More than physical violence, antisemitism against European Jews now reveals itself through incidents such as school bullying and ostracism at the workplace. Israeli expat communities on the continent could become a bridge between Israeli and European societies.
STOCKHOLM – The rioting that followed the soccer match between Maccabi Tel Aviv and the Dutch team Ajax in Amsterdam at the beginning of the month engendered mixed reactions in Israel. Initially, there was shock over its blatant antisemitic character and lamentations over "the Islamization of Europe." That was followed by claims that the violence was prompted by the conduct of Maccabi Tel Aviv fans and that comparisons to Kristallnacht trivialized the Holocaust.
Such arguments merit discussion, but, to delve more deeply, it's worth considering the European perspective in addition to the Israeli one. First of all, when Maccabi Tel Aviv fans faced physical violence, they were facing a very extreme expression of anti-Israelism and antisemitism. However, for Jews who live in Europe, it's just one manifestation of antisemitism, albeit perhaps the most frightening one, but certainly not the most common.
Other manifestations are less photogenic, but they impose a heavy burden on the lives of European Jews: pestering at school, aggressive campaigns on social media, cultural and academic boycotts, hurtful comments, and tension and ostracism in the workplace. Physical violence is rather rare.
Secondly, antisemitism is much more than an individual case of racism. In European public discourse, there is a nascent recognition that it's a kind of conspiracy theory. Those falling into its net and spreading it might be people who have never met a Jew, and perceive themselves as liberals who "have nothing against the Jewish people." They don't even need to use the word "Jewish." The conflict in the Middle East and the so-called gray area between what is antisemitic and what is anti-Israel has made it possible to use code words such as "globalists", references to George Soros – and, of course, Zionists.
It's not a new phenomenon, but it involves a world of new concepts. Instead of old-style antisemitism in which the Jews were considered Christ's killers, or more modern antisemitism accusing the Jews of controlling the world through the banking system, revolutionary movements and secret societies, there are contemporary allegations that prove confusing even to those who don't hold clearly racist views. The most popular ones claim Jews spread COVID-19 to profit from vaccines, are behind the war in Ukraine, and are breaking up nation-states. In addition, the well-known conspiracies about Jewish control of the media and the financial markets are still going around.
The Israeli left has also sometimes fallen into the trap. Since it rightly opposes continued Israeli control of the West Bank and the war crimes in Gaza, it finds European partners for its worldview. Sometimes they're serious and honest partners, however, other times, they're actors spreading allegations of genocide who support Islamist terrorist groups and propaganda advocating Israel's destruction.
Just as the Israeli far-right finds neo-Nazi partners as a result of their campaign against Muslims, some on the left find antisemitic partners because they oppose the occupation – even if its opposition is to Israel's 1949 armistice borders rather than to those post-1967.
Third, real-life antisemites, unlike those portrayed in the media, aren't two-dimensional figures. The coverage of what happened in Amsterdam focused on scenes of masked men of Middle Eastern origin looking for blood. In the real world, antisemitism has been hiding behind more familiar faces with other characteristics, other backgrounds and motives: young Europeans who read Trotskyite literature, high school students using antisemitism as a means of abusing classmates, and university lecturers attempting to attract attention to themselves.
Not all immigrants are antisemitic. Not all antisemites are immigrants, and the antisemitic incidents in Europe aren't necessarily spontaneous outbursts of hate or protest. They're also a product of campaigns financed by actors such as Qatar, Turkey and Russia. Just as most rapists don't look like monsters and don't lurk behind bushes in dark parks, the antisemitic monster sometimes lives within ordinary and seemingly unthreatening figures.
When soccer fans come to Europe and witness demonstrators spreading hate against Israel under the banner of the Palestinian flag, they experience it as a physical threat. When European Jews witness the same demonstration, more than violence, they fear that the hostile crowd includes their children's kindergarten teacher, their bank clerk or their nurse at the local clinic.
And one last point. We're used to identifying the victims of antisemitism in Europe with members of local Jewish communities. In Amsterdam, the victims were Israeli tourists who experienced it for the moment and then returned home. But among those two distinct groups, there's another. In recent years, groups of Israeli expats in Europe have established communities engaged in education, culture and social initiatives; the Hebrew language and secular Israeli identity are flourishing there.
These communities experience and deal with antisemitism differently, constituting both an opportunity and a risk in that regard. On the one hand, they're liable to constitute an attractive target for violent attacks and antisemites. On the other hand, their members might build a bridge for dialogue between Israeli and European societies that could help to deal with the sickness of antisemitism that the continent has been suffering from for centuries.
Since my article about Amnesty and Swedish schools was written and published in Swedish and since the debate with Amnesty Sweden's Secretery Genral in Svenska Dagbladet was also in Swedish, I finally got round to translating the original texts into English so that non-Swedish speakers can see what the all the fuss was about…
When a Jewish woman from Umeå was featured on DN's first page after she decided to leave town, at least one writer, Göran Rosenberg, was critical. The article explained that the woman was leaving because of decades of antisemitic harassment. Still, Rosenberg wasn't impressed. "Today, DN publishes on its entire front page that a woman in Umeå (of Israeli origin) intends to leave the city because of her experiences of antisemitism ", he wrote and added that DN failed to explain the background: "consequently, we are not told that the same woman was very active in supporting Israel in the Gaza war". A couple of days later he explained in Expressen that antisemitism is being used as a political weapon. The woman from Umeå, it seems, had it coming. After all, she's not a "Swedish Jew", rather she's "a woman in Umeå (of Israeli origin)". Rosenberg's message is clear: while Antisemitism against regular Jews like himself, is despicable, Zionists and Israelis just "experience" antisemitism which is actually just good old criticism of Israel, or as Swedes elegantly call it – Israelkritik.
I thought of this when I talked to an organization called "Zikaron" last week. This small but extremely important organization offers lectures on the fates of Holocaust survivors to Swedish schools. The lectures are carried out by young people, grandchildren or great grandchildren of survivors who are taking over the historic burden of remembrance. Naturally, this has nothing to do with Israel. The Holocaust took place before there was an Israel and the victims were not "settler colonialist" or responsible for the "blockade of Gaza". And yet, it turns out that sometimes even the Holocaust is too problematic for some schools. When I talked to one of Zikaron's organizers, she told me that after the massacre of October 7th last year there were about ten schools that cancelled their lectures due to reasons like "wrong timing" or "sensitive timing" and since then, there has been less demand for their lectures. Could this also be "Israelkritik" or is it just that Swedish schools are too scared of upsetting the sensitive souls who find Holocaust education provocative. Or perhaps they don’t want to get in trouble with activist bullies who didn't get the memo saying that it's ok to talk about dead Jews from the 40s and the problem is only with the other kind of Jews, the ones with guns from the Middle-East. Whatever it is, anyone who's worried about Swedish schools being cowards can rest assured. They found their courage elsewhere.
While Holocaust education may be too sensitive, foreign policy political activism seems to be no problem at all. Otherwise, how could 39 Swedish schools be "partner schools (samarbetsskolor)" of Amnesty, a political organization which is as far from mainstream as it gets. These schools use Amnesty's "Schools for Human Rights" model (skola för mänskliga rättigheter) for teacher's education, planning "theme days" (temadagar) and providing material and lectures. They even take part in global campaigns. This model may be great for highlighting human rights and democracy, but there's a serious problem when it comes to the conflict in the Middle-East, since Amnesty is anything but impartial.
In recent years Amnesty International positioned itself clearly as opposed to everything Israeli. It has disproportionately targeted Israel for years, it has supported boycott campaigns and some of its campaigners and partners have supported or even been linked to terror organization and Islamist movements (to name some: Yasmin Hussein, Saleh Hijazi and Moazzam Begg). It almost entirely ignores attacks against Israel and atrocities committed against its civilians, it bases its information about Gaza casualties on Hamas' propaganda and it makes claims which are obviously false like "Israel's military operations in Gaza continue to kill people on a scale that has never been seen before".
But it's not only talk. Amnesty Sweden actively campaigned against policies of the Swedish government, like the decision to pause funding for UNRWA (based on information that some of its employees took part in the October 7th massacre) and the decision to stop funding Swedish Ibn Rushd study circle (after accusations that the organization has ties to the Muslim Brotherhood and spreads antisemitism). In fact, whoever wants an idea of what Amnesty really supports can take a look at the kind of people it awards its prizes to. Elin Forghani, a Vänsterpartiet activist from Östersund just won Amnesty's new "Noismaker" prize after publicly claiming that: "Israel is a colonial project and an outpost of the West in the Middle East and always has been". And just to make clear what should be done with the colonizers she wrote: "we can make Israel and their sponsors sweat, tremble and fall. Liberation is in sight".
Naturally, in a democracy political activism is more than legitimate. However, it's also clear that Amnesty is in no way neutral or objective. It's a political player in global geo-politics, but it's still marching into Swedish schools, presenting itself as a non-biased public informer and bearer of a universal truth. Although political parties and organizations are allowed in Swedish schools and naturally Democracy and human rights should be part of their education, this isn't a case of mainstream education. Amnesty is getting a special "partner" status as a long-term official partner while other political actors are just guests, implying that Amnesty represents facts while the others represent opinions.
It's unclear why Swedish schools should be discussing the war in Gaza in the first place, but if they must, the material should be written and supervised carefully by serious state actors. This isn’t the place to start outsourcing. I spoke to a few parents and students in a Stockholm high school. They told me about their complaints to the school management regarding Amnesty's Gaza war education material and about lessons using material from Globalis, an organization run by "Svenska FN-förbundet" an organization which claims to "work for a better and stronger UN ". The UN in the title shouldn't be confused with impartiality. When I spoke to one student, he told me that since the lessons about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict started "it feels like I have to go to school to defend Israel twice a week. It's not that the teacher lies but it's so one-sided. For example, there were two lessons about the Palestinian Nakba and only half a slide about the expulsion of Jews from Arab countries and Iran and even that, according to the teacher, could be understood as a result of "Mossad activity". When the students were given texts on the subject, they were given guiding questions like: "what support is there for the claim that Israel is an apartheid state?". Student I spoke to talked about feeling very uncomfortable and worried about their classmates. "I feel I have to give the other side", one of them said, "because the other students in the class don't know the whole picture".
In an incident in another school, UN day was celebrated in the schoolyard by waving flags of different countries. According to one of the teachers, when some angry spectators who were passing by threatened to enter the school and remove the Israeli flag, the reaction wasn’t standing up to the threatening bullies and informing the police. Instead, the flag was removed and the person waving it was asked not to wave it again.
It seems that our schools are becoming a ridiculous case of Dr. Jackyle and Mr. Hyde. On one hand, they're wannabe rebels, dealing with the world's most complicated conflicts by employing radical political activists, while on the other hand, they're so afraid of controversy and conflict that they can't even wave a flag of a UN member country or talk about the Holocaust.
It's true, only a few schools cancelled Holocaust lectures and only some are Amnesty partners. But it's also true that only some pro-Palestinian demonstrators support violence (which is what shouting "Intifada!" means), only part of vänsterpartiet supports the PFLP and only a handful burned an Israeli flag outside a synagogue. Not to mention that just several thousand attended a Hamas conference in Malmö, and only a few hundred contribute to Islamist, antisemitic movements, and only one Imam praised Hezbollah's leader and only one or two artist spread antisemitic conspiracy theories, and only a small minority screamed at Holocaust survivors entering a memorial ceremony. How many minorities will it take to get the message? and when will our schools become part of the solution instead of part of the problem.
Amnesty Sweden's comment (originally in Swedish):
Our schoolwork is based on international conventions and Swedish school's governing documents.
On December 10th, 1948, the newly formed UN adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. For the first time, the world had an agreement that viewed all people as free and equal, regardless of gender, skin color, religion or other beliefs or characteristics.
In 2011, knowledge of human rights was incorporated into the Swedish curriculum. Since 2012, Amnesty has been supporting upper secondary schools with teaching materials, lectures, and a model for working with human rights, based on both international conventions and Sweden's school governing documents.
David Stavrou, guest columnist for Svenska Dagbladet, criticizes Amnesty for supporting upper secondary schools in their work on human rights education, by making directly false accusations about Amnesty as an organization and our work. But these claims are easy to refute: No, Amnesty does not support the call for a boycott of Israel. Yes, Amnesty has condemned attacks on civilian Israelis and called for those responsible for these war crimes to be held accountable. No, our teaching materials and lectures are not about Israel and Palestine.
David Stavrou claims that we are a biased organization and that our criticism of Israel is disproportionate. This is a direct false statement that is often made by representatives of the Israeli government. Amnesty is an impartial, politically independent organization. We do not accept government funds because we want to be free to investigate human rights violations without being dependent on anyone. Our demands and criticisms are based on international law and respect for human rights. And we assess all states by the same standards.
Even though our lectures in high schools this fall did not address the war in Gaza, high school students have asked many questions about the situation in Gaza. Human rights, contrary to what David Stavrou suggests, apply both in times of peace and in conflicts. Amnesty's focus in all conflicts is the protection of civilians and their human rights.
Amnesty is not alone in criticizing Israel's indiscriminate attacks on civilians, the forced displacement of Palestinian civilians, and the denial of humanitarian aid into Gaza, three clear examples of violations of the laws of war. Knowledge of human rights is necessary. We are happy to contribute to helping upper secondary schools fulfill the curriculum, providing students with more knowledge and the conditions to protect their own rights and work to ensure that others' rights are respected, both now and in the future.
Anna Johansson, Secretary General, Amnesty International Sweden.
David Stavrou's reply:
It’s great that Amnesty Sweden takes texts which are published in Svenska Dagbladet seriously. However, it’s a bit surprising because, during the process of writing the article, I contacted their press service to ask questions that had arisen after conversations with students at their partner schools. No one responded. To avoid mistakes, I wrote again, but I was ignored once more. On the other hand, Amnesty’s response suggests it might not matter – it’s filled with answers to questions no one asked and avoids addressing the questions that were actually raised.
No one suggested that schools shouldn’t teach human rights and democracy. No one asked whether human rights are important during wartime. Even if one appreciates the Secretary General of Amnesty’s inspiring words, that wasn’t at all what the article was about. Everyone knows human rights are important. The question is whether her organization is qualified to be the one teaching our children about them.
One question that goes unanswered, however, in the one addressing Amnesty’s partners abroad that have had connections to terrorist organizations and Islamist movements. Perhaps it’s because she is aware of the collaboration with Moazzam Begg, for example. Begg, a former Guantanamo detainee, was invited to Sweden by Amnesty despite having supported the Taliban. This isn’t something I’m claiming – it’s what a senior official within Amnesty in London, Gita Sahgal, said. She argued that collaboration with "Britain’s most famous Taliban supporter" and links to groups promoting Islamic right-wing ideas damage Amnesty’s integrity and pose a threat to human rights. Amnesty’s reaction – she was dismissed.
Then there’s the claim that Amnesty doesn’t support a boycott of Israel. If that’s the case, why did Amnesty’s Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa write the following: "We urge the international community to cease all forms of support – whether direct or indirect, through actions or omissions – for Israel’s apartheid system"? (Direct quote from Amnesty’s website).
As for Amnesty having condemned attacks on Israeli civilians, it is true that they’ve done so on certain occasions. After October 7th, it would have been absurd if they hadn’t. But anyone familiar with Amnesty’s publications knows that the Secretary General’s statement is misleading. During September and October, Amnesty International published 14 texts on their website criticizing Israel. That’s as many as the texts about Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq – combined. Iran received seven texts during the same period, Sudan and South Sudan six in total, and Belarus only four. During these two months, 7,517 rockets were fired at Israel. Amnesty published nothing about these attacks, which kill and injure and have forced over 140,000 Israeli citizens to live as internally displaced persons for more than a year.
"We assess all states by the same standards," writes Amnesty’s Secretary General. That’s hard to believe when reading about their "regional activist seminars" in Stockholm and Malmö in November. The program begins with "Palestine then and now" and continues with "a deeper understanding of the Palestine issue through a Palestinian perspective." Then there’s a lecture on the Palestine groups in Malmö, followed by "panel discussion: Academics for Palestine." Later in the day, there’s "panel discussion: on Palestine, struggle, and conflict." It seems like the Rohingyas, Uighurs, the Belarusian opposition, and Tigrayans from Ethiopia will have to wait for the next seminar because the next workshop is "What can I do? A guide to action for Palestinian liberation." This is organized by, drumroll, BDS Sweden. Yes, BDS – Boycott, Divestment, and Sanction (remember the Secretary General’s statement: "But these claims are easy to refute: No, Amnesty does not support the call for a boycott of Israel." Does she think we can’t read?).
None of the speakers at the seminar are pro-Israel; instead, it’s full of well-known pro-Palestinian activists. And that’s entirely okay. The Svenska Dagbladet article wasn’t about whether Amnesty is right or wrong or about their right to be pro-Palestinian. It was about impartiality. I wonder if any of the young people who participated in the activist seminar are students from one of Amnesty’s 39 partner schools. I suggest that Sweden’s school principals take what the Secretary General wrote seriously. When she writes that she’s glad to "give students more knowledge," it becomes clear that their schools are her recruitment ground.
From Annie Leibovitz to Amy Winehouse and Ofra Haza: New book on Jewish heroines, created by three feminist Swedish Jewish women, offers an answer to antisemitism
What do Amy Winehouse, Anne Frank, Estée Lauder, Rosa Luxemburg, Ofra Haza and Marilyn Monroe have in common? They were all Jewish (Marilyn converted), they were all heroines, and now, all six are among the 120 Jewish women in the new Swedish-language book "Jewish Heroines." The book, which targets both young readers and adults, not only tells the heroines' stories but also uses them to pose questions that have become more urgent in the post-October 7 world.
"Jewish Heroines" is the work of three Jewish Swedish women. The text was written by Anneli Rådestad, the editor of the Jewish-Swedish culture magazine Judisk Krönika, and Karin Brygger, a poet and author who also writes for the Swedish media. The heroines were illustrated by Joanna Rubin Dranger, a graphic artist and also an illustration professor at the University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm. She's also a winner of the Nordic Council's Literature Prize for her latest graphic novel.
Anneli Rådestad.Credit: Hugh Gordon
"The three of us come from very strong feminist backgrounds," says Rådestad, who's also a former journalist for Swedish public radio. She notes that Rubin Dranger has been working with feminist issues since the '90s, while Brygger has being studying women's history and literature for around 25 years. Rådestad is the editor of Judisk Krönika, which launched a series of articles about Jewish women, "partly because the magazine has been male dominated since its founding in 1932. Through these articles, we tried to contribute to a correction of Jewish-Swedish history by bringing women out of the shadows."
The idea to turn the project into a book came during the pandemic, while Rådestad was reading to her daughter, who was 5 at the time. "The book I was reading was the Swedish version of 'Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls' [by Elena Favilli and Francesca Cavallo], and I thought it would be great if there was a book dedicated to Jewish heroines. Jews are a small minority in Sweden, and the stories of Jewish women … have left very little mark." Rådestad says that when she told Rubin Dranger about the idea, "she was enthusiastic and very surprised that a book like this didn't already exist."
The book cover.Credit: Joanna Rubin Dranger / Natur & Kultur
I spoke with the three authors in Stockholm's Old Town after the book's launch party at a local bookstore. They say that when they checked if there was already a book on Jewish heroines, they found a few in English, but on a smaller scale. And they discovered the Jewish Women's Archive in the United States – a great source, but it's not a book. Rubin Dranger notes that they aimed to rise above the local context. "I wanted to make a book that would not only be for the Jewish community in Sweden but would suit everyone, including people in other countries," she says.
Brygger adds that "Jewish Heroines" could also play a role in academic debates. "It can be part of women's history and women's literary history studies. I've been involved in women's studies for a long time and I've been writing life stories and texts that give women a voice," she says. "These stories are missing in the academic world. In fact, a large part of the ability to do this now exists thanks to women like those we wrote about in the book, such as Gloria Steinem, Betty Friedan and Susan Faludi."
These last three are among a long line of American women in "Jewish Heroines," including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, thinkers such as Susan Sontag, Judith Butler and Masha Gessen, and artists of various stripes such as Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler and Annie Leibovitz. The book also portrays women from totally different backgrounds – Nobel-winning scientists such as Israeli Ada Yonath and Italian Rita Levi-Montalcini – as well as actresses, dancers, heroines from Middle Eastern history and even biblical figures such as Esther, Ruth and the Four Matriarchs: Sarah, Rebecca, Leah and Rachel. "Jewish Heroines" weaves them into a tapestry of inspiring women from different eras all over the world.
Your book features a wide variety of countries of origin, eras and ethnic groups, but some are more widely represented than others. For example, there are many women from Sweden and the United States and only a few from Israel including Golda Meir, Ofra Haza, Ada Yonath, Ester Rada and Robi Damelin of the Parents Circle – Families Forum. How did you make your choices?
Joanna Rubin Dranger.Credit: Hugh Gordon
Brygger: "When we found women we wanted to have in the book, we made presentations for the others … and the others took some time to think and learn, and we made a decision. The three of us had an equal part in 'finding' the women." Then came the greater work of research, writing and illustrating. "This ongoing conversation was the most fabulous part of working on the book," Brygger says. "We were in constant contact, sending messages, photos and articles to each other in a flow of creative desire to write and portray as many great women as we could."
Rubin Dranger adds about the women they chose: "For Israelis, it's quite clear that Jews can be anything – religious or secular, Asian, white or Black – but for Swedes it's not so clear. Many people have never met a Jew but they have an image of Jews. Often, they think of a Jew as a religious man with a hat and payes [sidelocks]. They don't always realize that this is a flexible identity."
According to Rubin Dranger, this is why the book also features a Black American rabbi, writers, journalists and spiritual women from Algeria, New Zealand, Egypt and Cuba, not to mention a Mexican poet and actresses from India. Rådestad adds: "In a way, this book is a response to things like the report published in 2021 about antisemitism in schools in Malmö, a city that has become notorious in this context. The report showed the way students and teachers understand the word 'Jew': an Orthodox religious white man or a figure in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
Karin Brygger.Credit: Hugh Gordon
Brygger notes that the world of the past – and unfortunately still the present – is filled with prejudices. So the book "not only offers a wonderful possibility of finding a character who is similar to you, who can give you strength or inspire you. It's also a tool for breaking down stereotypes and fighting antisemitism."
Brygger, who lives in Gothenburg, adds that she received warm responses when she presented the book at cultural institutions in the city. "They said, 'We don't need more reports, we already know that there is antisemitism here. We need tools to deal with the problem.' They were enthusiastic about the book and wanted to use it as an educational tool."
And the issue of Jewish diversity isn't taken for granted in the Jewish community.
"Today, when you look, for example, at the school photo of the Jewish school in Stockholm, you can find the whole world in them," Rådestad says. "People get married in all kinds of ways, and it's important to represent everyone."
In Brygger's opinion, the book's diversity of Jewish identities includes "a way to deal with prejudices and racism that exist even in the Jewish community." Rubin Dranger adds: "But it's not just the representation. It's not just pointing out the fact that there is someone in the book who is adopted or someone who is Ethiopian. It's a presence that's truly broad, not an example or two who are chosen just to serve as an alibi."
Beyond the choice of specific characters, the creators stress the significance of the content being available in a physical book, sold nationwide, rather than just being information in an internet archive or a Jewish publication. "In a country where the Jewish minority is tiny, we shouldn't underestimate the fact that a large non-Jewish publisher released the book in Swedish," Rådestad says. "This makes a statement that this book is for everyone – Jews and non-Jews, young and old, library visitors and school students."
She and her two co-authors are aware that the book is being published in stormy times globally for both women and Jews. The book links these two identities. Many of the profiles are of women who stood – or are still standing – at the forefront of such troubles, from Russian-American anarchist Emma Goldman, through Hannah Szenes and women fighters in WWII ghettos, to young Ethiopian-American activist Naomi Wadler. The impression is that, beyond its heroines' scientific and artistic achievements, the book celebrates the struggle against tyranny, racism and the patriarchy.
Illustrations of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Ofra Haza, from the book.Credit: Joanna Rubin Dranger
"We have seen and continue to see a retreat in women's rights in the world," Brygger says. "It keeps returning. In the book, we connect Jewish history with women's history." Rådestad continues: "We are connecting in many ways with other struggles, like that of the LGBTQ community. The Jewish feminist movement and the Jewish LGBTQ movement walked hand in hand. "Take Steven Greenberg, for example, the first openly homosexual Orthodox rabbi. His interpretation of the Biblical verse forbidding male intercourse is that it is a prohibition against degrading another man. Doing so lowers him to the status of a woman, which in biblical times was seen as inferior. Greenberg's interpretation connects the two struggles – striving for equality in both male-male relationships and male-female relationships. It's a common struggle."
The authors acknowledge that the book's significance has changed somewhat since October 7. Work on the book was finished before the Hamas attack. However, says Rådestad, quite a few more Jewish female heroines have emerged since then. "Take, for example, Rachel Edri from Ofakim, who saved her own life and that of her husband," she says. "She became famous for giving cookies and coffee to the terrorists, thus preventing them from murdering more people. Another example came after the terrible Eurovision week in Malmö. I think that Eden Golan not only carried Israel on her shoulders but also Sweden's Jewish minority. A young woman stood high when so many older people around her went so low. She really showed great strength, while many Jews around the world felt pressure and fear. Her character gave me strength, too."
"We couldn't have imagined these circumstances when we wrote the book. We presented it, on the eve of its publication, at the Gothenburg International Book Fair the week before October 7," Rådestad recalls, referring to the largest cultural event in Scandinavia and one of Europe's largest book fairs. "The transition from being on an important international cultural stage to October 7 was very stark. It was a terrible fall. It shook the ground beneath the feet of Israelis and Palestinians – and Jews worldwide.
"I realized a few months later that the meaning of some of the book's heroines had changed for me. For example, Dona Gracia. When I wrote about her, I saw her as a powerful historical figure who faced the Inquisition 500 years ago. Today, I understand that there are still many who live as crypto-Jews – I have friends worried because they gave their children Jewish names. Now, they don't know what effect this will have.
Illustrations of Golda Meir and Esther Rada from the book.Illustration: Joanna Rubin Dranger/Natur & Kultur
In the reality of cultural and educational boycotts, a Jewish name can lead to serious consequences. At the same time, I feel that the resistance, the strength and the resilience of Jews are an important part of this book. As a people, we've been through this many times for hundreds of years. Some of the heroines here withstood the test. They gave what they created to themselves, to their families, to their people and to the world."
Rådestad mentions a common sentiment among Jews around the world today: "Israelis have become more Jewish and Jews have become more Israeli since Since October 7. The pogromist terror of October 7 evoked something that previously only happened in the Diaspora and that Israel was supposed to prevent. The security of independence and having agency was shaken. Israelis got a taste of what it was like to be a minority in Russia a couple of hundred years ago in the most terrible and terrifying way."
She observes that many Jews worldwide are suffering for the same reason Israelis are suffering. She says they see erstwhile friends and partners, such as the international cultural communities and feminist movement, being silent and turning their backs. "It's become very important for some Jews to stand up for Israel and Israelis in a world where haters are targeting Jews and Israelis alike," she says. "So when Israel is framed as a pariah state and a controversial country, the women we profiled provide strength that children and teenagers need."
"It's not just children," Brygger adds. "When I look through the book, I'm inspired and feel strength and joy. Already when we were writing it, when we discovered women we didn't know about, it made us happy. But now the joy is different. In the past, it was the euphoria of discovering something new – like the Jewish actresses who starred in Bollywood. But today, under the shadow of October 7, the book also gives us the strength we need."
Another layer to the book is the flexible definition of Jewish identity. Some figures were not born Jewish and converted (like Marilyn Monroe, who underwent a Reform conversion to Judaism ahead of her marriage to playwright Arthur Miller, and called herself "a Jewish atheist"). Some had a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother. Some weren't born Jewish but were adopted by Jews. Some of the heroines didn't identify as Jewish growing up, but as adults were foced by others to grapple with their Jewish identity.
By way of example, Brygger points out Marianne Cohn, a member of the French Resistance during World War II. She saved many Jewish children by smuggling them over the Swiss border. She had no active Jewish identity whatsoever during her childhood in Germany. It only developed upon emigrating to France with her parents. Rubin Dranger talks about Lotte Laserstein, a German painter whose family had converted to Christianity. But the Nazis considered her Jewish and forbade her to work as an artist. She found refuge in Sweden. "In a way, her story connects to my own experience," she says. "I grew up assimilated and only embraced my Jewish identity after a priest in my Christian confirmation process made me feel singled out and attacked me because of my Jewish heritage. I know that many today share this experience. After October 7, many people are rediscovering their Jewish identity and they start searching for a community they may have already forgotten."
"In the current global climate, words like "minyan" and "shtetel" may take on a new meaning," Rådestad observes. "In progressive Judaism, at least, you can find a women's minyan. The term shtetel may represent a safe place." This is needed because there are already American publishing houses who say "No to sexism, no to racism and no to Zionism." Says Rådestad, "Jews may once again be forced to publish their books alone, until the world rediscovers them."
What sets a Jewish heroine apart from general heroism, and what is the uniqueness of women's heroism?
Brygger: "It's about persecution. The heroism in our book is related to the strength of coping with and resisting persecution, antisemitism and exclusion. In general society, there is a struggle against patriarchy and glass ceilings of all kinds. Here we need to add another struggle – the struggle that Jewish women have had to wage throughout history."
Rubin Dranger: "Part of it is that many Jewish women fought for the rights of other minorities, like African Americans or indigenous peoples in the United States. They weren't content with fighting for their own interests."
Rådestad: "It's part of Jewish values and Jewish tradition. Telling truth to power is part of what Jews do. So is the attempt to make the world a better place, tikkun olam. Although this characterizes American Judaism, it's not only in the United States. We wrote, for example, about the Iraqi-born philanthropist Flora Sassoon. She funded and promoted the use of vaccines against terrible diseases in India and fought against deprivation and discrimination."
Given the chance, who'd you like to meet from among the heroines you profiled?
Rubin Dranger: "The American cryptanalyst Elizebeth Smith Friedman, who cracked the Nazi codes. Code cracking and intelligence defense fascinates me, and the fact that Friedman's work wasn't known until quite recently. For many decades, her files were kept confidential and were lost to history. Elizebeth wasn't Jewish by birth but married a Jewish man, a U.S. Army cryptographer." It is important to talk about this type of Jewishness, exactly because not everybody considers them Jewish, she says.
Rådestad has a hard time choosing. She starts with Shifra and Puah, the biblical midwives who disobeyed Pharaoh's order to kill Hebrew children. Then she moves on to the young Jewish women who were part of the anti-Nazi resistance movements and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising fighters. She finally chooses Asenath Barzani, a rabbinical scholar who was active in 17th century Kurdistan. Barzani's father was a yeshiva head in Mosul. She became a yeshiva head herself. "Barzani's story changed my view about how progress happens," she explains. "It gives perspective on what the West used to be and what Iraq used to be."
Brygger also mentions several women. She says her encounter with Susan Sontag "not only shaped my academic life, but also my personal life since I was a teenager." She also recalls the story of Charlotte Salomon, the Jewish-German artist who was murdered in Auschwitz. "It's a story with a lot of pain," she says. "Salomon sent her works to a friend with instructions to 'keep this safe, it's my whole life.' Salomon reminds us how important it is to write and document our lives even today, how important it is to leave traces and testimonies."
"I hope that if a young person feels alone or lost, they'll be able to find what I found in these women that changed my life so radically," she adds. "I hope our book will give them role models in these turbulent and terrible times. Perhaps they'll even find a soulmate, even if it's someone who's no longer alive or someone who's far away. It's so hard to find and mold your identity. I'd never have made it through my teenage years without these women who made me a reading and writing person, with a life goal. As usual, I went all in and really tried to learn everything about many of them. Some of them are much closer to me than 'real people.' The world opens up to you when you relate to texts and books. These writers and artists also give you a hand to hold throughout life."
Norway is seen by many as one of the most hostile European countries toward Israel. But the government in Oslo is veering between demands that it toughen its line against Israel and its actions in Gaza – and the fact that Norway is a major arms exporter
In recent months, some Israelis have declared Norway the European country most hostile to Israel. This theory is largely based on the policy of Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide, whose term began only a few days after the October 7 Hamas attacks. Barth Eide, a member of the Labour Party, is doing his second stint as foreign minister for the second time, having served in the role in 2012 and 2013. He has also briefly served as defense minister and climate and environment minister.
The list of Israeli grievances against him and his government is long. First came a report that Barth Eide's ministry had prevented King Harald V from sending a condolence letter to Israel after October 7 – because in Norway, the king isn't authorized to make declarations concerning "victims of a political conflict."
This was followed by a condemnation of Israel two weeks later at an international conference in Cairo. Norway's decision not to recognize Hamas as a terror organization also drew anger. In addition, Norway insisted on continuing to transfer money to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the UN agency assisting Palestinian refugees, while several other countries halted their support in response to reports that some of its employees had been involved in the October 7 attacks.
Norway not only continued to transfer money but initiated a campaign to defend UNRWA in other countries. Meanwhile, Norway has been active in the lawsuit against Israel in the International Court of Justice over the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which is separate from the South African suit accusing Israel of genocide.
Espen Barth Eide on a Stockholm visit, June 2024, photo: David Stavrou
"We are friends of Israel," says the foreign minister, clarifying his position in an interview. "We always have been and we will continue to be. Sometimes good friends need to give good advice, but we are in no way hostile to Israel. We have always tried to help Israel live in peace and security." When asked to explain why Norway is nevertheless seen by many in Israel as hostile, he says that despite the friendship, his country can disagree with the Israeli government.
"We condemned the attack by Hamas on October 7 and we recognize Israel's right to defend itself against terrorism," he says, "but we also said that, like any other country, Israel must obey the laws of war within the international humanitarian laws of the Geneva Convention. Our criticism was that some of the military tactics that Israel used, and the de facto partial blockade on the Gaza Strip that prevented food, electricity, and necessary means of life from the Gaza population, were very problematic. This is not hostility towards Israel; it's criticism towards certain elements of the government's policy."
Among the issues Barth Eide mentions are statements by Israeli cabinet ministers who "gave the impression, which is probably wrong, that Israel wants to expel the Palestinians from Gaza. There have been such statements in Israel and they are very problematic when they come from government ministers."
Although several countries stopped transferring funds to UNRWA, Norway continued to transfer funds and demanded that other countries do so too. Do you not believe the Israeli authorities who reported that UNRWA employees were involved in the October 7 attack, or do you think this is not a sufficient reason to stop funding the organization?
"Our decision is not based on a lack of trust in the Israeli claim. Although we haven't seen evidence, that's not the point, because it may indeed be true. It may be that amongst 13,000 employed in Gaza, there were some who were involved with Hamas and even in the terrorist attack. This is terrible, unacceptable and it requires an investigation, we said this to the UN Secretary-General Guterres and to [UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe] Lazzarini.
"But we did not agree that if this is true, all funding should be cut," he says. "This is not how to react to transgressions or crimes inside organizations. You don't close the organization, you look for the criminals. If someone in the Oslo police force is arrested on suspicion of murder, I will not shut down the police but arrest the suspect. We are happy to see that there are now countries that have changed their position on this – Australia, Denmark, Sweden, and Canada, for example, as well as the European Commission. It's not that we don't believe Israel, but we don't think that all Palestinians should be punished because of it."
Regarding UNRWA as a whole, Barth Eide does not accept claims that the organization is problematic and that aid for Palestinians should flow through other organizations instead. "A vast majority of the other international organizations operating in the region say that it's not possible to replace UNRWA in the short term," he says, "because they are the backbone for all humanitarian activities in Gaza, so all organizations are coordinating with them."
In November you declared, "We were clear in stating that Hamas should be seen as a terror organization." Is this, as opposed to the past, now Norway's official policy, including when it comes to enforcing the law, economic sanctions, etc.?
"The terrorist attack on October 7 was clearly a terrorist attack and it was carried out by Hamas, so in this context they carried out a very grave terrorist act. However, we have a standing position that maintains some kind of contact with all the relevant groups. This does not mean that we accept their goals or their policies, but we think that if we are trying to contribute to a cease-fire between the Israeli army and Hamas, someone has to talk to Hamas. This is not an endorsement of Hamas, but only an acknowledgment that they exist.
"The way to weaken Hamas is to develop an alternative path to a Palestinian statehood. People who contributed to the division of Palestinian society served Hamas and those who did not want progress. We do not want a Palestine under the control of Hamas, but a Palestine who recognizes Israel under the control of other Palestinians who recognize Israel and its right to life and security."
So are you in contact with Hamas?
"Yes, we are in contact with Hamas, as we are in contact with Hezbollah, with the Houthis, and everybody else in the neighborhood. And that is why we didn't impose the same sanctions that other countries imposed –but this should not be understood as endorsement of their goals and policies." Barth Eide adds, without specifying exactly to whom he is referring, that "There are people in the world who criticize us for this in public, but are actually happy that this is the case, because someone has to maintain these contacts".
What is your current position regarding the South African lawsuit in The Hague and its results?
"I commended the fact that Israel decided to respond to the lawsuit. We did not respond to the initiative itself, but given that the lawsuit exists, it's good that Israel responded, it's good that it recognizes the authority of the court and it's clearly its right to defend itself against the accusations. The court did not conclude that there is a genocide here, but that there are sufficient elements that may constitute a violation of the Convention on the Prevention of Genocide, and Israel should respond and inform the court what steps it is taking to comply with the limitations applicable to a country at war. It isn't illegal to go to war in self-defense, but there are laws on how to do it.
"There is of course another ICJ case dealing with the Israeli occupation. Unlike the genocide case, in the occupation case, we have actually intervened." Indeed, Norway was one of 50 countries that testified before the court on the matter in late February. "Norway clearly distances itself from Israeli settlers' displacement of and violence against Palestinians on occupied land," Barth Eide says. "The settlements are illegal according to international law… the injustice the Palestinians are being subjected to must stop."
Retail policy
Norway's policy toward Israel also has an economic aspect. Its Foreign Ministry recently issued a warning to Norwegian companies "not to engage in business cooperation or trade that serves to perpetuate the illegal Israeli settlements." Regarding this topic, Barth Eide was quoted in the statement as saying "Norway has long maintained that Israel's settlement policy in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is in violation of international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights, and undermines the prospects of achieving a future Palestinian state and a peaceful resolution of the conflict."
The statement said the recommendation to Norwegian companies was issued against the backdrop of swelling settlement expansion, as well as "increased settlement violence against the Palestinians."
The minister said in the statement that the "Norwegian business community has sought advisory guidelines from the Norwegian authorities. This recommendation makes it clear that Norwegian companies should be alert to the fact that engaging in any economic or financial activity in the illegal Israeli settlements could put them at risk of contributing to violations of international humanitarian law and human rights."
This policy has already had practical consequences. "A week ago, Norway's foreign minister sent an 'information letter' to the Norwegian Confederation of Business and made it clear that doing anything that would benefit organizations that contribute to the illegal occupation in Israel is not in keeping with Norwegian policy," says Leif Knutsen, the media coordinator for Norway's Jewish community. "He also sent this letter to Vinmonopolet, Norway's government-owned alcoholic beverage retailer monopoly. Vinmonopolet then immediately called for an emergency board meeting, which decided to take all wines from the West Bank and the Golan Heights off the shelves."
Knutsen says that this step may be illegal in the context of European Union or World Trade Organization rules, especially in the case of the Golan Heights. "It's a policy change that Barth Eide dictated from his own desk, not via the cabinet or the parliament, as foreign policy conducted via retail," says Knutsen. "One of the results of this is that in practice, Jews in Norway who want wine [that] is kosher for Pesach will find it hard to get hold of it."
Barth Eide clarifies that "Vinmonopolet can import other Israeli wines if it chooses to," and adds: "We have economic relations with Israel and we want to continue to maintain them. But we have been arguing for years that our economic relations with Israel should be with the Israel within the 1967 borders. This is not new. Now, we are strengthening our advice to Norwegian businesses – feel free to buy and sell in Israel, but not in what fuels the occupation, which I think everyone, except the Israeli government, recognizes is illegal.
"This is not a very radical policy," he says. "But [it exists] to be consistent with our own policy of not financially contributing to human rights violations and violations of international law. We do not go into the specifics, we give general advice. So it was the board of Vinmonopolet who made this decision."
In spite of all that, it seems that the Norwegian economy isn't paying a particularly high price for the government's moral stance. Trade relations with Israel haven't slowed dramatically, and the calls for a boycott of Israel are more symbolic than concrete.
According to Mette Johanne Follestad, president of the Norwegian-Israeli Chamber of Commerce, "For decades, Norway's main export to Israel [has been] fish. More than 80 percent of all imported salmon to Israel is from Norway. To a much smaller extent, Norway also exports metals and paper. Israel's main export to Norway is agricultural products – i.e., fruits and vegetables. Israel also exports to Norway technological products such as computer items. Those two sectors cover most of the Israeli imports to Norway."
She adds that despite political tensions, Norwegian fish exports to Israel have continued to grow in recent years. Exports from other industries have not increased for some time, however. "The political climate in Norway regarding Israel is not helpful for the promotion of business and especially for initiating new lines of trade. It seems that the anti-Israel sentiment has created a reluctance to develop new business relations with Israel.
"Even so, some trade continues to grow. In 2022-2023, Israeli imports to Norway increased from 1.649 billion kroner (570 million shekels) to 1.801 billion, reaching record figures in both years. Norwegian exports to Israel were also at a record level in 2022 at 2.644 billion krone. Unfortunately, Norwegian exports to Israel decreased to 2.313 billion kroner in 2023."
In addition to the recommendation of the Norwegian government to boycott Israeli products from the West Bank, Follestad also notes that universities in Norway are calling for an academic boycott against Israel, although the Norwegian government is against it. Knutsen adds that Norway has seen many calls for various types of boycotts against Israel. In Norwegian academia, for example, some universities have severed ties with academic institutions from Israel. One example is Oslo Metropolitan University, commonly known as OsloMet, which decided not to continue a student exchange program with the University of Haifa. "This is a case where the institution's board of directors made the decision," says Knutsen. "They claim that it's not a boycott but a decision not to continue a program, but this is a game of semantics."
Knutsen sees the decision as a clear violation of fundamental academic freedom that was meant to appease activists wishing to silence anyone disagreeing with them. According to reports, OsloMet is not alone, with the University of South-East Norway deciding to end its academic and research collaborations with the Hadassah College of Technology in Jerusalem over the war in Gaza.
The boycotting isn't limited to academia. Knutsen says there has been a flood of calls for boycotts of Israeli products in recent months. Some trade unions and local municipalities, including Oslo, have called for boycotts or announced them. "They're very careful to say that they're not boycotting Israel, they're only boycotting organizations and cooperation that contribute to the settlements, particularly in the West Bank," she says. "However, it's not always clear what exactly that means and what it is that they're not buying. It seems like virtue signaling for a domestic audience."
When it comes to big money, however, Norway is in no rush to cut off every investment that could somehow be connected to the occupation and the settlements. On this subject, it's interesting to consider Norway's Oil Fund, which invests the surplus revenue from the country's oil sector in what has become the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world. The fund, which holds about $1.5 trillion, has previously withdrawn investments in Israeli companies. However, according to various reports, it still has investments in some 70 Israeli companies totaling billions of dollars. Now it's examining whether to withdraw investments from companies connected to the occupation and settlements, mainly entities like Israeli banks and financial institutions.
"This is discussed widely here," says Barth Eide. "Our recommendations are also relevant to investments in the Oil Fund. The ethical committee of the fund is looking into the matter. It's complicated, because, for example, when there is ownership in a bank, the bank may have activities both in Israel and in the occupied territories, so it's complicated, it's a question of to what grade, and the government doesn't go into the details of every portfolio. The fund has a board of directors and it also has a wider management and an ethics committee. They are the ones who decide."
Sell and forget
In spite of the many steps aimed at pressuring Israel, there are voices in Norway arguing that the government isn't doing enough to oppose Israel and support the Palestinians. Pro-Palestinian organizations say the Norwegian arms industry, a large part of which is government-owned, has found ways of bypassing the prohibition against selling weapons to countries at war. Could Norway be trying to enjoy the best of both worlds, portraying itself as the enthusiastic defender of the Palestinians while avoiding missing out on the profits made from its relationship with Israel?
"There is a clear definition of what a Norwegian weapon is," says Barth Eide. "It's a weapon that is manufactured in Norway or at least the main component is manufactured in Norway. This is an international definition. In this sense, it's forbidden to export Norwegian weapons to countries that are at war like Israel and we have no reason to believe that there has been violation of this." However, the foreign minister clarifies that since Norway has a large arms industry, Norwegian companies also own companies abroad –and here, the government's control is more limited. The same is true of other countries.
"Besides, there are also joint projects in which we produce parts for weapons made by other countries," says Barth Eide. "For example, we manufacture some minor parts for F-35 aircraft. Norwegian laws do not apply here because it would simply create a situation where international defense cooperation would be impossible." Barth Eide says Norway doesn't sell weapons to Israel and that he has called on other countries to follow its example to ensure there is no indirect complicity in what potentially may constitute genocide.
However, some say that Norwegian companies, including at least one that is half-owned by the government, are bypassing this government policy. The online daily magazine Verdens Gang reported in November that Norwegian-produced components may be used in missiles that Israel is firing in Gaza. The publication reported that since Norway allows the exportation of weapons components to NATO countries like the U.S., the parts could be used to assemble weapons exported to Israel according to American regulations.
That's how, according to the newspaper, Chemring Nobel is one of the manufacturers of rocket fuel for Hellfire missiles, which the U.S. supplies to Israel for use in the war in Gaza. Reports that this company produces rocket fuel and explosives for missiles used by the Israel Defense Forces aren't new and have appeared in various Norwegian media outlets in the past.
In response to the Verdens Gang report, Chemring Nobel's CEO said he couldn't rule out the possibility that Norwegian components are included in the weapons systems used in Gaza, Ukraine, or other places. This is because several of Norway's allies permit the export of defense products to Israel, in contradiction with Norwegian export policy.
The Nordic Ammunition Company (aka Nammo), another Norwegian company, has also been accused of selling weapons to Israel. Ownership of Nammo is divided between the Norwegian government and a Finnish company named Patria, itself half-owned by a Norwegian company whose largest stockholder is the government. In December, the Norwegian public broadcaster reported that pro-Palestinian activists had blocked the entrance to the company's factory in Raufoss, saying that "Nammo's weapons are helping to kill Palestinians in Gaza." According to the demonstrators, M141 shoulder-fired missiles exported by Nammos' factory in Arizona to Israel are being used in Gaza. The company denied the claims, saying the weapons were sold to the U.S. military up until 10 years ago, which was the extent of its involvement.
In response to a request for comment, a Nammo spokesperson wrote: "We have also seen media reports about U.S.-made Nammo products in Israel. Given that sales of these products took place several years ago and were made to U.S. authorities, we're not in a position to confirm reports of later transfer from the US to Israel, nor are we privy to knowledge about which weapons or materiel the Israeli military uses."
Asked whether there is oversight over the use of the weapons parts the company exports to other countries (such as by means of an End-User Certificate), the spokesperson wrote: "Nammo is subject to export control laws in the countries where we have operations, including Norway, which does not permit exports of Norwegian-produced products to Israel. For export license requests to countries where exports from Norway are permitted, end-user documentation or certificates are normally part of the list of required documents."
Chemring Nobel declined to respond to a request for comment.
Mediation and boycott
"Trends in International Arms Transfers, 2023," the latest edition of the annual report by the respected independent watchdog Stockholm International Peace Research Institute provides context regarding Norway's arms industry. The think tank is dedicated to research into conflicts, armaments, arms control, and disarmament. Its publications are considered highly reliable sources on the global arms trade, although the institute acknowledges that complete information on deals in the field is hard to obtain. In the 2023 report, Norway is 19th on its list of the 25 largest exporters of major arms – all the more notable because of the country's small population of 5.5 million. According to the report, imports of major arms by European countries increased by 94 percent – nearly double – in 2014-18 and 2019-23.
More than half of European arms imports in 2019-23, 55 percent, were from the U.S., up from 35 percent in 2014-18. Arms imports to countries in Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East also increased significantly in 2019-23. The top arms importers in this period were India, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Ukraine, Pakistan, Japan, Egypt, Australia, South Korea, and China. Israel was 15th on the list. Almost 70 percent of its arms imports were from the United States – the world's top arms exporter, whose total arms exports rose 17 percent. Russia's exports, in contrast, fell 53 percent, losing its spot as the second-largest arms exporter to France and dropping to third place. The U.S., France, and Russia were followed by China, Germany, Italy, Britain, Spain, and Israel (in ninth place).
Countries in the Middle East accounted for 30 percent of arms imports in 2019-23. Saudi Arabia, the world's second-largest arms importer, received 8.4 percent of global arms imports during this period. With a global share of 7.6 percent, arms imports by Qatar increased 396 percent during that timeframe. The United States is the region's arms supplier, accounting for 52 percent of Middle East arms imports; following it are France (12 percent), Italy (10 percent,) and Germany (7.1 percent).
Norway shouldn't be on the list at all, since its regulations prohibit arms exports to countries in a state of war. Therefore, the countries leading the list of imports from Norwegian companies in this field are the United States, Ukraine, and Lithuania. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine and given Norway's special interest in helping to repel it, the Norwegian government passed a resolution allowing direct arms sales to Ukraine. Also, Norwegian law allows the provision of military aid to countries at war, as opposed to the sale of weapons for commercial purposes.
"The defense and weapons market in Norway is highly regulated," Nicholas Marsh, a senior researcher at the Oslo Peace Research Institute, says. "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issues export permits and customs checks the products that cross the border. The trading partners in this area are mainly NATO countries and [other] developed and democratic countries, such as Australia. The main principle according to which export licenses are granted was already formulated in the late 1950s, in the declaration of the Norwegian Parliament according to which it is forbidden to sell weapons or ammunition to areas that are at war, under threat of war, or in civil war. Beyond that, Norway is also subject to the International Arms Trade Control Treaty and EU guidelines." Although Norway is not an EU member, it has accepted the EU's guidelines in this field.
"Norway's defense and weapons industry doesn't have a huge effect on the national economy. Obviously, it's much less important than oil and gas in terms of Norway's gross domestic product. However," Marsh adds, "Norway doesn't produce much. For example, unlike Sweden, we don't have a large high-tech industry, so in terms of production and employment, [the defense] sector is important. There are two major companies, Nammo and Kongsberg, both partly owned by the Norwegian government."
What about Norwegian companies with subsidiaries in other countries? Are they subject to Norwegian law, or to the laws of the countries in which they manufacture the arms?
"When it comes to subsidiaries, things get complicated. Hypothetically, if a Norwegian company buys a company abroad, Norwegian regulations don't apply to it. It only applies to products that leave Norway. However, Norwegian export regulations can be applied if a product that is manufactured in, say, the United States, uses parts that were made in Norway or even uses software or technical plans [that] are Norwegian intellectual property."
When Norway exports arms, is it considered standard to demand an end-user certificate?
"Like other countries, Norway also uses end-user certificates, but more important are the conditions of sale documents. This is how companies define, among other things, who they allow their products to be sold to. It is not only a matter of maintaining human rights, it is also a commercial matter. But in the case of NATO countries, Norway has repeatedly made it clear that it does not request end-user certificates. This is a political statement and it has been repeated over the years.
"Thus, since Norway can sell to France, the United States, and the United Kingdom, for example, and since it does not require an end-user certificate from these countries that export to countries like Saudi Arabia, the situation is that the government can claim that there are no weapons in countries at war that have 'Made in Norway' on them, but It's certainly possible that there are weapons that have Norwegian parts or are produced by subsidiaries of Norwegian companies. It should be remembered that the arms industry is partially owned by the government, which has both an economic and a political interest here, so there is a balance between principled considerations and practical consideration," Marsh says.
"This has characterized Norway for a long time," Marsh adds, summing up what he calls Norway's dualistic nature. "The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded here and there is political emphasis on peace talks, diplomatic efforts, solidarity, and humanitarian activity. But on the other hand, Norway has been a NATO member from the very beginning, and since World War II it has a strong military which is part of a military alliance that opposes Russia. As a small country, its interest is to promote peace, but it has never been a pacifist country."
When Barth Eide is asked about the future of Israel-Norway relations, he says that although there are ups and downs, his country still formally has a central role in the region because it's the chair of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee, the body that coordinates international economic aid to the Palestinian Authority. Established in 1993, it has 16 members, led by Norway and sponsored by the United States and the European Union.
"After a cease-fire, this will again be the key body for discussing the coordination of donations to build the Palestinian Authority," Barth Eide says. "That is why we worked with the Israeli government to find a solution to the problem of the clearance revenues collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. This shows that we can still work with Israel and with Ramallah to solve problems." This is a reference to the temporary arrangement facilitated by Norway between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, in which Norway serves as an intermediary for the portion of tax and customs revenues that Israel has withheld since October 7.
In a broader context, Barth Eide still holds to the policy he held in the past. "I believe and have believed for many years that the best path to peace is an agreement with the Palestinians," he says, "not with Hamas, of course, but with the Palestinian Authority, with Fatah and the PLO. Israel will be more successful in its attempt to be both a state for Jews and a democratic state if it has a Palestinian state by its side. Everything we do on this issue is intended to end suffering but also to establish a Palestinian state that is run by a legitimate authority after an agreement. This is a goal that is good for both the Israelis and the Palestinians."
Follestad, the president of the Norwegian Israeli Chamber of Commerce, stresses that any boycott, including one only on Israeli products from the West Bank, would be primarily damaging to Norway's position as an honest broker. "Ever since the Oslo Accords were negotiated in our country, Norway has tried to be a mediator and bring the sides closer to peace," she says. "By boycotting Israeli products from the West Bank, which according to the Oslo Accords is still legally under Israeli jurisdiction, the Norwegian government, by not respecting the signed agreements, is itself violating the spirit of the Oslo Accords. Accordingly, Norway's opinion may no longer be respected by Israel, and Norway may become irrelevant as a mediator in the conflict."
A visit to Sweden's third-largest city a few weeks before it hosts the huge song competition reveals that preparations for putting the Palestinian cause on Europe's biggest stage are at a fever pitch. 'People I know are taking off kippot and necklaces with Stars of David in public'
MALMÖ, Sweden – On a wintry March day, Malmö gives the impression of a multifaceted port city. Fans of the crime series "The Bridge" are familiar with its architectural symbol, the long Oresund Bridge linking the city with Copenhagen in Denmark. But a visitor to Sweden's third-largest city can discover all kinds of architectural connections to historical and demographic processes.
Take the contrast between the medieval historic city center and the impressive modern port to its west, where shipyards and industrial zones have been replaced by luxury homes, with the Turning Torso skyscraper as the area's landmark – and the contrast with concrete apartment buildings constructed decades ago as part of the government's large public housing program, which have become home to immigrants.
In May, these areas will all be flooded with swarms of visitors to celebrate the 68th Eurovision Song Contest and shake off the remnants of the freezing winter. Patriotic groups will fill the 130-year-old Folkets Park, which will become the Eurovision Village. Members of the indefatigable Eurovision fan clubs will party at the EuroClub every night, and the residents will, of course, enjoy an economic and cultural boom.
Meanwhile, when asked what they think about the event, their answers sound like they're reading from a marketing pamphlet. They're pleased and are happy to welcome everyone. This answer echoes the city council's message and description of the event: "A lively celebration of openness and inclusion."
It began with celebrations in the city on the night of October 7, after the Hamas attack that saw civilians brutally massacred. Hundreds celebrated with music, dancing, and fireworks as convoys of honking cars passed by and people handed out candy. Since then, protests against Israel and its participation in Eurovision have not stopped in the city.
Midweek, Malmö's central Möllevången neighborhood, the focal point of the protests, is quiet. Around the neighborhood, which gentrification has changed from a working-class area to one characterized by hipsters, students, and multiculturalism, hang posters with slogans like "stop the genocide" and flyers calling for demonstrations. A supermarket shelf with avocados from Israel has a label with a Palestinian flag and the word "boycott."
A secondhand clothing store's display window has a big screen breaking down the number of dead in Gaza: how many children have died, how many people are wounded or buried underneath rubble, how many become orphans every day, how many mosques have been destroyed, how many medical workers have been arrested or killed. An Israeli flag appears next to each number, and postcards are available to send to the foreign ministers.
But weekends provide a much more dynamic picture. Protests with thousands of participants are regularly held here, with Palestinian flags and signs reading "free Palestine" and "end the Israeli occupation," speeches in which Israel is called a child murderer and don't mention the events of October 7, and catchy songs with choruses such as "Free Palestine – crush Zionism."
They do not appear to have lost their strength – unsurprisingly, given that Malmö, like nearby cities such as Helsingborgs and Landskrona, is the residence of tens of thousands of Palestinian immigrants. Some claim it's one of the most antisemitic cities in Europe. But anyone expecting to find only immigrants in the throngs of demonstrators will be disappointed. There are also Swedish retirees, activists from youth organizations, and young couples with strollers.
Mira Kelber
The Jewish community is unsettled by the protests. "Being a Jew in Malmö after October 7 is living in fear," says Mira Kelber, 24, who is chairwoman of the Malmö Jewish Youth organization. "I walk around with the thought that something might happen, and the only question is what will happen, to whom, and when."
There is no question that October 7 exacerbated the situation, and Eurovision provides a unique platform for protesting the war that followed the Hamas attack. But the Jewish community was already concerned about its safety beforehand, and you don't have to look at Eurovision for the start of Malmö's ties with the Palestinian cause.
If we were to search for a starting point, it might be found in the waves of immigration to the city in the late 20th century. By 2015, Malmö had become a major focal point of the refugee crisis in Europe. Since then, thousands of people have crossed the Oresund Bridge every day to seek asylum in Sweden. Today, people from over 180 countries live in the city. More than a third of its population of 362,000 was born outside the country. And in contrast to the rest of Sweden, half of the immigrants are below the age of 35.
Among the consequences of these demographic changes was an increase in antisemitism, most notably in demonstrations that have sometimes seen violent incidents. The list of such protests is long. In 2009, when Malmö hosted the Davis Cup tennis matches between Israel and Sweden, thousands of demonstrators gathered in the city. Several hundred extremists who were among them – Islamists, far-left activists, and neo-Nazis – rioted and clashed with police.
Over the years, other demonstrations have seen antisemitic chants that have been documented and discussed in the Swedish media. In 2017, the cry was "we're going to shoot the Jews," made at a demonstration against the relocation of the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. In 2019, it was young activists from the Social Democratic Party shouting "crush Zionism" at the May Day Parade. In 2020, it was "Khaybar, Khaybar, oh Jews, Mohammed's army will return," a reference to the victory of Mohammed's followers over the Jewish tribes in the seventh-century battle of Khaybar, an inspiration to modern Islamist fighters.
Meanwhile, Jews in the city have experienced violence. In 2009, Molotov cocktails were thrown at the city's Jewish funeral home. In 2010 and 2012, firecrackers were thrown outside the synagogue and Jewish community center, breaking windows. In the following years, several complaints have been filed of verbal and physical attacks and harassment, and the community's sense of security has been undermined.
A 2021 report by the municipality determined that the city's schools were an unsafe environment for Jewish students, who were encountering verbal and physical assault as teachers chose to avoid confronting the assailants. Media outlets have also reported that Holocaust survivors are no longer invited to tell their stories in some of the city's schools because Muslim students disrespect them.
"Those who are born Jewish in Malmö grow up with the feeling that they have to protect themselves," says Kelber. "I'm publicly known as a Jew, but people I know are taking off kippot and necklaces with Stars of David in public."
The uneasiness doesn't just stem from harassment and hate crimes. Some of the city's residents of Palestinian descent have been involved in terrorism. These include Osama Karim, a son of Palestinian immigrants who was caught in Belgium after participating in attacks in Brussels and France in 2015 and 2016 and traveling to Syria to join ISIS. There have also been Palestinian Swedish groups that have been found to have ties to terrorist organizations. One of them, Group 194, had longstanding ties with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, which reportedly took part in the October 7 attack.
In May 2023, less than half a year before the slaughter in Israel's southern border communities, a large pan-European Palestinian conference was held in Malmö with the participation of Palestinian Dutch leader Amin Abu-Rashid, who has links to Hamas. The Social Democratic Party, which was scheduled to attend, canceled when it learned about his attendance. One member, Jamal al-Hajj, attended despite being forbidden from doing so.
Concerns for Malmö's Jewish community haven't been eased by the fact that he is still a member of parliament and that quite a few people in the Swedish political system, academy, and cultural world are affiliated with Hamas, directly or indirectly. The result is that the city's Jewish community is shrinking.
These events look like another chapter in a long story. The community was founded in 1871, mostly by immigrants from Germany and Poland. From the late 1800s to the 1920s, it expanded through large-scale immigration, driven by poverty, antisemitism, and pogroms, from Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and the Baltic states. With Hitler's rise to power, the community absorbed more refugees, mostly from Nazi Germany, greatly expanding its social activity.
In the autumn of 1943, during World War II, Denmark's Jews were successfully smuggled to Sweden over the Oresund Straits by the Danish resistance. The Nazi occupation government in Denmark turned a blind eye. Along with other Holocaust survivors, several hundred of these Jews settled in Malmö after the war and became pillars of the community. In the late 1960s, almost 3,000 Polish Jews fleeing antisemitic persecution arrived in Sweden, with some of them settling in the Malmö area. The community's size peaked at 3,000 people in the early 1970s. The city now has 1,500 Jews, of whom only 534 are active members of the community.
Roko Kursar, photo: Liberalerna
"The issue of antisemitism is a global problem and in Malmö we have been aware of the problem locally for a long time. That's why we've been working on combating antisemitism in a structural way for a long time," says Roko Kursar, one of Malmö's deputy mayors and a member of the city council from the Liberal Party. "Antisemitism in Malmö didn't start after October 7. … We have a collaboration and cooperation with the Jewish community: we have put in resources, formed a steering committee which forms an action plan for every year. We also want to strengthen Jewish life, Jewish identity and Jewish culture in our city, and this is a wide cooperation which has been going on for over four years, and last year we extended this for another four years."
Can you explain?
"For example, we have coordinators in our schools with the job to combat antisemitism… We have also allocated a couple of extra million euros for work on conflict and crisis management in our schools… The work that was put in before October is a basis to gear up and face the challenges, like members of the Jewish community feeling insecure. The solidarity with the Jewish community in Malmö is widespread. We've had 'kippah marches'" – joint marches by Jewish community leaders and national or local political leaders in which they wear kippahs, held in Stockholm and Malmö since October 7 – "and we've had manifestations of solidarity from all sides of the political spectrum joined by citizens showing solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters. … Malmö is a very international and multicultural city. … That means we have backgrounds and ethnicities from all over the world, including places which are conflict-torn and war-torn, and many citizens of Malmö are affected by this. We have to always continue the work and be prepared to gear it up."
It may be time to speed things up. "There is fear within the Jewish community these days, especially when it comes to schoolchildren," says Fredrik Sieradzki, spokesman for the local Jewish community and director of the synagogue's Jewish learning center, which teaches locals and visitors about the community. "People are reluctant to say that they are Jewish, and some hide Jewish signs in public. All this isn't new, but it's much worse now. There is a strong sense of being alone. We have wide social circles, but a lot of people have the feeling that many in their social circles are turning against them. There's a lot of unfriending on social media, friends share antisemitic propaganda and so on. This has been a shock for many."
Fredrik Sieradzki, Malmö Jewish community spokesman and director of synagogue's learning center
Kelber describes similar feelings. "When we recently had a Shabbat dinner at the synagogue, people told me that they were afraid to even be near the synagogue." She says that every time she looks at her phone, she encounters antisemitism. "An Instagram account we opened under the name Proud Jew, for example, is filled with pig emojis and videos from Gaza with the question, 'Are you proud of this?' People do not distinguish between Israel and Jews and there are many influencers and celebrities who publish terrible things."
One of the examples Kelber is referring to is Stina Wollter, a highly prominent Swedish artist, radio host, and activist. Wollter wrote on her Instagram account, which has over 300,000 followers, that the Swedish media was not telling the truth about the conflict in Gaza and was ignoring the "fact" that Israel steals organs from dead Palestinians, that Israel lied about rapes and babies being beheaded on October 7, that Israel killed its own citizens by shooting at them from helicopters at the Nova music festival, and more. "We read in the newspaper about swastikas graffiti and attacks on Jews, a few days after October 7, Hamas published a call to attack Jews in the world, and many students simply did not go to university that day. There is always the fear – when will this happen to me," Kelber says.
The controversy surrounding Israel's participation in Eurovision, and then around the first version of its entry for this year's contest, "October Rain" – which, very symbolically, turned into "Hurricane" – certainly did little to allay the fears. "We are aware … that there are risks and security needs and restrictions here. Still, Malmö is a city that should be able to host everyone, including Israelis, so I hope the city will step up," Sieradzki says. "It's reassuring that the city is investing many resources in the event which is important to us all."
Kelber is less official sounding. "When Sweden won last time and when we heard that the Eurovision would be held in Malmö, we were very happy. I love the Eurovision and I would really like to be part of the party. But after October, I'm not ready to risk it. I won't participate" in the celebrations surrounding the event, she says, adding that her friends are also afraid. "We always doubt, and I don't feel like I want to risk myself for the Eurovision. In the past I was optimistic about a Jewish future in Malmö, I thought there were much worse places. But now, unfortunately, I'm not sure I can be optimistic. … [Eurovision is] supposed to be an event of joy and love, but for us it's about fear."
Do you have a message for [Israel's Eurovision entry] Eden Golan and the Israeli delegation?
"Yes, stay safe."
This is far from Malmös first encounter with Eurovision. It was the host city in both 1992 and 2013. "When we had all the options on the table, we conducted a thorough assessment considering many factors. And this time, once again, all the pieces fell into place in Malmö," Ebba Adielsson, the executive producer of Eurovision 2024, says. The city, she says, has the necessary "infrastructure, new meeting places and one of Sweden's best arenas. … In Malmö there is also a great commitment and a great deal of experience in hosting Eurovision."
Has the Swedish production team discussed the fact that there are large Palestinian protests on a regular basis in Malmöand that these may affect the event?
"We understand and are aware that people are making their voices heard on this issue and we are prepared for protests that may occur in connection with the event," Adielsson says.
Despite these assurances, Kelber says she was relieved when news emerged that Israel might not participate this year. Not everyone is happy that Israel is still set to do so. A group of residents has filed a motion asking the city to disqualify the Israeli delegation, which will most likely be debated in April. The Left Party is the only one in the city council that is expected to support the proposal, whose value is mainly symbolic in any case. The city has no authority to act on the matter beyond contacting the European Broadcasting Union.
Nina Jakku is a Left Party member of the Malmö City Council and the party's political secretary in the city. She says that the motion is a citizens' initiative, not a political one. We speak in her office, which is decorated with a large picture of Karl Marx and posters of Palestinian flags and slogans. "The Left Party supports the initiative by saying that it would be a good statement from the city of Malmö to say we don't wish for Israel to participate in the Eurovision."
Why shouldn't Israel participate, actually?
"It's about the situation in Gaza. The International Court of Justice is asking Israel to take immediate and effective measures to prevent a genocide and Israel has not even taken the bare minimum. Perhaps it has even done the opposite. The question should be how can we go on with business as usual."
Assuming that Eurovision does go on as usual, what are the Left Party and related movements planning to do as a protest during the song contest in May?
"The city of Malmö can't make a decision not to allow Israel's participation, but … there is a broad movement which is planning demonstration, a boycott campaign, and other protest events which in a sense have already started. We are part of that in the broader context," Jakku says.
That broad movement seems to be gaining momentum. Over 1,000 Swedish musical acts, including Robyn, Fever Ray, the folk duo First Aid Kit, and some of the singers who participated in Melodifestivalen (the competition that determines Sweden's Eurovision entry) signed an open letter demanding that Israel be barred from this year's competition over its "brutal" war in Gaza.
The letter, which was published in the Aftonbladet daily in January, states: "We believe that by allowing Israel's participation, the European Broadcasting Union is exhibiting a remarkable double standard that undermines the organization's credibility. … The fact that countries that place themselves above humanitarian law are welcomed to participate in international cultural events trivializes violations of international law and makes the suffering of the victims invisible."
From the Malmö.for.Palestine Instegram account
The musicians are hardly alone. Many social media groups are calling for a boycott of Israel and protests against its participation. One of them, Malmö for Palestine, is calling for weekly demonstrations outside city hall. In a message posted on Instagram, an illustration of an Israeli soldier with a microphone and a cable made of razor wire appears next to the slogans "remove Israel from Eurovision" and "stop the genocide in Gaza." The soldier is standing at the entrance to the Eurovision stage door, and his gun drips blood onto a large puddle that has already accumulated beneath him.
Nina Jakku's colleague at the city council, Anfal Mahdi, has also called for Israel's disqualification. "Belarus got a 'No' in 2021, Russia got a 'No' in 2022, Israel can also get a 'No' in 2024," she wrote on her Instagram account. "We've all seen how Israel starves and bombs Gaza. Children undergo amputations without anesthesia, the health services are bombed and smashed to pieces. There is no water, no food and no electricity for the residents of Gaza. Malmö should not celebrate with terrorist states." In a different post, Mahdi added: "Being political for Ukraine but not for Palestine is pure racism."
"I think there is no reason to compare wars or occupations, they are all horrific, wherever they are," Jakku says when asked about the comparison of Israel to Russia regarding Eurovision. "Still, the decision not to allow Russia to participate was correct and it would be correct not to allow Israel to participate too. In that sense it is comparable."
Do you take into account the effect of the demonstrations on members of the Jewish community in Malmö? Are you aware of the claim that the pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the city include antisemitic content?"
"I hope everyone will be safe to visit anywhere they want to in Malmö . I do agree that there is a big concern when it comes to antisemitism in Malmö . Every antiracist should be concerned about that situation. But I have been participating in massive protests in Malmö almost every week since October and in these demonstrations, there are no signs or slogans that can be classified as antisemitic. The protests are against war crimes, about genocide and what's happening in Gaza. They're asking for a cease-fire and raising concerns about the violence and killing of civilians. Antisemitism in Malmö and the protests against Israel, of which [the latter] are totally legitimate, are two entirely different things," Jakku says.
Nina Jakku, photo: Emmalisa Pauli
What about the burning of the Israeli flag outside the synagogue and the spontaneous demonstrations on the evening of October 7 that praised the massacre and Hamas?
"There have been some protests that have been totally unacceptable. But if you look at the total amount of people and demonstrations, the flag-burning was just one occasion, with only a couple of people involved. There have been some other occasions that can be seen as inappropriate, but we have taken part in protests against burning the flag and we have to be able to hold two thoughts in our head at the same time," she says – that is, to support the protests against Israel while also ensuring nothing inappropriate happens.
Doesn't excluding singers, dancers, and those who love Israeli music hurt precisely Israelis who are open to criticism and destroy the chances for dialogue?
"The question implies that there are two equal parts that can engage in a dialogue; that there's a possibility of a dialogue. But as far as I can see, that's not the case in the past 75 years. What we have is a military occupation that is using massive violence, and the people of Gaza don't have the possibility of dialogue with those who oppress them. The boycott is a possibility for the rest of the world to put pressure on Israel and we need to use it. As I understand, there are also some Israeli organizations calling for a boycott. The boycott isn't against an individual. It's the State of Israel that's the target."
The situation, certainly since October 7, is not a situation where one side is strong, conquering, and oppressive. There are victims on both sides. Israel has more than 1,000 civilian victims, including more than 200 hostages, some of whom are still in Gaza. Isn't your protest one-sided?
"The massacres in Gaza are going on now, and that is what we're trying to stop. I'm not questioning feelings or other victims, it's not my place to do so, but the people in Gaza are starving, tens of thousands have been murdered in five months, the International Court of Justice has called to prevent a genocide and other organizations are talking about war crimes which are going on. Unfortunately, we can't change what happened on October 7, but nothing justifies business as usual, as the Israeli bombs are killing civilians in Gaza month after month."
It has been reported that the Left Party's foreign aid organization, Left International Forum, has for years, via its Danish partners, cooperated with the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine. It is also known that the party had tight connections with Group 194 and similar organizations that, according to many reports in Swedish media outlets, also supported the DFLP, spread antisemitic propaganda, and supported armed resistance against Israel. In light of the current war, does the party still support these partners and their messages, or has the party changed its policy on this?
"Regarding [Left International Forum], their statement has been that they take responsibility and their task now is to make sure that something like this never happens again in our organization. When it comes to the other groups, I don't have any further information."
What is almost certain to happen, as Jakku says, is protests against Israel being part of Eurovision. Other Palestinian solidarity organizations in Malmö didn't respond to inquiries from Haaretz, but they are presumably planning major protest activity in the city during the song contest in May. Are measures being taken to prevent attempts to use the live broadcast as a platform for political protest, perhaps by planting large numbers of political activists in the audience with propaganda items like signs and flags to wave before the cameras?
"One of Eurovision's fundamental values is to be a nonpolitical event where everyone is united through music," says Adielsson, the song contest's executive producer this year. "[W]e always go through potential/prospective and conceivable scenarios and … take measures to avoid political expressions during the live broadcasts."
Were the musicians and members of the delegations told that they are not allowed to express political opinions before, during, and after the show, as the competition rules state?
"The European Broadcasting Union is responsible for the rules regarding the Eurovision Song Contest, [which] state that it is a nonpolitical event. For further information or questions on the topic, please contact the [union]."
City officials were similarly cautious and terse in their responses. "I heard that the Eurovision is the second largest TV show in the world after the Super Bowl, so obviously having it here in Malmö is important to us," says Kursar, a deputy member and council member. "But it's not the first time this is happening; we had the Eurovision in Malmö in the early 1990s and again in 2013. From the city's perspective, it's a very important event. … We're looking forward to having an inclusive, welcoming, and sustainable song contest," Kursar says.
I understand that despite the inclusive competition, less inclusive demonstrations are expected surrounding it. Let's say anti-Israeli protests with extreme expressions of antisemitism.
"[W]e have freedom of speech and freedom of protest in Sweden, and this is a question for the police to answer and decide on. The police are responsible for questions regarding public order, and we have a very good dialogue with the police."
Overall, the city government puts forward a united front of full trust in the police. It's a matter for the police, the city's director of safety and security, Per-Erik Ebbestahl, concurs. In any case, he adds, officials aren't aware of any concrete threats.
The police have ways to avoid eroding Jewish audiences' sense of security, such as refusing to approve a protest location or changing it, Ebbestahl says. He says the city is responsible for security at the events in which it is the main organizer and that there is no upper limit to the budget put into it.
Nevertheless, on the Israeli side, no one is taking chances. Although things are still under review, says a person familiar with the country's preparations for Eurovision, there will clearly be very stringent restrictions on the delegation, and it will be absent from events that other delegations attend, such as media appearances, public relations events, and parties.
It is Israel's ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman, who sees less reason for anxiety. He says that despite Malmö's image as a place that is hostile and dangerous for Israelis, he knows another side of the city. "I was in Malmö during the 2021 Malmö International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism," Nevo Kulman says, "and I saw how this city knows how to deal with major international events. Not all of Malmö is against us, and not all of Sweden is against us.
"It is true that [Eurovision] is a complex event in which there can be provocations, protests and demonstrations, but I trust the Swedish authorities to take the challenges seriously and those responsible for the competition itself and the members of the delegations to ensure that the rules of the competition are respected and that no politics are brought into it. So, on the one hand, it may well be that Israelis, Jews, or members of the LGBT community, who usually support Israeli music, will not feel comfortable walking around Malmö with Israeli flags. But from what I hear, the Swedes are opposed to ostracism and only on the extreme left are there calls against Israel, for populist reasons. Most of the Swedes I've spoken to said they are against mixing politics and music and that they are happy that Israel is participating."
In general, says Nevo Kulman, a die-hard Eurovision fan and Israel's official representative, if it weren't for the political issue, he has no doubt that Israel would reach a respectable place in the final contest. "The song is excellent, Eden is amazing, and the performance is great," he says.
Are you willing to bet on Israel's final position?
Israel has so far refrained from engaging with the Swedish Democrats amid antisemitic and Islamophobic sentiments expressed by members. Party members told Haaretz that they met with several ministers during their visit but refused to disclose their names.
A delegation of senior members from the far-right party in Sweden, the Swedish Democrats, arrived in Israel on an unofficial visit and met on Monday with Israeli Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli in the Knesset.
The party, currently the second-largest in the Swedish parliament, has roots in neo-Nazi and antisemitic ideologies. It is one of several European parties with which Israel has refrained from establishing official ties.
The delegation has visited Yad Vashem, one of the crossings connecting Israel to the West Bank, and the Old City in Jerusalem. Yad Vashem Museum has emphasized that the delegation members registered for a regular guided tour at the site, like any other tourists, and did not have an official visit within the compound.
Officials in Sweden following the party suggest that the visit is part of its attempt to whitewash its antisemitic and racist positions by presenting itself as a friend of Israel. In a post on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter), the party leader, Jimmie Akesson, wrote: "It is clear that our parties and our nations share common values," accompanied by a photo of himself with Minister Chikli.
Party members told Haaretz that they met with several ministers during their visit but refused to disclose their names.
Israel has so far refrained from engaging with the Swedish Democrats not only due to their neo-Nazi roots but also because members of the party have disseminated conspiracy theories and expressed racist, antisemitic, and Islamophobic sentiments in recent years.
Israel's Ambassador to Stockholm, Ziv Nevo Kulman, even declared that Israel does not maintain and will not establish future relations with the party. The Israeli foreign ministry, which was not involved in coordinating the visit, clarified on Monday that "there is no change in policy towards the party."
Among the delegation members who visited the Knesset were party leader Akesson, the chairman of the Swedish parliament's foreign affairs committee, Aron Emilsson, the head of the party's parliamentary group, Linda Lindberg, and the head of the party's group in the European Parliament, Charlie Weimers.
Weimers is one of the party's top members who already visited Israel in May of last year. During the previous visit, it was reported that party leaders met with Knesset member Amit Halevi from Likud and former Knesset member Michael Kleiner, who now serves as the president of the Likud's court.
Though part of the Swedish political establishment today, the Sweden Democrats do indeed have roots in Nazism. Some of the party's founders were known Nazis, such as its first auditor, Gustaf Ekström, who was a Waffen-SS veteran.
The party's first spokesperson Leif Ericsson and its first chairman Anders Klarström were both active in various neo-Nazi and extremist right-wing parties, and the chairman of the party's youth organization, Robert Vesterlund, was also a known neo-Nazi. During the 80's and 90's, the party was a marginal force in Swedish politics, and it began distancing itself from extremism and aligning itself closer to mainstream politics in the mid 90's.
The party entered the Swedish parliament for the first time in 2010, and in the elections held a year and a half ago, it received over 20% of the votes. Until a few years ago, the party was ostracized by parties across the political spectrum in Sweden and was not considered for inclusion in any coalition.
However, due to a change in approach by two traditional right-wing parties, the Swedish Democrats became an integral part of the right-wing bloc after the elections, with the government in Stockholm entirely dependent on their support. Party members wield significant influence over the government's policies and hold key positions in parliamentary committees, including foreign affairs, justice, and industry and trade.
In recent months, the party has been attempting to position itself as "the most pro-Israel party in Sweden" and distance itself from its antiemetic and neo-Nazi past. However, in 2021, the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet revealed that the party leader in the second-largest city council in Sweden, Gothenburg, Jörgen Fogelklou, had posted antisemitic and racist statements on social media, such as "It is clear that the Jews are the root of all evil in the world."
Two years ago, it was exposed that some party members had connections with neo-Nazi movements even in recent years. For instance, one party member in southern Sweden, Jonas Lingren, publicly supported rock bands advocating for "white supremacy" and used the slogan "Skinhead 88" (88 is a known code for Heil Hitler, i.e., HH).
In a letter to Israel's foreign minister, leaders of the European Jewish Congress and the Council of Swedish Jewish Communities warned against allying with the Sweden Democrats who, according to the letter, 'claim to be our allies' while advocating that 'Jews cannot be Swedes.' The party has roots in neo-Nazi and antisemitic ideologies
STOCKHOLM – In a letter to Israel's foreign minister sent Monday by the presidents of the European Jewish Congress and the Council of Swedish Jewish Communities, the two leaders expressed concern over a recent meeting between Israeli ministers and a delegation from the far-right Sweden Democrats party, which violated Israeli policy.
EJC President Ariel Muzicant and Jewish community leader Aron Verstandig wrote that they were "gravely concerned by the implications and long-term consequences of this meeting" which also ran "counter to the Israeli foreign policy vis-à-vis the Sweden Democrats as being non-welcome, with reference to their Neo-Nazi roots."
On January 29, a delegation of senior members from the Sweden Democrats arrived in Israel and met with Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli and Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar. The group included the party's leader, Jimmie Akesson, chairman of the Swedish parliament's foreign affairs committee, Aron Emilsson, head of the party's parliamentary group, Linda Lindberg, and the head of the party's group in the European Parliament, Charlie Weimers.
The Sweden Democrats, currently the second-largest party in the Swedish parliament, has roots in neo-Nazi and antisemitic ideologies. It is one of several European parties with which Israel has refrained from establishing official ties. For that reason the recent visit to Israel was not an official one and was not arranged by Israel's Foreign Ministry.
Last year, two members of the Sweden Democrats visited Israel and met with Knesset member Amit Halevi from Netanyahu's Likud party and with former Knesset member Michael Kleiner, who serves as the president of Likud's court. There were no meetings with government ministers.
"With right wing populism and extremism on the rise throughout Europe, Jewish communities easily become exploited in narratives targeting other minorities," Verstandig and Muzicant wrote to Foreign Minister Israel Katz, "these populist parties and movements are often keen to establish alliances with Jewish communities and Israel, acting on the presumption that Jews and Jewish institutions, often being targeted by extremists of Middle Eastern and/or Muslim descent, would (and should) be interested in uniting over the notion of a 'common enemy.'"
In their letter Verstandig and Muzicant also explained that "the [Sweden Democrats] party's ideology is still inherently xenophobic even though its representatives claim to be our allies, making an exception for the Jews as a national minority, albeit claiming that Jews cannot be Swedes." They added that the party regularly submit bills in the Swedish Parliament to ban circumcision and the import of kosher meat.
In this context, the January meeting with Chikli, whose role includes fostering connection between world Jewry and Israel as well as combating antisemitism, is particularly notable. In May, Chikli also caused diplomatic embarrassment for Israel when he delivered a keynote speech at the controversial evangelical Canada Christian College. The school's president, Dr. Charles McVety, is an activist and leader of Canada's Christian far right.
Sweden Democrats leader Akesson took to X after the meeting, writing, "It is clear that our parties and our nations share common values." In response, Chikli tweeted: "We deeply appreciate your support and your passion for our mutual fight for the future of Western civilization."
Asked by Haaretz what he expects as a reply to his letter, Verstandig said he hoped Katz would confirm that the policy of not allying with extremist parties still applies.
A Foreign Ministry source replied to Haaretz's query on the subject, saying there is no change in the ministry's policy toward the Sweden Democrats. The source did not say whether the ministers would face disciplinary action over the meeting.
Swedish public radio has reported that the two agents, a man and a woman who were expelled from Sweden in 2022, were linked to Iran's Revolutionary Guards and that among their intended victims was the chairman of the Jewish community
Swedish public radio reported on Tuesday that Iran had planned to kill Swedish Jews using agents who had infiltrated into the country in 2015 by pretending to be refugees. In its investigative report, Radio Sweden said that the agents, a man, and a woman, were linked to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards and that among the targets of their plot was Aron Verständig, the chairman of the Swedish Jewish community's umbrella organization, the Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities.
"This involves a plan by another country to murder a Swedish citizen, and that has me boiling," Verständig told the public radio station. "It felt very unpleasant. I was worried and as a father of young children, I felt a major responsibility for my children's safety." In a Facebook post, Verständig added: "From my standpoint, there was never any doubt that I would continue living life as usual. I hope that what was disclosed today doesn't cause anyone to be less open regarding their Jewish identity."
Another person who was in the Iranian agents' crosshairs was a U.S. citizen, and according to the Swedish prosecutor's office, the FBI was involved in the investigation.
The two alleged Iranian agents – Mahdi Ramezani and Fereshteh Sanaeifarid– were arrested in the Stockholm area in April 2021, the radio station reported. The Swedish prosecutor told reporters that the authorities hadn't managed to gather sufficient evidence against them at the time to indict them, so it was decided to expel them to Iran in 2022. Their expulsion was reported in the past, but the circumstances of the matter weren't disclosed at the time. The Iranian embassy in Stockholm refused to comment.
The Iranian plot revealed a major failure on the part of Sweden's immigration authority, which had granted the pair status as Afghan asylum-seekers, and later resident status. This was despite the fact that in 2016, the immigration authority received two anonymous tips that the pair were Iranian and not Afghani, and that the Iranian man was working for the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
The immigration authority declined to comment on this specific case, but a spokesman said, "What's important is that ultimately, the correct decision was made."
In addition, in recent months, there has been an increase in reports of antisemitic incidents in Sweden, including demonstrations with antisemitic content, calls for boycotts, antisemitic comments in the media and on social media and abuse and harassment at schools and universities.
"Antisemitism has gone sky-high since October 7," Verständig told Haaretz last week, in reference to the Hamas attacks in a string of Israeli border communities that day, "and many people have been experiencing fear, insecurity, and anxiety. A survey that we carried out in November shows that many Jews have considered leaving Sweden. The government has reacted in an excellent way – but in civil society, reactions are sometimes very different."
Sweden's 20,000-strong Jewish community was looking forward to marking a landmark event next year – but October 7 changed everything. Now, with antisemitic incidents skyrocketing, there are fears that a community that was only founded in 1775 could be at risk.
STOCKHOLM – Sweden's Jewish community is preparing to celebrate its 250th anniversary next year, but what was being heralded as an unprecedentedly good moment for the community changed in the blink of an eye on Oct. 7.
This is a story about both ancient and modern history, and how a country went from having no Jews to having a vibrant Jewish community – yet could still end up having very few local Jewish communities if the recent tensions continue.
Prior to 1774, there was no Jewish community in Sweden. Although some Jews had settled there earlier, there was no Jewish community as Jews who immigrated there had to be baptized into the Lutheran religion.
Aaron Isaac, Credit: Wikipedia
That all changed 250 years ago, though, when a Jewish seal engraver named Aaron Isaac arrived in Stockholm from German Mecklenburg. "Isaac became the first person who was allowed to live as a Jew in Sweden," says Daniel Leviathan, a Swedish-Jewish historian who's also active in some of the country's Jewish organizations. "He was able to secure the right to form a minyan [prayer group] and to found a Jewish cemetery and mikveh."
Within the space of a year, Stockholm had a proper Jewish community, which included new arrivals from Germany, Denmark and Holland. Around the same period, under King Gustav III, a second Jewish community was established in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. "In 1782, a Jewish ordinance was issued as a demand of the Swedish aristocracy," Leviathan recounts. Apart from regulating the right for Jews to live in Sweden, the ordinance set some restrictions. Jews were only allowed to move to the country if they had a minimum capital worth today's equivalent of about $100,000; they had to live in one of three towns; and local guilds stopped them from working in certain fields. "At the beginning of the 19th century," he says, "there were only about 1,000 Jews living in Sweden. Many of them were young and industrious people who thought they could make a better life for themselves in Sweden. At this point, they couldn't yet assimilate into Swedish society, and since it was a small community they all knew each other. They competed with each other but were also dependent on each other."
"At the beginning of the 19th century," he says, "there were only about 1,000 Jews living in Sweden. Many of them were young and industrious people who thought they could make a better life for themselves in Sweden. At this point, they couldn't yet assimilate into Swedish society, and since it was a small community they all knew each other. They competed with each other but were also dependent on each other."
Daniel Leviathan, photo: Hugh Gordon
According to Leviathan, the second part of the 19th century brought great change: Sweden opened its borders more widely, with pogroms and hardships in the Russian Empire bringing poor Orthodox Jews to the country. At the same time, the Jews who had been in Sweden for several generations enjoyed full emancipation in 1870.
They were considered Swedish citizens of the Jewish faith, no longer a "foreign" element. Many were assimilated and belonged to the elite of Swedish society. They could live anywhere, had a brand-new synagogue in the capital, and many considered themselves Reform Jews. By the time immigration came to a halt because of World War I, Sweden had about 7,000 Jews.
Sweden's World War II story is well-known: It managed to maintain so-called neutrality and wasn't officially part of the war. As for immigration, it was extremely restrictive both before and at the start of the war, but this changed dramatically in 1942 when it allowed about half of Norway's Jews, all of Denmark's Jews and many more refugees from across the continent find refuge within its borders. "After the war, Sweden accepted around 15,000 Jews," says Leviathan. "Many of the Holocaust survivors immigrated later to the United States or Israel, but 5,000 or 6,000 stayed. They were joined by other waves of immigration in later decades: Poles in 1969, Russians in the 1990s, and also Israelis. Today, the community is in many ways similar to Swedish society – modern, liberal and relatively secular. Because of its unique wartime history, it's different to most European communities because it became much bigger after the war than it was before it."
Today, it's estimated that about 20,000 Jews live in Sweden – though there are thousands more who can claim Jewish heritage. The largest community is in Stockholm, which has three synagogues and a relatively new cultural center called Bajit that is home to a Jewish elementary school and kindergarten, Jewish activities, a kosher shop and a café. The city also houses plenty of Jewish cultural and educational institutions, and organizations. Other Jewish communities and associations exist in Malmö, Gothenburg and a few smaller towns.
Sweden's Jewish groups are united under an umbrella organization called the Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities, and its chairman, Aron Verständig, says the local community is a vibrant and diverse one. "It's more diverse now than it was 150 or even 50 years ago," he says. "There are families like my own that have been here for three or four generations and are established in Sweden. And there are also many Jews who live here but weren't born here." Verständig adds that this diversity is of a religious nature too. "These days, Stockholm has – for the first time – a progressive community with a progressive rabbi, but there's also renewed interest in the Great Synagogue [which is Conservative] and Orthodox Judaism. Chabad, which has been here for over 20 years, has also become a respected part of the community."
But there are many challenges too. One is the fact that the smaller Jewish communities aren't as vibrant as the one in the capital. "The optimism that you can see in Stockholm, where the community is growing, isn't what you see in the smaller communities – and this has been the case for many decades," says Verständig. "Initially, many members of the smaller communities moved to Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. Now Gothenburg and Malmö's communities are getting smaller too, and many are moving to Stockholm. It's increasingly hard to live a Jewish life outside of Stockholm, and organized Jewish life in the smaller towns is quite slim."
Other challenges, according to Verständig, include staying relevant who those who are not observant and finding ways to attract new members in a country where assimilation rates are very high. He adds, though, that things have changed in that regard in his lifetime. "When I was growing up, they said that if you married a non-Jew, your kids wouldn't be Jewish – but nowadays it's not like that," he says. "We see that children of interfaith marriages are sent to Jewish schools and summer camps. There's a great need for Jewish education when you have a non-Jewish spouse, and it's a challenge to be inclusive enough for different groups from very different backgrounds."
However, while issues such as the legal status of circumcision, importing kosher meat and the legal framework of Jewish schools are undoubtedly issues for the community, all pale in comparison to the main problem these days: antisemitism. The issue of antisemitism has been discussed extensively over several decades in Sweden. In fact, all Swedish governments since the turn of the century have made concerted attempts to address it. The current (center-right) government appointed a special interministerial task force in order to combat antisemitism and strengthen Jewish life. This was a follow-up to 2021's Malmö International Forum on Holocaust Remembrance and Combating Antisemitism, which had been arranged by the previous (center-left) government.
These measures acknowledged that antisemitism comes in many different forms, including right-wing nationalism, left-wing radicalism and Islamism, which arrived through large waves of immigration from the Middle East starting in the last few decades. It was also clear that antisemitism can be found in many different arenas: online, in the workplace, public spaces and, perhaps worst of all, in schools. "A report that was written as a result of our request, and as one of the pledges of the Malmö conference, was released a few weeks ago," says Verständig. "In general, there are many suggestions that I think improve the possibility of living a Jewish life in Sweden – including safeguarding the right for Brit Milah [circumcision], financing security [at Jewish institutions], funding maintenance of synagogues and setting up a Jewish information center."
Yet the situation has deteriorated dramatically since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7. "Antisemitism has skyrocketed," says Verständig. "Many are feeling afraid, insecure and anxious," he says – and this was said on Tuesday, a day before a grenade was found outside the Israeli Embassy in central Stockholm. "A survey we did in November shows that many Jews have considered leaving Sweden. The government has reacted in an excellent way – but in civil society, reactions are sometimes very different."
Leviathan also expresses concerns over recent developments. "What's new in the current situation is that antisemitism is much harder to avoid," he says. "We always had antisemitism, but you could avoid it by moving to a different neighborhood or changing your job. Now it's everywhere – in the streets and squares, even in the 'nice' neighborhoods. It's in schools and universities. Youngsters are being bullied and exposed to antisemitism on TikTok, and adults are losing friends and colleagues who post anti-Israeli propaganda online. You're not even safe in your private space: you never know if the postman will react to the Jewish name on your mailbox. This is what I hear from young people in Sweden, and it's what I've experienced myself: there's no safe space anymore."
Leviathan's views are echoed by others in the community. Sweden has a vibrant Jewish cultural scene, but the difference between the period prior to Oct. 7 and afterward are dramatic.
The week before Oct. 7, the most important cultural event in the region, the Gothenburg Book Fair, hosted an institution called Jewish Culture in Sweden – founded and managed by Swedish-Israeli Lizzie Oved Scheja – as a guest of honor. This was a historic moment for Swedish-Jewish culture: Jewish literature, philosophy, music and humor were celebrated by a very wide audience, in what many described as an almost euphoric atmosphere.
What followed changed everything.
"My life has changed drastically since Oct. 7, both personally and professionally," says Natalie Lantz, a PhD scholar in Hebrew Bible studies who's also a columnist and translator of Hebrew literature (her translations include works by David Grossman, Amos Oz and Sara Shilo). "In 2013, I started writing and lecturing about Jewish and Hebrew culture and literature. My field of expertise has always spurred curiosity and positive reactions. Before Oct. 7, I had only been treated with suspicion by colleagues a few times. I remember a social gathering at a cultural institution when I was presented as the translator of Amos Oz's 'Dear Zealots,' and a person immediately took two steps back and said with disgust: 'I just want to be very clear that I don't support the Israeli occupation.' The conversation was abruptly shot down. Painfully, I realized that some people in the cultural world consider the Hebrew language and Israeli cultural expressions as being evil to the core. But such incidents were rare before Oct. 7. Now, there seems to be no end to the aggressive calls for a boycott of Israeli academia and culture."
She recounts how a petition signed by cultural workers, including some from public institutions, was peppered with terms like "apartheid system" and "Zionist-motivated genocide." "There are BDS rallies at the universities and I hear of faculties that are asked by students and staff to report if they have academic cooperation with Israeli universities," Lantz says.
Natalie Lantz, photo: Hugh Gordon
For her, it's not only about her feelings but also her livelihood. "I'm dependent on being in dialogue with the intellectual arenas of Israel in order to conduct my work in an insightful manner," she says. "Now I fear that the calls for boycott may result in a difficulty to get funding for academic and cultural exchanges between Sweden and Israel. I myself have become very anxious in interactions with colleagues and institutions.
"Will my upcoming university lecture on the history of Jewish Bible translations provoke someone?" she asks. "Is [Austrian-Israeli philosopher] Martin Buber going to be canceled? Can I film the planned family program about Purim for Swedish television without being aggressively attacked? And, most scarily, can I continue to be an openly Jewish public figure in Sweden? I feel vulnerable and exposed. My world is shrinking."
Lantz is accustomed to the sight of a heavy security presence outside synagogues and Stockholm's Jewish school, "even though it feels absurd that community members have to be protected just for being Jewish. I've never really felt frightened of taking part in Jewish activities, but this has changed. I was out walking in the city center last Saturday when I accidentally got caught in a pro-Palestinian demonstration. This was on International Holocaust Remembrance Day. That evening, some people from the demonstration stood outside the synagogue where we hosted a memorial ceremony with Holocaust survivors present. They filmed people entering the synagogue and screamed 'child murderers,' 'death to Israel' and 'intifada.' That horrified me."
She believes the Swedish government has an "enormous responsibility" to combat this wave of antisemitism. "It seems to me that the politicians are taking the matter seriously, as they're not only allocating funds for security to Jewish institutions but also have a strategy to strengthen Jewish life – which focuses on the transmission of Jewish culture and Yiddish to future generations."
Yiddish is one of five official minority languages in Sweden, which is why Lantz believes focusing on it makes sense. That said, she still has concerns. "I fear that the strong focus on Yiddish in Sweden comes at the expense of possibilities to strengthen the knowledge of Hebrew, which is important as a common language for Jews globally," she says. "I was puzzled to note that 'Yiddish' appears 327 times in the strategy document while 'Hebrew' appears only 15 times. To me, strengthening Jewish life in Sweden is also about providing tools to partake in the international Hebrew cultural scene. After all, we'll need Hebrew translators also in future generations. At least, I hope so."
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and opposition leader Magdalena Andersson were among those marching in Stockholm against antisemitism on Wednesday. 'All leaders bear a responsibility to draw a line against hate,' says premier
STOCKHOLM – It was minus 12 degrees Celsius (10 degrees Fahrenheit) in the Swedish capital on Wednesday afternoon. Raoul Wallenberg Square, named for the Swedish diplomat who saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust, was covered with both snow and security personnel. The tightened security was not just because of the country's high terror alert, but also due to an unusual gathering taking place there at 1 P.M.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was at the heart of it all, accompanied by senior members of his government, opposition leader Magdalena Andersson, and the heads of most other opposition parties. In fact, apart from the far-right Sweden Democrats, every single party in the Swedish Parliament showed up for this unique event, coalescing together around the same agenda.
That in itself is unusual, but there was an especially rare element to this gathering: the male politicians were all wearing kippot.
The event, an initiative of the Swedish Parliament's Network Against Antisemitism and the Council of Swedish-Jewish Communities, was dubbed a "kippa march." Politicians, Jewish leaders and several hundred marchers placed the kippot atop their heads and walked through central Stockholm, in order to show solidarity with Sweden's small Jewish community and take a stand against antisemitism.
"The Jewish holiday of Hanukkah begins [on Thursday], and it's about spreading light in the darkness," said Magnus Manhammar, who represents the Social Democratic Party and the Network Against Antisemitism. "Sweden and the world need less polarization and fewer harsh words," he added.
As politicians and participants walked past the Royal Opera House and Royal Palace, they attracted both media and public attention. They then arrived at their destination: Parliament House, where they listened to speeches by PM Kristersson, opposition leader Andersson and others.
Israel's Sweden ambassador, Ziv Nevo Kulman, was there as well, alongside the leadership of many Swedish-Jewish institutions and organizations.
"We are here today to show our support for Sweden's Jews. The right to express one's faith, identity, culture and relations is fundamental in a democracy like ours," Kristersson said. "The government and I will never accept the development we have seen both in Europe and in Sweden since the terrorist attack on October 7 [in southern Israel]. No Jew in Sweden should have to ask himself or herself whether he or she dares to stay in their own country."
Since the Israel-Hamas war began, Kristersson has made numerous statements in support of both Israel and Sweden's Jewish community. He told the parliament that in the context of the harsh, sometimes hostile, political debate about the war in Gaza, "it's legitimate to think differently about conflicts there, but not to spread antisemitism here."
Andersson, meanwhile, said that "in recent months, we have seen antisemitic slogans being chanted in the streets and squares. Spread online. More and more people with a Jewish background are affected. Anxiety spreads, insecurity grows. All leaders – political, religious, in civil society – bear a responsibility to draw a line against hate; to stand up for our way of life, in contrast to those who seek to divide."
She added that "because Jewish life in Sweden is as obvious as an inalienable part of our society, the fight against antisemitism in all its forms must be principled and vigorous. Support for Jewish life must be strong. And in this situation, continued measures against antisemitism, resources for security-enhancing measures and education about the Holocaust and antisemitism, are more important than ever."
From left to right: Center Party leader, Muharrem Demirok; Liberal Party leader, Johan Pehrson; Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson; Oposition leader Magdalena Andersson; Left Party leader, Nooshi Dadgostar Photo credit: Hugh Gordon
It's estimated that about 15,000 Jews live in Sweden, which has a population of just over 10 million (although there are probably many more Swedes who are Jewish by descent). The capital has the country's largest Jewish community, with other communities found in Malmö, Gothenburg and a couple of smaller towns.
Antisemitism is by no means a new phenomenon in Swedish society, and in recent years various governments have made concerted efforts to address it. Against the backdrop of the latest war in Gaza, though, media reports have indicated a sharp rise in the number of antisemitic incidents. These include bullying, threats and hate crimes in Swedish schools, antisemitic propaganda spread in universities, "pro-Palestinian" demonstrations featuring antisemitic slogans, and the spreading of antisemitic hate and conspiracy theories online.
"The truth is that antisemitism exists in several places in our society – among Islamists, right-wing extremists and left-wing extremists," said Aron Verständig, chairman of the Council of Swedish-Jewish Communities. "It's not possible to approach the problem by simply pointing out one group as solely responsible for Jew-hatred in society. It's gratifying, therefore, that leading politicians from so many different parties chose to cooperate on Wednesday. The fight against Jew-hatred is everyone's fight."
דיויד סטברו 