. This coalition, still in power, has suffered and still suffers from week support in the parliament and the Social Democrats have had to make painful compromises in order to stay in power. Löfven has often been described as a political survivor and an extremely skillful negotiator who has managed to keep his party afloat despite the tough political landscape.
Last week, during the party gathering in Gothenburg, Löfven’s successor, Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson, was elected. If all goes according to Löfven’s plan, Andersson will be chosen by the Swedish parliament to become prime minister until the 2022 elections. She'll be the first woman ever to hold the job. Her task now is to lead the Social Democratic party to victory. In her first speech as party leader, she chose to stress the core values of her electorate, away from the compromises made by her predecessor. “In the age of global crises, it is obvious to more and more people that the wind is blowing for us Social Democrats, for strong society, for equality,” she said, adding that after decades of privatization, market experiments, weakened worker’s rights and growing social gaps in the interest of private profits, it’s time for common solutions rather than market solutions. In another speech Andersson mentioned Löfven’s efforts to combat antisemitism and promote Holocaust remembrance, and vowed: “Stefan, we will all continue that work.” Löfven himself is confident that she will continue stepping in the path he laid. “This is part of our party’s ideology,” he says. “I’m convinced that my successor as party leader has no different understanding than I do (on these issues).”
Bilateral ties
When it comes to Sweden’s relations with Israel, the start of Löfven’s first term couldn’t have been worse. One of his government’s first steps was the recognition of a Palestinian state. The following year, 2015, in an interview on Swedish TV, then-Foreign Minister Margot Wallström linked that year's jihadist terror attacks in Paris to the Palestinians' plight under Israel's occupation. That comment, and others like it, were viewed in Jerusalem as pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli in Jerusalem, and led to the recall of ambassadors and freezing of bilateral relations. Indeed, for nearly three years, there were no meetings between the countries' official and Israel repeatedly rebuffed requests by Wallström and Löfven to make more efforts to improve ties. The situation improved slightly toward the end of 2017, but there were no one-on-one meetings between Löfven and Israel’s then-Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and no high-level contacts between the countries’ foreign ministries. But all that changed last month when Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde visited Israel and met with her Israeli counterpart, Yair Lapid. A few days earlier, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog made an online appearance at the Malmö forum.
The murder of the Israeli athletes at the '72 Munich Olympics, and the Israeli revenge campaign that followed, spawned many books and films. But in all of them, one figure remains anonymous: Ahmed Bouchikhi, accidentally murdered by the Mossad in the ‘Lillehammer affair.’ We set out on his trail
One morning in September 1994, shortly after the French musician Jalloul “Chico” Bouchikhi parted ways with the Gipsy Kings, the successful flamenco-pop group he founded, he got an unexpected phone call. On the line was a UNESCO representative who sounded distraught. The United Nation’s cultural organization was organizing a special concert to mark the first anniversary of the signing of the Oslo Accords, in the presence of Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat – with the participation of the Gipsy Kings, she said. But now, at the 11th hour and with 24,000 tickets sold, they had been informed that the band had missed the flight to Oslo. Would Bouchikhi agree to appear in their place with his new band, Chico & the Gypsies, and prevent a fiasco?
“I said yes. I arrived with my musicians, we informed the audience that the Gipsy Kings couldn’t make it, but that I was their founder. We played ‘Bamboleo’ and other of the band’s hits, and it was a big success,” Bouchikhi recalls. “At the end, Peres and Arafat came onstage and congratulated me. I shook hands with them. My brothers, who lived in Paris and had come for the concert, took pictures of the event.”
That appearance launched Bouchikhi, who is now 67, on a course he had never imagined for himself. He was appointed UNESCO Envoy for Peace in 1996, acting as a goodwill ambassador and promoting messages of tolerance and peace at his performances. But if today he looks back on his past, emotionally, almost in disbelief, as the “story of a special fate” – it’s not because the Gipsy Kings missed their flight and he filled in for them. The reason is that, unbeknownst to any of the others involved at the time – neither UNESCO, Peres or Arafat, nor those who were supposed to ensure their safety – fate or chance had placed the two leaders on a stage with a musician whose brother was mistakenly murdered by Israeli intelligence agents because they thought he was a Palestinian terrorist.
Israel's new ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman, is eliciting strong reactions in the country following an interview he gave to Swedish newspaper, in which he said that Israel has no ties to the right-wing populist Sweden Democrats party.
The ambassador's interview followed the official visit of Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde to Israel, which was the first such visit in ten years. It was seen by many as a new start for bilateral relations between Israel and Sweden after the frigid period that came with Sweden’s recognition of Palestinian statehood in 2014. Speaking to the Dagens Nyheter daily, Nevo Kulman, who took his post in August, said that Israel has no relations with the Sweden Democrats and has no intention of establishing such ties in the future. He does not mean to get involved in Sweden's democratic process, he said, "but this is a moral position that is about far-right parties with roots in Nazism."
He continued, "We don't have, and don't intend to establish, any contact with the Sweden Democrats. They can say that they support Israel, but you also have to look at what they don't support. We will also not have contact with openly Islamophobic parties. This also applies to other countries in Europe. ”The Sweden Democrats party was founded in the late 80's as a result of a series of mergers of political movements on Sweden's far-right, nationalist and neo-Nazi scene. Since then, it has become closer to the mainstream, referring to itself as a "nationalist and social-conservative" party. It entered the Swedish parliament in 2010, and is currently the third-largest political party in Sweden.
Anders Lindberg, left-leaning political editor-in-chief of the Aftonbladet daily wrote that Israel's clear spoken language about "far-right parties with roots in Nazism" should be seen as a "wake-up call" to his home country. He also claimed that the Israeli statement emphasized that the Sweden Democrats’ Nazi past and ideology should make it impossible for democratic parties to have any contact with them.
On the other hand, on the right, many claimed on social media that Nevo Kulman was meddling in Swedish politics. "I hardly think that an ‘apartheid state’ built on stolen land where the original inhabitants are treated as less-than-second-class citizens are in a position to lecture others on ‘xenophobia,’" one critic wrote on Twitter, "nor is what happens in Sweden any of your business." Another wrote, "Please avoid burning bridges at this point, you might change your mind after a year in an almost-dystopia of rampant crime, Arabic clan infiltration and imported antisemitism."
A week after the International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism left Malmö, local Jewish leaders have differing views about the battle and challenges ahead.
MALMÖ – The international focus may have moved on following last week’s International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism here, but community leaders here are under no illusions about the battle ahead. In the eyes of some, this southern Swedish city has become part of the problem rather than part of the solution in recent years, with numerous instances of harassment and antisemitic attacks. These problems were not ignored at the forum, though local Jewish activists know that a one-day conference featuring world leaders and Swedish dignitaries won’t bring change on the ground when it comes to hate crimes against the community.
Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, the man behind the forum, visited Malmö a day before the main event and met with local Jewish community leaders. One of them was Rabbi Moshe David Hacohen, who recounts how he told the premier that he really appreciated his efforts to bring the forum to the city. “It wasn’t an easy choice,” says Hacohen, who is originally from Tekoa, Israel. But he noted that, for him, the forum was “happening from the top down: delegates came from all over the world, but not much attention was paid to Malmö itself.”
Hacohen’s work, on the other hand, takes the opposite approach. Apart from being the city’s rabbi, he is also one of the founders of Amanah, a grassroots organization featuring members of Malmö’s Jewish community and the Malmö Muslim Network, which is represented by local imam Salahuddin Barakat. “Of course there’s a problem of antisemitism in Malmö – everybody acknowledges that,” Hacohen says. “Every time there’s an escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jewish children suffer from it at schools and we see the effect of it in the streets.” But Hacohen tries to approach the problem in a unique way. He talks about long-term change and doesn’t see the situation as a result of tensions between the Jewish and Muslim communities. “Morally, we should avoid generalizations and racism toward other groups,” he says. “We must also remember that antisemitism doesn’t come only from the Muslim community; there’s also an old, traditional, European antisemitism to be addressed.”
Imam Salahuddin Barakat and Rabbi Moshe David Hacohen
Hacohen and his Muslim counterparts believe in tackling this challenge in several ways. These include school programs combating racism; a digital project that simulates dealing with antisemitic situations; addressing Holocaust denial in schools; and monitoring social media that can potentially “poison the minds of 9- and 10-year-olds.” Hacohen doesn’t claim Amanah has solved the problem of antisemitism in Malmö – but says it’s a start at least. “During the last Gaza conflict [in May], there was increased tension in the city, as we’ve seen in the past, since there’s a large Palestinian community here,” he says. “There were demonstrations against Israel, and as usual some of the protesters started to shout antisemitic slogans. But this time, these people were removed by imams who left their comfort zone and protected their Jewish neighbors. “In the same way, we stood alongside our Muslim neighbors when supporters of a far-right Danish politician who was denied access to Sweden filmed themselves burning and kicking the Koran in the streets of Malmö,” he adds.
Skeptical voice
Not all Jewish activists voice such optimism. Ilan Sadé, for instance, is an Israeli-born lawyer, news site owner and Malmö-based politician who leads the right-wing Citizens’ Coalition party, which is yet to make into Sweden’s parliament but holds four seats at various city halls in southern Sweden. “I’m not against the forum taking place in Malmö,” he says, “but this might just be an attempt to improve Malmö’s image.” Sadé is skeptical when it comes to the ruling Social Democratic party’s efforts to combat antisemitism. “There’s a problematic connection between the Social Democrats and the immigrant population in neighborhoods like Rosengård,” he says, referring to a hardscrabble Malmö neighborhood known for its gang-related crime.
“The Social Democrats have very wide support there, and they don’t want to lose it; they need to keep the balance,” he charges. “And of course, there are also many people from Arab countries who are party members. There were incidents like the one when members of the party’s youth league were heard shouting slogans like ‘Crush Zionism’ at demonstrations. That’s at least borderline antisemitism – they don’t shout that against other countries.”
Ilan Sade. Photo: Tomas Fransson
According to Sadé, there was a new wave of hate when the latest conflict broke out in Gaza last May. “There’s a gray zone between hatred of Israel and antisemitism,” he says, adding that though the Social Democratic party and Malmö City Hall are at least trying to combat antisemitism, it still “felt uncomfortable to see cars driving around town shouting and waving Palestinian flags. These days, hate spreads very quickly on social media and we saw these scenes all over Europe.” Sadé believes the root of the problem is found in many places. He cites the so-called cellar mosques that, unlike established mainstream mosques, have imams who spread Islamist propaganda. He also highlights what he sees as a “chaotic situation” in local schools, and immigrant families who are inspired by Arab networks news. He alleges that there is a lack of determination to prevent, stop and prosecute hate crimes. “The police file on the attacks against the Chabad rabbi of Malmö is as thick as a Dostoevsky book,” Sadé says. “There are about 160 to 180 cases registered: anything from spitting on him to cursing and harassing him. This is absurd. In Sweden, a religious leader should be able to walk down the street. Priests can do it, imams can do it, so why not a rabbi? This should be prioritized, and it isn’t.”
When Sadé is asked what he would do differently, his solutions focus on more restrictive immigration policies, teaching Western values in Swedish schools, combating foreign Wahhabist and Salafist ideologies, which he says have spread among the immigrant populations, and preventing foreign funds from countries like Turkey or Qatar reaching local organizations. “If you bring so many uneducated people from the Middle East,what you get in the end is a new Middle East,” he says, echoing the thoughts of many far-right groups.
Those on the other side of the debate, like Hacohen, would admit that more work needs to be done. However, they would argue that leaders on the municipal level like Malmö Mayor Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh and, on the national level, Löfven are committed to the issue, as are opposition leaders in both the municipal and national arenas. Some of the steps currently being discussed and promoted are stepping up police work, changing prosecution policies for hate crimes, legislating against organized racism and more work in local schools. Compared to the past, the Swedish discourse on antisemitism, on all sides of the political spectrum, is clearer and unequivocal.
Prime Minister Löfven said last week that “even though antisemitism should belong to the past, we see it spreading in society even today. Hatred of Jews exists in our history, in extreme right-wing groups, in parts of the left and in Islamist environments.” He concluded by saying that “we all have a duty to stand up to antisemitism. An important part of this is remembering the Holocaust, which is becoming harder now that less and less survivors can tell their stories.” Löfven has stated on many occasions his commitment to the survivors, and to Jewish communities in Malmö and elsewhere. Whether this commitment turns into concrete steps and a real change in the lives of the city’s Jews remains the challenge now the circus has left town.
Heads of state from several European countries and a world-famous Israeli historian were the stars of the show at last week’s International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism in Malmö.
MALMÖ – A governmental pledege to establish a new Holocaust museum, a plan to criminalize organized racism, and vows by social media giants to increase funding to combat antisemitism on their platforms – these were among the main highlights that emerged out of last week's International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, which was held in Malmö, the third largest city in Sweden.
The Swedish government invited some 50 heads of state to the International Forum, but few sent their highest-ranking officials. Notable exceptions included the prime ministers of Albania, Estonia, Slovakia and Ukraine, and the presidents of Finland, Latvia, Romania and North Macedonia. Naturally, the host nation was represented at the highest levels, by Prime Minister Stefan Löfven, other senior ministers, and the country’s king and queen. Israel, meanwhile, was represented by Diaspora Affairs Minister Nachman Shai, while President Isaac Herzog made a virtual appearance. As he was entering the conference, Shai told the local media that “a new chapter of combating antisemitism is starting in Malmö today.”
Prime Minister Stefan Löfven at the Malmö International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, in Malmö on October 13, 2021. Photo: Ninni Andersson/Government offices of Sweden
Even though Sweden itself has witnessed numerous antisemitic incidents in recent years, the Swedish government has been recognized as a world leader in efforts to tackle the scourge globally. “Threats and hatred against Jews remain widespread in many societies and have unfortunately increased, not least through social media,” Swedish Education Minister Anna Ekström said in an interview with Haaretz. “We can and we must do more to combat antisemitism, counter Holocaust denial and distortion, and promote democratic values and respect for human rights,” she added.
Originally planned to coincide with the 20-year anniversary of the Stockholm International Forum, the coronavirus pandemic put the conference on hold for a year. The original forum in 2000 was initiated by then-Prime Minister Göran Persson, as part of his efforts to deal with young people’s lack of knowledge about the Holocaust and a rise in antisemitism. Internationally, Persson’s campaign led to the foundation of what is now known as the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), which is best known for its working definition of what antisemitism is.
Persson himself wasn’t present at last week’s conference, but the honorary chairman and senior academic adviser at the original forum, Israeli Prof. Yehuda Bauer, was. In a powerful speech, Bauer, now 95, told delegates: “We remember because this is an extreme case of a general human disease. This is not a Jewish illness, though the Jews are the obvious first victims. Antisemitism is a cancer in the body politic of the world’s societies.” The forum’s program was defined as “action-orientated,” as world leaders and representatives of private and civil society organizations were asked to present pledges and concrete programs to promote Holocaust remembrance and combat antisemitism.
Professor Yehuda Bauer at the Malmö Forum. Photo: Mikael Sjöberg/Government offices of Sweden
Sweden’s incumbent premier, Löfven, told the conference: “We’re not looking for another declaration, we’re looking for a way to translate the principles of these [Stockholm Forum and IHRA] documents into reality. It’s our duty to continue to tell the stories of Holocaust survivors when they are no longer among us; it’s our duty to do whatever necessary to counter the forces that threaten human dignity. It’s our duty to remember and react,” he said.
“I’ll never forget that when I was there, I learned from Prof. Bauer – one of the most forceful minds I’ve ever met – that the easiest thing to do when you’re a teacher dealing with an expression of antisemitism in the classroom is to pretend you didn’t hear it,” she relayed. “The next easiest thing is to simply tell the student to leave. None of this works. The strongest tool against antisemitism is for the teacher to have the time, the resources, the courage and the support of school leadership to interact with the young person. This takes time, it’s difficult and challenging.”
‘The guts to fight’
Several leading Jewish organizations were present at the conference, including the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League and B’nai B’rith. However, it was the World Jewish Congress, represented by President Ronald Lauder, which was particularly active. The night before the conference, it hosted an event in Malmö’s synagogue attended by Lauder, Löfven, Israeli minister Shai, and the leadership of Sweden’s and local Jewish communities. During the event Lauder said: “There is still so much to be done. I’m not naïve; I realize the hatred of Jews has been with us for 2,000 years and will never completely go away. But we can do everything in our power to keep this virus from spreading.”
Speaking to Haaretz, Lauder praised the Swedish initiative. “Prime Minister Löfven is superb,” he said. “This man is committed to fighting antisemitism. He knows how important it is for his country.” When asked if he believes there is a future for Jews in countries like Sweden and, specifically, cities like Malmö that have become breeding grounds for antisemitism, Lauder said: “There’s a great future [for Jews] in Sweden. It may take time in Malmö, but Stockholm is growing and I believe that we as Jews don’t give up, we fight back. We in the World Jewish Congress have the guts to fight. Other international Jewish organizations don’t have the same guts we do, but we’re out there fighting.”
Perhaps the best perspective to understand the Malmö forum was offered by Bauer. “For the Nazis, the Jews were the paramount enemy,” he told delegates in his speech. “This makes the Holocaust an unprecedented event. A genocide for ideological, anti-pragmatic reasons such as the Holocaust can be repeated, not only with Jews as victims but with anyone by anyone. The Holocaust becomes a universal issue precisely because it is specific. Because it happened to a specific people, for a specific reason, it could happen to others – and so it becomes a universal threat.”
רצח הספורטאים הישראלים באולימפיאדת מינכן, שבקרוב ימלאו לו 50 שנה, והמבצע הישראלי שנערך בעקבותיו, "זעם האל", הניבו אינספור ספרים וסרטים, עד לתקופה האחרונה ממש. גם מי שלא מרבה בקריאת ספרי ריגול ודאי מכיר, לכל הפחות, את הרקע לפרשה ואת המחדל הקולוסלי של "המוסד" בעיירה לילהאמר שבנורבגיה. ספרים וסרטים רבים תיארו את השתלשלות האירועים ועסקו במשמעויותיו הפוליטיות, אחרים עסקו בסיבות שהובילו אליו או בדמויות שנשלחו למשימת החיסול, שחלקן נתפסו, נשפטו, נכלאו בנורבגיה, ובעקבות מאמצי ישראל יצאו מהכלא אחרי זמן לא רב. אבל בכל אלו נשארה דמות אחת כמעט אנונימית לגמרי: אחמד בושיקי, הקרבן החף-מפשע של מסע החיסולים הישראלי. הוא ידוע רק כ"המלצר המרוקאי שנרצח בטעות". מי הוא היה? מה הוא עשה בנורבגיה? איך הוא קשור למוזיקה צוענית? ומה הוא השאיר אחריו?
בוקר אחד של ספטמבר בשנת 1994, זמן קצר לאחר שהמוזיקאי צ'יקו בושיקי נפרד מהלהקה המצליחה שהקים, "ג'יפסי קינגס", הוא קיבל שיחת טלפון לא צפויה. על הקו היתה נציגה של אונסק"ו והיא נשמעה בהולה: הארגון מקיים קונצרט מיוחד לציון יום השנה להסכם אוסלו בנוכחות שמעון פרס ויאסר ערפאת ובהשתתפות "הג'יפסי קינגס". אלא שעכשיו, בדקה ה-90, ולאחר ש-24,000 כרטיסים נמכרו, נודע שהלהקה החמיצה את הטיסה לאוסלו, האם בושיקי יסכים להופיע במקומה עם להקתו החדשה, "צ'יקו והג'יפסיז", וימנע פיאסקו? "אמרתי כן. באתי עם המוזיקאים שלי, הודענו לקהל ש'הג'יפסי קינגס' לא יכלו לבוא לבסוף אבל אני המייסד שלהם, ניגנו את 'במבולאו' ולהיטים אחרים של הלהקה, וזו היתה הצלחה גדולה", הוא נזכר. "בסוף ההופעה פרס וערפאת עלו לבמה ובירכו אותי. לחצתי להם את הידיים, והאחים שלי שחיים בפריז והגיעו גם הם להופעה צילמו את המעמד".
האירוע ההוא פתח לפני בושיקי מסלול שלא חשב עליו מעולם: הוא מונה לשגריר מיוחד לשלום מטעם אונסק"ו וקידם מסר של סובלנות ושלום בהופעותיו. אבל אם גם היום הוא מגדיר אותו בהתרגשות, כמעט באי אמון, כ"סיפור של גורל מיוחד", זה לא משום ש"ג'יפסי קינגס" החמיצו את הטיסה והוא הוזעק במקומם. הסיבה היא שללא ידיעתו של איש מהמעורבים, לא של אנשי אונסק"ו, לא של פרס וערפאת ולא של מי שהיה אמור לדאוג לשלומם, הגורל או המקריות הציבו את שני המנהיגים על במה אחת עם מוזיקאי שהוא אחיו של האיש שנרצח בידי שירותי הביון הישראליים משום שאלו טעו לחשוב שהוא פעיל בארגון טרור פלסטיני.
The mayor of Malmö says her city is working hard with the Jewish community to combat antisemitism, and welcomes the arrival this week of the International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism
The Malmö International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism takes place in southern Sweden this Wednesday, 21 years after the original Stockholm International Forum which led to the foundation of what is now known as the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). Like that first forum, this one too, aims to bring the issues of Holocaust remembrance and antisemitism to the world’s attention. This time, world leaders and representatives of private and civil society organizations will engage in an “action-oriented” program, after delegations were invited to present pledges of “concrete steps forward in the work on Holocaust remembrance and the fight against antisemitism.”
The Swedes’ decision to host the forum in Malmö has raised a few eyebrows. It is true that the city has a unique history when it comes to the Holocaust. This is where Danish Jews arrived after crossing the Öresund strait when they were fleeing the Nazis in 1943. This is also where the Swedish Red Cross’ legendary “White Buses” arrived in 1945, carrying survivors of the Nazi concentration camps. However, it is also true that in the eyes of many in recent years, Malmö has become a symbol of a new kind of Swedish antisemitism. Earlier this year, a report commissioned by the municipality described Malmö schools as an unsafe environment for Jewish students, who have to contend with verbal and physical attacks while teachers prefer to avoid conflict with the aggressors. It has also been reported in the Swedish media that Holocaust survivors are no longer invited to tell their stories in certain schools because Muslim students treat them disrespectfully.
But it is not only the schools. In 2009, Molotov cocktails were thrown at the local Jewish funeral home. There have also been numerous physical and verbal attacks against Jews in the city over the past decade, while several pro-Palestinian demonstrations were documented as featuring heavily antisemitic slogans, signs and rhetoric. It has also been reported that Jewish families have left Malmö because they no longer felt safe there.
Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh, 47, has been the city’s mayor since 2013. She’s a member of the Social Democratic Party, which has been in power locally since the mid-1990s, and is the first woman to hold the most powerful post in Sweden’s third largest city. Her name has been mentioned as a potential candidate for higher office at the national level, too, though she recently told the local press that she still has work to do in Malmö. In recent years, her main challenges have been unemployment, segregation and organized crime.
“Antisemitism can be found everywhere and Malmö isn’t vaccinated against it,” says Stjernfeldt Jammeh in an interview, “but it’s a problem we’re addressing. We talk about it more today and, when you talk about it, it seems like it’s a bigger problem than it does if you don’t talk about it. But for me, [the image] is not important. The only thing that’s important is that we attack the problem and create change.” This attitude contrasts with that of Stjernfeldt Jammeh’s predecessor. In 2010, then-Mayor Ilmar Reepalu was quoted as telling a local daily: “We accept neither Zionism nor antisemitism. They are extremes that put themselves above other groups, and believe they have a lower value.” Reepalu also criticized Malmö’s Jewish community for supporting Israel. This was during a period of violent pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Malmö, the most famous being during a tennis match between Sweden and Israel when thousands of protesters clashed with the police.
Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh
While Stjernfeldt Jammeh says that antisemitism can be found everywhere, citing cities such as Paris, Copenhagen and Gothenburg, she also notes that Malmö has its own unique circumstances. “Malmö is a small and dense city with a population that comes from all over the world, living in a very small area,” she says. “The problem is more visible than in other places, and we face it in many different ways.” Asked to detail what the city has done to confront the problem in the eight years she has been in charge, she says she has been “working to combat antisemitism and racism since the day I was elected by working with our citizens in various different set-ups. We’ve been working with the Jewish community in several ways to map the problem, to create an understanding of the problem and, today, we have a long-term commitment. We’re investing more than 2 million Euros ($2.3 million) over four years".
“This is not just a small project this year or next year: it’s a commitment to work in the long-term to create better conditions for the [Jewish] congregation, to enhance security and create knowledge,” Stjernfeldt Jammeh adds. “We’re also working within our school system, mapping the problem there too, and creating different ways to prevent prejudice.”
‘Important discussions’
Ann Katina, chairwoman of Malmö’s Jewish community, and Fredrik Sieradzki, manager of the Jewish Communities' Learning Center that is about to be opened, say they enjoy a good relationship with the mayor and that she’s “doing a lot in this area,” especially in the past couple of years. According to both, there were intensive meetings during 2019 that led to the major 2-million-Euro investment and a long-term cooperation agreement between the community and the municipality, which, among other things, helps with the struggle against antisemitism.
Fredrik Sieradzki, Photo: Josefin Widell Hultgren
The cooperation with the Jewish community isn’t the only strategy Stjernfeldt Jammeh is using. There are other partners too. “We’re working with the Swedish Committee Against Antisemitism to arrange trips to the concentration camps, which create important discussions leading to change and awareness,” the mayor says. “We’ve also being working for several years with our local soccer club, because it reaches a lot of our youth outside the schools and can help with the work against racism and antisemitism. We also support interreligious cooperation to create dialogue and mutual understanding. We work hard, we’re certainly not done this year or next year as it’s a long-term challenge to create trust and mutual understanding.”
The recent flare-up between Israel and Hamas in Gaza once again reignited tensions in the city’s schools, with Jewish children facing attacks both in the classroom and online. Stjernfeldt Jammeh says the municipality is working to combat antisemitism in schools. “We mainly support teachers and help them to handle these kinds of issues and handle discussions in the schools that are really infected.” She mentions cooperation with the Jewish community again and talks about the work of Miriam Katzin, a special coordinator who the city appointed to work on the problem of antisemitism in Malmö’s schools. She also notes the Jewish community learning centre that is opening soon and will be working with local schools.
“We’re launching the Jewish Learning Center, which aims to broaden education about Jewish civilization, as well as antisemitism and the Holocaust, mainly among schoolchildren and youngsters,” confirms Katina. “Another purpose of the cooperation is strengthening Jewish identity and increasing the opportunity for the inhabitants of Malmö to engage with Jewish culture. We can see that Jewish culture is getting more attention.”
Ann Katina, Foto: Daniel Nilsson
‘Huge issue’
Helena Nanne is deputy chairman of the center-right Moderate Party in City Hall, and is somewhat skeptical regarding the steps the municipality has taken. “It’s obvious we have a huge issue with antisemitism and it’s affecting people’s everyday lives in Malmö,” she says. “For families with children at school, the situation with antisemitism is a major issue, and we hear stories of families who choose to move because they don’t feel safe and can’t be sure the school will be safe for their children. So, some move to Stockholm or other places where they feel safer. We don’t have statistics, but parents are telling us that they’re moving.”
She continues: “The [municipality-commissioned] report about the schools was a good thing to do. But as far as we can see, it’s only a report. We haven’t seen any action. We hear stories about children being beaten up at school because they’re Jewish. We have a serious problem with school discipline, and this is an extreme example of it. We want to see a zero-tolerance policy toward these issues, but we don’t – and it’s worse for the children who come from a Jewish background.”
Helena Nanne
Sieradzki says antisemitism was always around in Sweden, but the profile of the offender has changed over the years. In the 1950s and ’60s it was everyday Swedes, although at that time it was a relatively fringe occurrence compared to the last 15 to 20 years. Then came the neo-Nazis and, when it comes to Malmö today, Sieradzki says the antisemitic offenders are “predominantly young people with roots in the Middle East, who are responsible mainly for verbal assaults, threats and attacks via social media.”
“It’s important to stress that we’re not talking about everybody from that background,” Sieradzki adds. “We can see how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict casts a shadow in Malmö, and that’s why we’ve been working together with Muslim youth – especially through the organization Amanah, formed by our rabbi, Moshe David HaCohen, and imam Salahuddin Barakat, to create trust and understanding between Muslims and Jews. Salahuddin Barakat has the support of a number of mosques in Malmö for his work, and particularly in schools.
“We’ve been very clear about the situation since 2010, when we started to speak to the Swedish media about the problems,” Sieradzki says. “We were very clear then – as we are now – that we’re talking about some, not all Muslims or Arabs.” When asked about this sensitive issue, Stjernfeldt Jammeh adds another perspective. “It’s not that sensitive,” she responds. “It’s important to see that lots of Muslim leaders, imams and different community leaders condemn antisemitism and take part in events in memory of the Holocaust. For several years now, Muslim leaders in Malmö have been standing side by side with Jewish leaders. This is important. We have a problem with extremism, radicalism and violence, and it’s important to know that lots of Muslim leaders take a stand against this and against antisemitism. It’s also important to know that Muslims in Malmö suffer from racism and Islamophobia, and that members of the Jewish community stand side by side with them.”
Of course, like elsewhere, antisemitism in Malmö comes from many directions. Sweden has several extremist and neo-Nazi groups that have threatened members of the Jewish community in recent years, while antisemitic statements have also been made on the left – including by members of Stjernfeldt Jammeh’s own party. Apart from her predecessor’s controversial legacy, leaders of the Social Democrats’ local youth wing have been accused of antisemitic statements and actions, as were various other party members. They were strongly condemned by Stjernfeldt Jammeh and by national party leader and prime minister, Stefan Löfven. “This city is run by a party that has had a problem with antisemitism in its own organization,” charges Nanne. “It’s hard to take commitments they make seriously.”
Stjernfeldt Jammeh acknowledges that her party is not antisemitism-free – “We’re not vaccinated against it, and no other party is either” – but says that "It's important to always react when you see antisemitism" and notes that every elected representative of her party is required to sit with the Swedish Committee Against Antisemitism and be educated about the problem.
Opportunity to share experiences
This week’s Holocaust forum will put the city in the spotlight regarding the fight against antisemitism, and Stjernfeldt Jammeh says she welcomes the attention. “One of our main goals today is to work hard to create an open, safe and inclusive city for all our citizens. We’re a young and very globally connected city; we have citizens who come from 180 different countries and we live very closely together. We’re addressing these issues; we’re working hard and we have high ambitions when it comes to safety and inclusiveness. Since we’re aware of the problems of racism and antisemitism, it’s important for us to address them on different levels. So, when our prime minister announced that he was inviting world leaders to address these exact issues, for me this seemed like an opportunity to share our experiences and to take part in other countries’ experiences. For example, the perspective of placing a focus on the internet and online hate crimes needs to be addressed on a global level. The problems we’re facing are everywhere. We have things to learn, but we also have things to show others.”
When speaking to politicians and social leaders in the city, it’s obvious that no one thinks a one-day conference of world leaders will change things on the ground when it comes to hate crimes or antisemitic harassment. It is clear, however, that at this point, when it comes to issues like police efforts, prosecution policies, legislation against neo-Nazi groups and the spreading of online antisemitic hate, politicians on the left and right – as well as Jewish leaders – realize there is a limit to the impact of local policies and initiatives. Stjernfeldt Jammeh talks about national and international cooperation; Nanne suggests more national resources are needed for police work and even a national decision to create local police units for everyday crime such as antisemitic harassment.
When it comes to Jews living in Malmö who have suffered and are suffering antisemitism, it’s apparent that steps have to be taken on many levels. Katina thinks Malmö is an excellent venue for the international forum. “Even if it creates a nuisance in terms of traffic and mobility in Malmö, this brings the issue of antisemitism and Holocaust remembrance to the front and center,” she says. “Hopefully it will provide energy and inspiration to different initiatives, both on the political and grassroots level.”
After the foreign ministers of Israel and Sweden spoke for the first time in seven years this week, diplomats in Stockholm tell Haaretz what’s prompted the relaunching of relations with the new government in Jerusalem
STOCKHOLM – In what could be labeled a new start for bilateral relations between the two countries, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid tweeted Monday that he had spoken to his Swedish counterpart Ann Linde, calling it the first conversation in seven years between the respective foreign ministers. According to Lapid, the conversation “symbolizes the relaunching of relations at this level.” He wrote that he appreciated Linde’s statement regarding her country’s “strong and solid commitment to the security of Israel,” and mentioned that in the course of the conversation, Linde also recognized Israel as the homeland of the Jewish people. Lapid added that they discussed Israel’s participation at next month’s Malmö International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, and that he is looking forward to “increased cooperation with Sweden on bilateral and multilateral issues.”
Robert Rydberg, Sweden’s deputy minister for foreign affairs, says the timing of the conversation is connected to both sides realizing that the time has come to move forward in a positive direction. “We have strong common interests – there are many issues and aspects that join Sweden and Israel, and we need to cooperate,” he says. “This doesn’t in any way prevent us from having an open discussion about issues we might have different positions on.” Asked whether the move has anything to do with the recently formed government in Jerusalem, Rydberg responds that “sometimes new people in office can help move beyond tensions of the past. This hasn’t been an issue of people or personalities. Nevertheless, people have the opportunity to try to resolve problems, and I think that both our ministers saw that this was an opportunity.”
Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde Credit: REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
Outlining what the foreign ministers discussed, Rydberg says there was also a personal element to the conversation. “They talked about bilateral cooperation and cooperation between the European Union and Israel; they discussed the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue; the upcoming Malmö conference and the struggle against antisemitism. Our foreign minister spoke about her long history and contacts with Israel, and her many Israeli friends. Minister Lapid mentioned – and I must say this was quite emotional – the fact that [the Swedish special envoy in Budapest during World War II] Raoul Wallenberg saved the life of his father [Tommy Lapid]. So that’s a very special connection from his point of view. “Minister Linde mentioned her commitment to the two-state solution and she mentioned Israel being the historic homeland of the Jewish people,” he adds. “She also spoke about issues in which Sweden continues to criticize Israeli policy, including the continued construction of settlements” in the occupied West Bank.
Sweden has been a vocal Western supporter for the formation of a Palestinian state, even though the peace process has been dormant for years, and the Swedish deputy foreign minister stresses his country’s continued commitment to a two-state solution. “We very much hope that one day we will see two peaceful states, Israel and Palestine, living together beside each other in peace and security. That’s our dream and our hope,” he says. While Rydberg says no concrete high-level meetings between the countries’ foreign or prime ministers are planned at this stage, he is looking forward to physical meetings ultimately taking place between the leaders.
Highs and lows
Historically, Israel had excellent relations in its early years with Sweden and other Scandinavian countries. These relations were built on the countries’ left-wing movements that were in power at the time, as well as the connections between their respective professional unions and cooperatives. Good relations were in both sides’ interests in the 1950s and ’60s. Although Sweden had maintained its policy of neutrality during World War II, there were also contradictions within its wartime actions: it supplied Nazi Germany with iron ore for its military, yet also rescued many Jewish refugees. As a result, it was keen to demonstrate its commitment to the newly founded Jewish state. Israel, meanwhile, was looking for allies, especially unaligned allies, during the first years of the Cold War.
Over time, various political developments, both foreign and domestic, caused relations to grow colder. Diplomatic relations reached their nadir in the last decade after a newly formed Swedish government – Prime Minister Stefan Löfven’s first – recognized the Palestinian state in 2014. The following year, in an interview on Swedish TV, then-Foreign Minister Margot Wallström linked the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to that year’s jihadist terror attacks in Paris. That comment, and others, were seen as pro-Palestinian and anti-Israeli in Jerusalem, and led to ambassadors briefly being recalled and relations being frozen between the countries. For nearly three years, there were no official meetings between the countries and Israel repeatedly rebuffed requests by Wallström and Löfven to improve ties.
Relations warmed slightly toward the end of 2017, when two senior Swedish officials came to Israel: then-Parliament Speaker Urban Ahlin and Linde, who was serving as commerce minister at the time. When Löfven visited Israel during the International Holocaust Forum at the start of 2020, it was the first time a Swedish prime minister had made an official visit to Jerusalem since Göran Persson 21 years earlier. However, there were no one-on-one meetings between Löfven and Israel’s then-prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and no high-level conversations between the countries’ foreign ministers. That all changed Monday with the Lapid-Linde phone call.
Several factors could be driving the renewal of relations. The new Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Lapid, may be eager to show that it is mending damaged diplomatic relations from the Netanyahu era. And in Sweden, Löfven has announced that he won’t be seeking reelection next year, and his government – widely perceived as one of Sweden’s weakest in modern times – could do with an international achievement. It’s holding the Malmö forum on Holocaust remembrance and combating antisemitism in a few weeks, and a formal Israeli embrace of the forum and Sweden’s potential 2022 presidency of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance could be one such achievement.
In Stockholm, meanwhile, the new Israeli ambassador, Ziv Nevo Kulman, is said to be making a positive impression on Swedish officials. Nevo Kulman, whose previous role was head of cultural diplomacy at the Foreign Ministry, released a video on social media in which he talked about the importance of “cultural, scientific and educational cooperation” between Sweden and Israel – as well as mentioning being a member of the Israeli ABBA fan club as a teenager. “I’m happy about the opening of a new page in Israel-Sweden relations,” Nevo Kulman tells Haaretz. “This will allow us to focus on a long list of issues and promote the relations between the two countries.”
Rydberg agrees that, ultimately, the two countries have much in common. “We’re two democratic, economically successful, relatively small countries that dedicate much of their budgets to innovation and research, and share values of individual freedom, gender equality and equal rights irrespective of sexual identity, and many other issues,” he says. “I believe that in the economic, cultural and scientific area, we can do much more together. At the same time, we should, of course, develop our dialogue on political affairs – both related to the Middle East and the situation in Europe and the international scene.”
A policy downplaying lockdowns and mask-wearing may have buoyed infection rates and deaths, but Swedes disagree on how the long term will look. How the world we knew has changed – the first in a series.
STOCKHOLM – Håkan Frändén, 61, lives in Stockholm and normally works as a tour guide, but these aren’t ordinary times and tourists have been a very rare commodity in Sweden since the coronavirus broke out a year ago.
“Of course, the pandemic affected my professional life when the world closed down and the high tourist season ended before it even began,” he says. “In 2020 we had zero tourists and my wife, who’s a tourist guide too, and I lost all our income.”
But Frändén and his wife didn’t give up. She took a course and is now working as a personal trainer and yoga instructor, while Håkan got a part-time job via the national employment agency delivering groceries – plus he receives unemployment benefits for the days he doesn’t work.
.Malmö, 2021. Photo: Maria Eklind
"It’s true this has been a terrible year when it comes to the victims of the pandemic, but personally I had a good year,” he says. “We bought bicycles and made them our main means of transportation, we rediscovered our city – many times with our children and grandchildren – and we had more time for ourselves and our family.”
In the past year, few countries have attracted attention like Sweden. The fact that it didn’t impose lockdowns, didn’t force quarantines, didn’t close schools and didn’t require masks made it the subject of thousands of news reports and commentaries in the world media. Some called Sweden “the world’s control group,” others said it was carrying out “an experiment on people.”
As far as we know, COVID-19 reached Sweden in January 2020, carried by a passenger from Wuhan, China. Still, there’s a suspicion that already the month before people were infected in Sweden, without being traced due to a lack of testing.
Community transmission started in March, after a month earlier many infected people landed on flights from northern Italy, Iran and other countries. Already during the first stage of the pandemic the Swedish authorities were criticized for not assessing the danger and preparing accordingly.
On March 11, the day the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic, the first coronavirus patient died in Stockholm. April saw a significant wave of illness, and by mid-June dozens of infected people were dying every day in Sweden.
Heavy burden on health care
The country’s health care system withstood the heavy burden and didn’t collapse thanks to the great efforts of the medical staff, as well as budgetary and logistics efforts by the government and local authorities. But in nursing homes for the elderly the situation was completely different. A government committee has determined that Sweden failed to protect this population, citing neglect and poor management by the current government and its predecessors.
In the first wave, the Swedish strategy for halting the infection was unique. The authorities simply asked people who developed symptoms and people in risk groups to show responsibility and stay home. Also, everyone was asked to work from home if possible and forgo unnecessary travel.
Instead of the thorough system of testing, tracing and quarantining established in many countries, the Swedes did coronavirus testing during the first stage only in hospitals and in care for the elderly.
Anders Tegnell, the chief epidemiologist and the person most identified with Sweden’s management of the virus, explained this policy in April in an interview with Haaretz. He said that Sweden had limited testing capacity and that regardless of the test results, the recommendation would be to stay home. The Swedish policy was based on a high level of public trust in the authorities and long-term thinking, he added.
Hagaparkern, north of Stockholm, 2021. Photo: Guillume Baviere
Despite the reliance on public trust, the government and the local authorities, the Swedes took a number of restrictive steps due to the virus. They switched over to online learning at universities and high schools, limited public gatherings to 50 people, prohibited visits to hospitals and nursing homes, and imposed restrictions on serving food in bars and restaurants.
'The long-term social consequences will probably turn out greater in countries that seemed to be succeeding at the beginning'
During the summer the pandemic waned in Sweden and the hospitals’ coronavirus wards emptied out. But this was temporary; in November a more deadly wave began. Once again there were dozens of deaths every day and the hospitals were overburdened. So the authorities tightened the restrictions: They limited gatherings to eight people, banned the sale of alcohol after 8 P.M. and closed movie theaters, museums and libraries.
Still, the overall strategy didn’t change. The country’s leaders continued to rely on public trust and eschewed a general lockdown; they left the schools, restaurants and malls open. Stores and other businesses remained open, but with restrictions on the number of people allowed inside. Also, there was no requirement to wear a mask; Swedes were recommended to wear one only on public transportation at peak hours.
Around the world, people had the impression that while many countries were isolating and suffering a harsh economic blow, in Sweden it was business as usual. But the reality was different. “At first I thought we’d work from home for a month and then return to the office,” says Erik Numan, a 56-year-old art director from Stockholm. “By now, 10 months later, I’ve been in the office for only one day.”
'Even though I work in many fields, everything disappeared and I still can’t plan anything even a year later'
A shopping mall in Stockholm, December 2020. Photo: TT News Agency via Reuters
Numan says he has stopped exercising at a gym, doesn’t visit his parents and rarely meets with friends. Although he says he isn’t very worried about the virus personally, he feels solidarity with others who are likely to become infected and is concerned about the overburdened health care system.
“Nobody checks on me and the police won’t arrest me if I don’t observe the recommendations,” he says. “But I think most Swedes do what’s necessary when there’s a crisis.”
Numan’s 16-year-old daughter contracted the virus, developed mild symptoms and was in quarantine for two weeks. “When she meets girlfriends now they hug as usual, at a time when we adults have completely stopped shaking hands,” Numan says.
Like the Frändéns, Linnéa Sallay, a 60-year-old singer and violinist who lives in Stockholm, saw her professional life racked by the virus. “All the jobs disappeared overnight in mid-March,” she says. “Even though I work in many fields, perform in concerts, guide tours and produce events, everything disappeared and I still can’t plan anything even a year later.”
Sallay notes, however, that the past year has also provided a welcome time-out. She's surviving financially thanks to her savings, she has launched a YouTube channel and is developing her digital skills. She has also spent a lot of time with her family and friends, even if not at restaurants and cafes. And she’s now rehearsing and preparing for digital concerts.
Vaxholm, Sweden, summer of 2020. Photo: Bengt Nyman
Entering the crisis with disadvantages
Sweden has several disadvantages regarding COVID-19. Twenty percent of the population is over 65, it’s cold, its borders are open to other countries, its population is very diverse and it’s not used to emergency situations. But it also had advantages: a universal, quality health care system, stable and well-financed government services, and many single-person households.
Considering its starting conditions a year ago, it’s hard to estimate the real effect of the Swedish policy on illness rates and mortality. Compared to its Nordic neighbors – Finland, Denmark and Norway – Sweden’s mortality has been very high. The country of 10 million people has suffered about 12,000 deaths, with this figure per million people high at 1,444. In Denmark, Finland and Norway the number is 363, 121 and 104, respectively.
It’s not a competition and there’s no point saying who the winner is. It’s far too early and too dangerous to compare week-by-week mortality rates
Swedish Health Minister Lena Hallengren
Swedish Health Minister Lena Hallengren at a press conference in Stockholm in November 2020. Photo: Henrik Montgomery / TT News Agency via Reuters
But compared to many other European countries, including those that imposed lockdowns, closed schools and halted the economy, the mortality rate is modest. In Britain, Spain and Italy, for example, the number of deaths from COVID-19 per million inhabitants is 1,591, 1,254 and 1,473, respectively.
Some experts believe that the shunning of lockdowns has brought Sweden better results in metrics that have yet to be measured such as rates for depression, excessive weight gain, addiction, violence and illnesses from diabetes to heart attacks and strokes. In Sweden you could also hear the claim that the country’s high mortality rate in 2020 stemmed from the low mortality rates from the flu in 2019.
Fiasco at the nursing homes
Swedish Health Minister Lena Hallengren told Haaretz in September that it was too early to judge the Swedish policy because this was a marathon, not a sprint.
“It’s not a competition and there’s no point saying who the winner is,” she said. “It’s far too early and too dangerous to compare week-by-week mortality rates. Different countries were hit differently; they have different structures and relations with their authorities, they test in different ways and have different kinds of data and information. In the long run, we all need well-functioning societies. We should learn what there is to learn from others, point fewer fingers and try to keep up with long-term recommendations.”
Uppsala, Sweden, last month. Photo: Guillaume Baviere
But there’s considerable evidence of failures in Sweden’s handling of the pandemic. The Swedish media has reported on cases where nursing home residents did not see a doctor and were not evacuated to hospitals despite their serious condition. The nursing home staffs were unequipped and not trained at all to deal with a pandemic.
The Public Health Agency of Sweden has been harshly criticized too. Critics say that during the pandemic’s early days, the agency was complacent and didn’t assess the danger correctly. Later, the prime minister himself, Stefan Löfven, said the agency had downplayed the second wave. At various stages, key people in academia and the medical system demanded that the agency make more stringent recommendations to curb the spread of the virus.
Regarding vaccines in Sweden, signs also attest to delays and complications, though here the shortcoming is mainly on the European level. Like many countries, Sweden has bought vaccines as part of an EU transaction, but the supply has been slow, one reason being a hitch in the manufacture and supply of AstraZeneca’s vaccine.
As of now, Sweden has vaccinated 256,978 people with the first dose and 28,279 with the second. That means 3.13 percent of the population over 18 has received one dose and only 0.34 percent two.
Although Swedish politicians in general have backed the government over the past year, other voices have been heard in recent weeks. “We have to respond differently now,” Ebba Busch, the leader of the opposition Christian Democratic Party, told the daily Aftonbladet. “If the government lacks the courage to lead, it should resign.” Nonetheless, the ruling Social Democratic Party is leading in the polls and received 28.5 percent support in a survey last month, a 2-point rise over November.
'I hope we’ll appreciate each other more when all this is over, and I hope we’ll go back to meeting up again. The hell with Zoom'
A nurse vaccinating a nursing home resident in Mjölby, Sweden, in December 2020.Photo: Stefan Jerrevang / TT News Agency via Reuters
“I think we’ve dealt pretty well with the pandemic,” says Frändén, the tour guide. “I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. But there have been failures too, mainly the spreading of the virus in old age homes. In recent decades there has been unrestrained privatization in our care system, and that’s one reason for the negligence in preparing and training staff.”
Frändén says the virus spread within another marginalized group too. “In 2014 and 2015 Sweden was one of the countries in Europe that opened its doors to the most refugees,” he says.
“As a result, many refugees settled in Stockholm’s suburbs and we saw social phenomena that we didn’t have before – crowded living conditions in large families, large family gatherings including elderly people, and less access to the authorities’ information. Our authorities failed here, and that may be an explanation for the differences in the virus’ spread between Sweden and Denmark, Norway and Finland, which hardly took in any refugees.”
‘Every country has its own conditions’
Sallay, the singer and violinist, also criticizes the authorities’ handling of the pandemic, especially the economic aspect, so she and a colleague launched a protest by the self-employed.
“We, the small independent workers who don’t have employees, have been discriminated against,” she says, noting that large companies in Sweden furloughed employees and received government funding for expenses, while small businesses are only now beginning to receive help.
And indeed, in an interview with TheMarker in June, Swedish Finance Minister Magdalena Andersson said the national priority is to help salaried workers and large companies. During the crisis the Swedish government has invested large sums to buoy employment while providing payments to furloughed workers, compensation and guarantees, while strengthening companies’ liquidity and providing professional training and retraining for the unemployed.
“I think it’s too early to know whether we chose the right path,” says Numan, the art director. “Every country has its own conditions, and the long-term social consequences will probably turn out greater in countries that seemed to be succeeding at the beginning.”
As he puts it, “I hope we’ll appreciate each other more when all this is over, and I hope we’ll go back to meeting up again. The hell with Zoom.”
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