Minister Mats Odell visits anti-Semitic Malmö

A few weeks ago Marcus Eilenberg started to draw attention to the
large number of anti-Semitic hate crimes in the southern city of Malmö, the number of which has doubled in 2009. His statement was initially published in Skånskan.se where Eilenberg stated that the radically deteriorated situation for Jews in Malmö forced him and his family to leave the city. He thereupon decided to emigrate to Israel..

Eilenberg's story led Skånskan.se to start a series about the "hatred of jews", which has become a hot issue for Swedish politicians, the population in Malmö and has now also caught the eye of the international media.

Yesterday the London based newspaper "Telegraph" published Eilenberg's story alongside an interview with Judith Popinski who arrived in Sweden after her rescue from a Nazi concentration camp. Popinski, like Eilenberg described the situation in Malmö as unbearable for the Jewish population. She said: "I never thought I would see this hatred again in my lifetime, not in Sweden anyway," She mentioned elements of the Moslim population as the main originators of the racism and stressed that it is not contained by the Swedish government.

Today the Minister for Local Government and Financial Markets Mats Odell (Christian Democrat) visited the Jewish community in Malmö to inform himself about the major anti-Semitism. This is the second initiative of a leading politician to discuss the problematic reality for Jews in the city. Mona Sahlin the leader of the main opposition party, the Social Democrats, met with representatives of the Jewish community on February 14.