Monday, May 31, 2010

Dror Feiler’s Son Tigran Lies on Swedish Television about Ship to Gaza.

In a Swedish TV report Dror Feiler’s son, Tigran Feiler was interviewed concerning the boarding of the eight ships  loaded with international political activists. The flotilla aimed at breaking international law by sailing into the Gaza Strip. On board one of the boats is Dror Feiler; he seeks to promote international recognition of Hamas which is classified by EU as a terrorist organization. In the interview Tigran Feiler shows that his “truth” is just as twisted as his father’s. (movie below)

http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid72082199001?bctid=89105010001

The interview is called “Of course I am worried” and features Tigran Feiler purporting to give a truthful account of what happened when Israel was forced to board the vessels aiming at sailing into to Gaza. Gaza is under sea blockade by Israel as the Hamas government fires rockets attacking Israeli civilian targets and encourages suicide missions against Israelis; its genocidal constitution specifically states that Hamas’ goal is to demolish Israel and murder all its citizens.  One of the missions of the Israeli navy is stopping weapons cargos  which have been shipped to Gaza by boat.

Tigran Feiler had gathered outside Israel’s embassy in Stockholm with some 40 people to protest against Israel’s right to protect its citizens from possible weapons shipments in unsearched cargo entering the Gaza; Israel’s right to inspection was agreed to by treaty with the Palestinians.

According to a narrator in the movie, more than 19 people have been reported dead.
Tigran then starts to tell the viewers that he, of course, is worried about his dad who was on one of the ships—this although it was already reported that no Swedish citizen was either wounded or killed. His fear is based on a movie (posted by Israel) which shows one Israeli soldier heavily abused by the “peace activists” before he even sets foot on the deck of the boat.
In this situation, according to Feiler “anything can happen”. He continues arguing that “apparently they [Israel] have open fired pretty much recklessly and we are speaking about 20 deaths”. 

The interviewer then asks Tigran if he had heard anything from his father on whether or not the crew on the boats had weapons. Tigran answers:
“uh no we did not have time to talk about that [conveniently enough] but it is possible. If there is a boat with some 500 passengers there could be someone who loses control when soldiers board the boat at 4-5 in the morning.”
At the same time he argues “it really seems like something made up afterwards where one is trying to justify something that can’t be justified—the discussion should really not be about whether or not people on the boat were armed—the discussion should be about what the Israeli soldiers are doing on the boat [he clearly doesn’t want to understand that they are protecting their sovereignty from armed political activists] which was positioned in international waters [whether or not the boat was actually in international water is not confirmed] where Israel doesn’t have the right to border it.

It is clear that the “humanitarian shipment” which Dror and his son Tigran Feiler represent did not sail mainly for humanitarian reasons. The fact that Tigran Feiler admits that there were armed activists on the boat further confirms this. That he doesn’t know international law and what Israel is allowed to do or not is another thing. The “Ship to Gaza” movement is mainly a political organization which hides behind a humanitarian mask and is prepared to use violence to reach their goals.

Swedish Government Supports Attack on Israeli Navy By Peace Activists

During the early morning Israeli naval forces boarded the boats that were out to break international law and provide various goods to the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas, a regime the EU terms a terrorist organization. On board one of the vessels were some 100 political activists (including politicians), of whom 10 are Swedish. Israel had warned the vessels to turn back prior to the boarding—this  was met with negative responses as can be seen in this video.  
When the boats refused to turn around, Israel decided to commandeer the boats—and on one ship Israeli navy personnel were met with violent attacks. This  can be seen clearly in this video (note the assault by the metal pipe on the Israel soldier). The brutal assaults by the armed provocateurs/activists on the Israeli soldiers are reported to have led to approximately 10 dead and a number of injured. It is also reported that activists seized weapons from boarding soldiers and opened fire on the Israelis. 

In Sweden, reports on the Israeli response to the international flotilla’s attempt to breach the Gaza boycott called it a brutal “attacks on peace activists”. On Swedish national radio “Morgonpasset” from P3, the radio panel discussed the Israeli “attack” on the activists. An commentator was invited to the show to tell the listeners what was taking place outside the Israeli coastal line. When asked how many Swedes there were on the boat- he did not know the answer. When asked if Israel had “just gone inside and killed the unarmed activists” his answer was “yes, basically yes”. It is clear that the commentator chosen by Swedish national radio is both incompetent as well as ignorant. . The general notion in Sweden is that Israel has stopped humanitarians on its way to feed hungry women and children.  At the end of the show one of the hosts ended the program by saying
-“ I get so darn tired of f-ing Israel, as soon as someone disagrees with them, they go and shoot them down”.
This biased and false reporting has continued in Sweden during the day and is taking place as I am writing this.

In one of Sweden’s largest newspapers the notoriously anti-Israeli, social democratic Aftonbladet the headlines read: “The Raid became a Blood Bath”.

Many Swedish sources argue that Israel boarded the ships while in international water- this is not confirmed by any source.

The wife of the famous Swedish author Henning Mankell who is on one of the boats speaks out in Swedish newspapers and states that Israel’s actions are despicable. 

At 11am this morning a group of some 20 demonstrators gathered outside Israel’s embassy in Stockholm to demonstrate against Israel.

One hour before the Swedish opposition parties (The Social Democrats, The Left and the Environment Party) condemned Israel’s actions. The statement read as follows:

– We condemn the Israeli military’s lethal shootings [no mention of the activists’ theft of an Israeli gun used to fire at the Israelis- nor that many activists on one of the vessels were armed with knifes and metal pipes]
and the overuse of aggression [without even know how much force was necessary for the action]
against the humanitarian activists [neglecting to mention politicians] who have tried to bring aid to Gaza by boat. The action taken is very serious and if it occurred in international waters [although this is not confirmed]
this is completely against international law. [although this violates a signed agreement between Israel and the Palestinians].

The Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt has also made a statement that (despite not having full information at this early stage) he would like to see an international investigation of the case.

Sweden has not once reported or mentioned that–as reported in the Tundra Tabloids blog— “peace activists” aboard the boats include the likes of Ulf Carmesund,  international secretary for the Social Democrats' Brotherhood movement (Broderskapsrörelsen). This Christian body is the only organization in Sweden overtly working with the Muslim Brotherhood—which publicly supports suicide bombers. Another Swede present is a member of parliament for the Green Party, Mehmet Kaplan, who invited the Muslim Brotherhood into Swedish parliament.  Lastly we have the Israeli Dror Feiler, who openly calls for Israel to recognize Hamas. These guys are hardly innocent humanitarian activists.

Sweden Israel and the Jews
will continue to follow updates concerning the planned terror attack on the Israeli navy and uncovering the untruths and reporting information censored by the Swedish media.

Member of the Swedish Government Mehmet Kaplan Ignores Turkish Genocide But Incites Against Israel.

Mehmet Kaplan, a Swedish parliamentarian from the Green Party is of Turkish origin. Recently, during the Swedish parliamentary deliberations on a resolution condemning the genocide of the Armenians in Turkey, Kaplan walked out of the hall without casting his vote. This showed that he does not to want to condemn the brutal genocide in which hundreds of thousands of Armenians died. Kaplan is now also joining the anti-Israeli flotilla that aims to challenge and provoke Israel by sailing to the Gaza Strip.

The flotilla to Gaza  is made up of a few ships that have set sail in the Mediterranean with the stated intent of breaking international law by sailing into the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid and demonstrators. Israel has already made clear that they are willing to receive the ships in the port of Ashdod on Israeli territory and then transport the aid to the Strip. Sadly it doesn’t seem like the humanitarian aid is the number one priority for the group of demonstrators that have sailed mainly for political reasons. 
The group of demonstrators, includes about 10 from Sweden including, in addition to Kaplan, their living glorifier of Palestinian suicide terror, expat Israeli Dror Feiler. These demonstrators have declared that they will try to break Israel’s blockade even though they know Israel will not allow this. It seems that many of the passengers, such as the Swedish provocateurs hope to see Israel use force. This would of course help to further demonize Israel but would not in any way lead to a better situation for either the Palestinians or the Israelis.

Israel cannot allow such ships to sail to Gaza because in the past ships have smuggled weapons, criminals and other illegal goods onboard, much in the same way these goods are brought through the tunnels on the Egyptian border. Allowing the ships to pass unsearched would mean endangering innocent civilians in Israel as weapons such as missiles later could be used against Israeli civilians.  
Israel and the PLO are both signatories to an agreement that Israel will guard the waters outside Gaza in order to foil attempts to smuggle dangerous materials; this was done in order to reduce hostilities and prevent future wars.

Israel knows that the passengers on the ships, such as Kaplan, are looking to gain international attention (Sweden has sent a TV crew from Swedish TV4 to monitor the event).  The Israelis still have declared that they will use as little force as possible to stop the boats and return the passengers to their home countries while allowing qualified humanitarian aid to proceed to the Gaza Strip.

Also sailing along with the Swedes is the head of the Islamic Movement in Northern Israel Sheikh Raed Salah. As reported the Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot, when commenting on the possibility that Israel will stop the flotilla, Salah said that “as long as there is an Israeli threat, our morale increases. The more Israel exploits us, the more determined we are”. It is also now known that participants on the flotilla have been recorded shouting “Khaybar Khaybar ya yahud, Jaish Muhammad saya’ud,” which means “Jews, remember Khyabar, the army of Mohammed is returning.” The chant relates to an event inthe seventh century when Muslims massacred and expelled Jews from the town of Khaybar, in modern-day Saudi Arabia.

As can be read in the blog Norway, Israel and the Jews Israel condemns the anti-Semitic chants. According to a statement from the Israeli foreign ministry this also demonstrates that many people on the ships are not against a particular policy of the Israeli government, but have very real and dangerous hatred for Jews and the Jewish State.”

The Swedes sailing to Gaza claim to support human rights. That Gaza is ruled by Hamas, a terrorist organization, which in its charter advocates the genocide of Jews in the name of Allah, does not seem to bother them.  Intentionally ignoring this makes it clear that they are allies of murder-promoters, not humanitarians.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Guillou speaks out in Aftonbladet- against freedom of speech

In a recent article in the Swedish left leaning daily Aftonblandet, Jan Guillou, a wellknown famous left-wing Swedish author who in the 60 and 70s was involved in Palestinian terror activities, spoke out against freedom of speech. This was done by criticizing the Swedish artist Lars Vilks who recently was attacked by a Muslim mob in Uppsala University when he was trying to promote freedom of expression in art.

According to Guillou, Vilks is not defending Swedish freedom of expression but is rather “systematically out to target those who are easiest to violate, a small minority of hysteric people, loons and unemployed teenagers who are found amongst the half a million immigrants or wog’s that the Swedish democrats and liberal culture debate authors are calling Muslims." These people are vulnerable in Sweden Guillou argues as they don’t have the means to verbally protect themselves, therefore their discontent can [justly] take form in physical violence.

According to Guillou the majority of Muslims would never even think the thought to attack Vilks (he has clearly not seen the angry mobs in Malmö chanting for the death of the Jews, nor the video of Vilks attack were seemingly secular Muslims were throwing curse words and threats against the Swedish police). Vilks attempts to show the public that Sweden upholds freedom of expression was rather, according to Guillou’s conspiracy theory, yet another way to unjustly target the “vulnerable” Muslim community in Sweden.
Instead of going on a political hunting trip against Muslims, Vilks should according to Guillou try to use the same tactic against gays or for example other cultural debate authors.

This has in fact been done in Sweden, there have been caricatures of Jews as well as Christians yet no death threats or violent attacks occurred then. No Swedish flags were burned in Israel nor in the Vatican State. I am more than confident that if Lars Vilks would make a caricature of a gay man, homosexuals around the world would not gather in violently enraged groups and neither try to blow up Swedish embassies nor attempt murder on Vilks.

What Guillou does not seem to understand is that this small fraction of anti-democratic supporters is contributing to dangerous influences in the Swedish society. Vilks does not need to make caricatures of gays and Jews, these are groups which lives peacefully in the Swedish society. A small fraction amongst the Muslims in Sweden the size of which we do not know, on the other hand (clearly emphasizing not all of them) are recruiting members for terrorist organizations and seeks to impose the highly un-secular sharia law in Sweden.

Therefore there is some justification to argue for the necessity of that people such as Vilks do push the boundaries of freedom of expression. This, as it is important for immigrants in Sweden, no matter their religious belonging, to understand that ones in Sweden, one needs to live by the laws of the Swedish state. This of course incorporated perhaps not practicing but accepting freedom of expression as well as secular values.

Vilks is allowed to say and think whatever he wants without being attacked by a mob or having his house subjected to arson. This is something that a political author like Guillou should agree with, instead he chooses to side not only with those that speaks against it, but indirectly also with those who are violent.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Juvenile Rock-Throwers: No Longer Just in Israel—Now a Malmö Phenomenon!


Two days ago in Malmö, an ambulance pulled up outside one of the schools in the notoriously angry neighborhood of Rosengård in Malmö. While trying to aid a student, the ambulance was attacked by stone-throwing kids.
The school had, as reported by local newspaper Sydsvenskan called the ambulance to get emergency aid for a student who attends the school. Once the ambulance stopped outside the school, kids, who vary in age from 12-15, started throwing rocks at the ambulance.
Rosengård is known as an area where lawlessness prevails and where both police and firefighters struggle to uphold law and order. Currently, according to Magnus Ranstorp, Research Director of the Centre for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defense College, it is also a place where an Islamic radicalization process is taking place. Ranstorp argues that the current situation in Rosengård is a perfect breeding ground for Islamic radicals to spread their ideas. This has been highly criticized by the vast majority of the intellectual and media elite in Sweden.
Now it appears that Ranstorp’s predictions might not be so wrong. Malmö has increasingly started to look like the Palestinian territories, east Jerusalem, and other places where Palestinian kids throw rocks at Israeli civilians and at soldiers who are present to maintain order. Such lawless attacks against civilians and the authorities will, if they are not contained by the Swedish government, eventually grow to become a real threat to all of Swedish society. The threat is already imminent, as can been seen by the emigration of Jewish families from the city. Still, the Swedish authorities seem to be clueless as to how to handle the problem.
While throwing rocks at the police might be falsely justified by anti-establishment types, throwing rocks at an ambulance is another deal entirely. It seems as if Malmö is increasingly beginning to resemble the Palestinian territories, with every passing day. Possibly this is due to the fact that the Swedish migration board has decided to give refuge to even more Palestinians.

While many out there probably think that this has something to do with the alleged “blockade” that Israel has imposed on the Gaza Strip, this is not the case. The Swedish migration board has decided to give refuge to more Palestinians as they consider Hamas dangerous to the Palestinian population in Gaza. In their report (in Swedish) one can read the following:
“There are several reports on the prevalence of detentions and different forms of inhuman treatment or torture of  political prisoners by the Hamas armed forces. It is also clear that there have been occurrences of numerous executions, first and foremost of people belonging to Fatah and/or people suspected to be collaborators with Israel [these executions were perpetrated] in connection with the Hamas power overthrow in the Gaza Strip and also later in connection with Operation Cast Lead [the Israeli operation which aimed at stopping the rocket attacks launched from Gaza]”.
Yes, while being the number one of provider of aid to the Palestinian territories, the Swedes have proven themselves loyal to the Palestinian cause—and capable of the double game of supporting Hamas and rescuing those persecuted by the regime. Observers of recent events, including this ambulance stoning, may wonder if soon, it would be appropriate to rename Malmö and call it Ramallmö—since now not only kids in Ramallah stone ambulances. In Rosengård, as long as he does nothing about the situation, Mayor Reepalu is developing his own Social Democratic Hamastan.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Does Per Gahrton Want to Defy International Law?

The Swedish Social Democrat  organ, the daily Aftonbladet, reports in a recent article  that certain Swedish individuals are going to “risk their lives for the Palestinians” by sailing as part of the project known as “Ship to Gaza”.  As Israel has decided to stop the “humanitarian” convoy, Swedish politician Per Gahrton has determined that the Swedes onboard should fear for their lives.  Gahrton is a veteran Swedish parliamentarian who served as a member of both the Liberal and Green parties, and was also a representative for Sweden in the European Parliament.

 In the article Gahrton recalls an event that happened some 20 years ago when 3 Fatah members were killed in a car bombing—according  to Gahrton this was due to their purchase of a ship that would transport some 130 Palestinians illegally back to the Palestinian territories. The ship in question was later sunk, although it is unclear who was responsible for this. Based on these facts Gahrton goes on to make his dramatic claim that the Swedes onboard the ship are, therefore, traveling in peril of their lives for the Palestinian cause.  This is the “truth” Gahrton has extrapolated from one indeterminate sinking and Israel’s statement saying that they will prevent any future shipments initiated by the organization “Ship to Gaza”.

Gahrton (conveniently enough) leaves out the fact that “Ship to Gaza” recently transported former convicts and demonstrators to the Palestinian territories, including a retired archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, Hilarion Capucci. Capucci is a very long-term PLO sympathizer who was arrested in Israel 1974 and sentenced to 12 years in prison for using diplomatic immunity to smuggle weapons—hence a man of both the cloth and the bullet.  Although a key condition of his early release, negotiated by the Vatican, was that Capucci not return to the Middle East, this was a promise which was broken repeatedly.

Gahrton also forgets to mention that most countries in the world choose to send aid to the Palestinian territories through the UN over the Israeli borders. This humanitarian aid exceeds by far the quality and quantities of aid shipments that have arrived by boat illegally--such as the bits and pieces delivered by the February 2009  “Ship to Gaza”, also with Capucci on board.  That cargo contained besides donated blood, a minimum of humanitarian aid (a few dozen boxes of food and some bottled water). [Pictured below]


 In comparison, Israel alone transfers and facilitates the transfer of tons of food and medicine to Gaza, as well as fuel for domestic use, and provides numerous Gazans with state-of-the-art medical care in Israeli hospitals.  Even during the Gaza War while Israel’s southern towns were being attacked by Hamas rocket fire Israel sent over 37,000 tons of humanitarian aid on more than 1,500 trucks into Gaza, including food, medication and medical supplies.

It seems that Gahrton is also oblivious to the fact that the Palestinian Authority and Israel, in the Oslo agreement from 1995, jointly agreed and signed that Israel will be responsible for the waters outside the Gaza Strip and that foreign ships will be prohibited (by law) from coming within 12 nautical miles of the area. This was decided on by the two parties in order to limit hostilities in the region. The Palestinian Authority failed to uphold the agreement, most notably by acquiring arms via shipments such the infamous Karina A cargo transport of 50 tons of advanced weaponry including Katyusha rockets, rifles, mortar shells, mines and a variety of anti-tank missiles.

This materiel was later used against innocent civilians in Israel.

The real question is not whether the sailing Swedes en route to Gaza should fear for their lives. The question is why a leading Swedish politician is supporting this questionable mission. The UN, the world’s leading humanitarian watchdog, does not support the initiative by the organization “Ship to Gaza” but rather chooses to send its aid via Israel. This should be a clear enough sign for Per Gahrton and everyone else that the “Ship to Gaza” organization is not motivated by purely humanitarian interests.  Shipments which contravene the Oslo agreements signed by both Israel and the Palestinian Authority are internationally illegal. 
More importantly, as Per Gahrton should know, these “aid shipments” constitute a clear provocation for conflict. It seems evident that Gahrton is not promoting world peace, but prefers flaunting peace agreements in the interest of international publicity, while linking himself and Sweden to notorious and aggressive adventurers, such as the liar and convicted arms-smuggler Capucci.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Bilda Helps Educate More Israel Haters

“Bilda”, also known as the Swedish Christian Study Center, Jerusalem is holding a seminar from June 4-6th in a small centrally-located Swedish village, The seminar’s objective, Bilda states is to teach the public how “everyone can take responsibility to create a dignified life for both Palestinians and Israelis”. Despite this fair-sounding statement, don’t be mislead by a blatantly false pretext; all of the speakers in the seminar are Palestinian advocates and Israel haters.

 In the advertisment for their seminar, Bilda writes
“All of those who want to engage themselves in the situation in Palestine and Israel are welcome to the Sjövik seminar. There will be lectures, group discussions, book tables, workshops, exhibitions and movies.
This is a chance for meetings between those who recently became interested in the conflict in the Middle East and those who for long have been engaged in the “Palestine groups” (Palestinagrupperna), Jews for Israeli and Palestinian Peace (Judar för Israelisk och Palestinsk Fred), Christian Peace (Kristna freds) Broderskapsrörelsen (Brotherhood movement) and the Study Association Bilda (Studie Förbundet Bilda).”

All of the above-mentioned socialist and Christian Social Democrat groups are pro-Palestinian advocates who tout the cause of Palestinian “victimhood”, and disregarding or discounting the terror threat to Israelis. If anyone who had recently became interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “had an opportunity to meet” with only these organizations for information it is clear that this person could get nothing but a distorted image of the conflict. A clearly biased attitude cannot help “everyone to take responsibility in order to create a dignified life for both Palestinians and Israelis” as Bilda claims. Rather, the goal of such “information” is to provide Sweden with many more Israel haters.

Let’s have a look at the “points” that will be discussed the seminar in order to make life dignified for both Israelis and Palestinians (as listed on the Bilda homepage):

-    The blockade of Gaza – children and grownups [Palestinians] are still suffering
-    Occupation of Palestinian land is expanding
-    East Jerusalem is turning Israeli
-    Amongst Palestinians and in the Israeli peace movements more are requesting boycotts and sanctions [against Israel].
-    How can Israel get acceptance as EU’s trade partner even though it clearly breaches human rights laws.

Well, it seems that the seminar will only be covering issues that deal with the problems of the Palestinians! Not one point concerns the Israeli problem of unending Hamas and Hezbollah rocket attacks hitting both the north and south, killing and maiming Israeli civilians and causing targeted Israeli populations severe psychological distress. Neither does even one point cover how Israelis will be able to sit down for peace discussions with an organization that supports suicide bombings against Israeli women and children and rejects Israel’s right to exist. 

Isn’t it obvious that Bilda needs to change the stated purpose of the seminar to “Teaching Both Beginners and Old Hands How to More Efficiently Demonize Israel and Throw More Fuel on the Fire of Worsening Relations between Israel and the Palestinians”?

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Freedom of Speech Threatened -Official Swedish Response: Total Silence

In an excellent opinion piece written by the southern local newspaper Sydsvenskan the chief editor questions the official Swedish response—or rather the lack thereof—to the latest attacks on Swedish artist Lars Vilks, an advocate of free speech and freedom of expression. Sweden is a country which prides itself on being a highly democratic country where freedom of speech prevails, yet when it is threatened in the country, the Swedes choose to say nothing.

Lars Vilks was violently assaulted last week during his lecture on artistic freedom of expression at Uppsala University. Shortly after the attack at the lecture, arsonists targeted the artist’s house, and Vilks has received numerous death threats lately, as well.

As the chief editor of Sydsvenskan correctly argues, officials in the country should take a stance against the obvious breach of democratic rights. Yet, not one official in Sweden has chosen to do so. The choice of Swedish officials to remain silent can be perceived as a threat to the future of freedom of speech in Sweden.

The following are some important points extracted from Sydsvenskan:

-Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt (Moderate) has not said a word.

-Opposition Leader Mona Sahlin (Social Democrat) is also silent.

- Leader of the People’s Party Jan Björklund, Maud Olofsson
(Center Party), Göran Hägglund (Christian Democrat) as well as the leaders of the Environment party—all frighteningly silent.
 

Even the Publishers’ Club (Publicistklubben), which sees ”guarding freedom of press and freedom of expression” as its main goal, seems to lack the words to speak out. Their chairman Ulrika Knutsson has previously chosen to mock Vilks.

The newspaper publishers’ group (Tidningsutgivarna), an organization that claims to “fight for the Swedish press and freedom of speech”, prefers to fight in silence.

It is important to note that the silence following the attacks on freedom of speech in Sweden speaks for itself and it is the mob that gets the message—to force its will on the public. At this time when boundaries are tested, this is a particularly crucial time for Swedish officials to speak out against mob rule. Sadly, while freedom of speech is threatened in universities and in the streets, Swedish authorities once again fail to respond. Ignoring these problems can only make the situation even worse than it is already.  Is it any wonder that hate crime and ethnic violence are spiraling out of control, when the authorities are letting Jews and intellectuals pay the price of Sweden’s official indifference?

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Biased op-ed on the Middle East classified as "culture debate" in Dagens Nyheter


On March 23 Michael Löfgren, a journalist from the Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter, wrote piece on the Middle East. The newspaper would come to classify the piece a “cultural debate” rather than as an op-ed—which is what it actually was. Additionally, the newspaper omitted the disclaimer that Löfgren is an politcally active member of a group that works for a one sided Palestinian cause. This was reported by the very informative blog “Fred i Mellanöstern” (Peace in the Middle East), they further note that:
In the article from Dagens Nyheter , Löfgren calls for the Swedish ship “Götheborg” to join with his organization in sailing to the Gaza Strip. The article was a bizarre way for the journalist to draw attention to the non-profit organization “Ship to Gaza” of which he is a member. As “FiM” reports, once one visits the homepage of the organization, one can be sure that their main goal is propagating their wholly biased political opinion rather than humanitarian efforts. The link can also—conveniently enough—be found in the “cultural debate” piece written by Löfgren.

The organization "Shipt to Gaza" claims to send aid to the needy in the Gaza Strip. Still, in a recent shipment that was supposed to be made up of ”60 ton” groceries and medicine, toys and 10.000 units of blood plasma", the needy in Gaza instead recived only 150 bottles mineral water, some dozin kilos of food and medicine. Also on the ship was 22 demonstrators, among them the greek-catholic bishop Hilarion Capucci who was arrested in Israel 1974 and sentenced to 12 years in prison for smuggeling weapons.

The organization "Ship to Gaza" is further not supported by the UN. The UN on the other hand chooses to sends it aid through Israel.
Jurech Hirschberg, who appears as guest writer in the “FiM” blog, contends correctly that it is extremely important for the readers of Dagens Nyheter, who think they are reading a “cultural debate”, to be informed and aware of the political agenda of the journalist as well as his membership in a group which supports a terror organization.

The motive of the newspaper can also be questioned –why did the editorial staff decided to call it “cultural debate” rather than an opinion piece? Was the real intent of the newspaper to falsely represent Löfgren’s one-sided political message as a journalistic debate? Shouldn’t a debate show more than one side of the issue? Since the article failed to do so, one must really question the credibility of Dagens Nyheter.

The article was one in a series from the journalist on topics related to Israel. During the last number of years Löfgren has been writing “independent-liberal” pieces which—among other things—encourage boycotting Israel. He has also argued that Sweden conducts “ambiguous” reporting on the Middle East due to Swedish correspondents’ "Jewish backgrounds". Löfgren also participated in a TV show on November 1, 2001 with Donald Boström- the same Boström who concocted a story of Israel harvesting Palestinian organs.

It is a disgrace for a newspaper (especially with as large a readership as Dagens Nyheter has) to print distorted “news” –misleading its readers when it terms a clearly political opinion article a “cultural debate”. After reading Löfgren’s piece it’s fair enough to say that, by publishing Löfgrens piece, Dagens Nyheter has allowed its name to be used for the spread of propaganda.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Arsonists Attack Cartoonist Lars Vilks’ Home

Last week the Swedish artist and cartoonist Lars Vilks—who gained notoriety for portraying the prophet Mohammed as part-dog part-human—was attacked during a lecture on freedom of expression at Uppsala University. Now the artist, who has been under intense scrutiny by radical Islamists, has had his home partially torched by arsonists.

Vilks’ lecture in Uppsala last week was disrupted and cancelled after he showed a movie containing “sexual content”.  A member of the lecture audience—with no difficulty presented by security—ran up and head-butted Vilks; others in the audience called out “Allahu akbar” and complained that Vilks failed to stop the movie when they demanded he do so. 

Additionally—only a few days after his freedom of speech was trampled on—his home was targeted by arsonists as reported by Swedish daily Aftonbladet.The attack is most probably a response to the recent upswing in attention to the artist.

According to Swedish news agency TT, the arson attack against Vilks’ Skåne residence took place last Saturday at 11 a.m.  The windows had been broken and someone had thrown in bottles containing gasoline. A smaller fire burned the façade of the house. 
At the time of the arson attack Vilks was not inside his home but in town doing some shopping.  He was contacted by his neighbors who told him that his house was on fire.

The same evening the Skåne police arrested a 21-year-old man from Landskrona who is suspected of the crime. On Sunday another man, aged 19, now known as the brother of the 21-year old, was arrested under suspicion of taking part in the plot.

Lars Vilks has, due to the threats against him, been forced to leave his house. This once again shows us that in Sweden it is currently very dangerous to talk about—not to mention criticize—Islam. It also shows us that Sweden is a country where radical Islamists are running loose, capable of committing crimes in name of Islam. 

Arson seems to be on the rise in the Swedish county of Skåne. Similar arson attacks have taken place on several occasions against the Jewish community in Malmö as well as in Helsinborg. The extreme and sometimes violent racism of the Muslim community in Malmö has led to the departure of a significant part of the town’s Jewish community. The Jewish population of Malmö has been heavily reduced  in recent years, as Jews no longer feel safe there. Arson is also part of the daily routine in Malmö’s Rosengård neighborhood, where a majority of the residents are immigrants.

Sunday, May 16, 2010

Ove Svidén: Jews Behind 9/11 and the Holocaust.

A Center Party candidate for Parliament—Ove Svidén—has for years publically argued on his internet site Peace.se that Jews are behind the 9/11 terror attacks on the World Trade Center in New York as well as the Holocaust.

Before Svidén’s controversial ideas were exposed to the wider public, he held the rank of number 26 on the Center Party’s Stockholm list for the upcoming fall elections. Before the elections in 2006 he was ranked number 8 on the same list. At that point he had already been running his anti-Semitic webpage for some years.
Now, as many have learned that Svidén spreads anti-Semitic propaganda on his webpage, he has been excluded from the list and the Swedish Center Party.

As noted on Svidén’s homepage, which he himself calls the “World Peace Foundation”, Jews are behind:

-The Estonia catastrophe (a  ferry that sunk in the Baltic Sea in1994. Also known as one of the deadliest maritime disasters of the late 20th century)  
-The murder of Sweden’s foreign minister Anna Lindh
-September 11 Terror attacks
-The Holocaust
-All wars during the last 200 years

At the same time, his website is full of pseudo-spiritualistic fantasies and jingoism such as:
“The determined investment in clean and sustainable ecosystems by Enlightened Spiritual leaders, make Sweden and Tibet [which he somehow neglects to mention is occupied, being built up, and heavily bludgeoned by the Chinese] into the showcases of the world.”

Also on the website, Svidén claims that Sweden should be emulated as it has been at peace for 200 years. He fails to mention that Sweden managed to sit out World War II by supplying quality steel to the Nazis, and continues to be a leading arms manufacturer. Svidén conveniently ignores, like Malmö’s mayor, the cars set on fire in the parking garages of Malmö.  Perhaps for Svidén they are simply happy campfires where Rosengård’s ethnics gather to sing peaceful songs and toast marshmallows.



In an interview with the Swedish national TV “Sveriges Television” Svidén wildly claims that:
- "As a Swede it is hard to understand the Jewish belief in sacrifice in order to gain something.” He says this as he is convinced that the Holocaust was a voluntary sacrifice made by the Jewish people with the express purpose of the creation of the state of Israel. Svidén continues:
-“Who won the Second World War? The Jews! They got a state! A small fraction of people got a land, this is not a coincidence…”
In the same vein, the attacks on the World Trade towers also, according to Svidén, were due to David Rockefeller, the Jews and their beliefs in sacrifice as a means to an end.

With what can now be seen as unsurprising oddity and anti-Semitism, according to Svidén the world is ruled by thirteen (Jewish) families. Allegedly, these corrupt families are responsible for all the wars during the last 200 years. The families are further ruled and are victims of, their own drug experiments. They are also degenerated by inbreeding which they do in order to maintain their assets.

According to Willy Silberstein , chairman of the Swedish Committee Against Anti-Semitism, (Svenska kommittén mot anti-Semitism) this is a case of a classic anti-Semitic claims.
Svidén himself rejects the claims that he is anti-Semitic or that claims of “the Jewish sacrifices” also fall into this definition.

While Svidén currently has been expelled from the Swedish Center Party due to his anti-Semitic views there are still other high-ranked Swedish politicians who are allowed to stay in power while holding similar conspiracy opinions. One of them is the Social Democratic mayor of Malmö, Ilmar Reepalu. Earlier this year Reepalu stated, after a series of rather anti-Semitic statements that there was an “Israeli lobby” out to get him.

Perhaps Mayor Reepalu shares the rest of Svidén’s paranoid anti-Semitic fantasies too—in which there is a world conspiracy where Jews control the media and the banks and are responsible for all the wars in the world.  Or perhaps he is just following a Svidén motto “Being is honoured more than Acting for materialistic growth”?   Maybe by not acting and letting materialistic cars burn, he’ll get a big peace prize for just “being” Reepalu?

Friday, May 14, 2010

Migration Minister Admits Major Malmö Problems

In an op-ed from May 9th, 2010 Sweden’s Minister for Migration and Asylum Policy, Tobias Billström (Moderate) argues that Sweden’s third largest city, Malmö, has failed in its attempt “to be a city for all”.
It was not long ago that Migration Minister Tobias Billström visited both the Islamic Center as well as the Jewish Community in Malmö. In a recent op-ed in the southern local newspaper, Skånskan, the minister states that Malmö today is a city which faces many problems. Billström especially notes that the lives of Malmö‘s citizens are strained by threats, fear and prejudice, something that the Swedish civil society has failed to deal with.

In order for a society to function, Billström argues, it is necessary to keep an open dialogue as opposed to have individuals working against each other. He further argues that the citizens of Malmö have the right to feel safe in the streets, something that is far from the current situation in Malmö today. Much of the blame for this can also be put on the long-standing mayor of the city—Social Democrat Ilmar Reepalu.

Malmö’s motto has for long been “a city for all”, but many more Jewish individuals are leaving the city as a result of increasing violence and hate crime directed towards Jews in the city. As the authorities in Reepalu’s administration fail to control dangerous levels of ethnic violence, it has become quite clear that Malmö’s motto is only a hollow slogan.

The current government has adapted some reforms to counter the problems that exist in the country today. Yet Malmö’s problems will take more than one term of office to deal with. The first steps the current government decided to take are only being seen now; soon reinforcements to the current police force will be deployed in Malmö and other cities to make sure that law and order is kept in the streets.

What is further worrying is that no political leader from the opposition parties has come to the same conclusions as minister Billström, at least not in public.

Malmö has been under Social Democratic rule for the past 15 years and the results of this are what we see today—burgeoning hate-crime, arson, and uncontrolled rioting. If the Moderates stay in office following the upcoming fall elections the current national government will keep working towards a safer Malmö for all citizens. On the other hand, it’s fairly certain that the situation in Malmö will become increasingly worse if the Swedes vote in a Social Democrat, Green, Left government this fall.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Lars Vilks Assaulted During Lecture on Freedom of Expression in Art

Lars Vilks is a Swedish artist who had the audacity to portray the prophet Mohammed as part-dog, part-human. Since then, has lived under death threats from radical Muslims. Yesterday the artist was violently attacked during his lecture on “Where to Draw the Line: Freedom of Expression in Art”.


The lecture hall was filled to the last spot with eager students, journalists and others who had come to Uppsala University to hear Vilks speak about the boundaries of artistic expression. The lecture, as reported by the local newspaper Uppsala Nya Tidning, started off calmly, but the atmosphere became increasingly aggressive when the artist started to show a movie which contained sexual content.

The full movie of the attack with english subtitles:


Just shortly after the lecture started, a man who was sitting in the front row charged Vilks and head butted the artist. The two men fell to the floor and two additional men jumped on Vilks. The three attackers struck Vilks a number of times before several police men who were present at the lecture were able to separate the attackers from the artist.

According to Solvei Oleberg from the Uppsala police, the situation had been close to chaotic. She further reported to the Swedish Radio (Sveriges Radio) that two police men had been injured during the attack.

Although the attackers were removed from the lecture hall, the atmosphere remained tense and aggression was then directed against the police. It took some time before the hall was emptied.  What remained were the artist’s broken glasses as well as a hand gun, reported as probably belonging to one of the policemen.

According to an interview with Swedish Agency TT Vilks stated the initial attacker was part of a group who were trying to disturb the lecture. Lars Vilks also stated that he is not really injured, only bruised. 

Sadly, the attack on Vilks shows us that freedom of speech in Sweden—especially when the subject is Islam or Muslims—comes at a price. It also shows that while the Jews  often are the ones to be attacked first, as can be seen in the case of Malmö, they are never the last.

Unfortunately, there are no surprises here as this assault is just one more lawless incident in Sweden. This latest violent episode is part of the continuing deterioration which includes Anti-Semtitic hate crimes, gang murders and arson in Rosengård- Malmö, as well as known cases of Islamist terror recruitment in Göteborg. No one needs a crystal ball to see that this won’t be the last violent act we will see from the anti-democratic forces which are increasingly forcing their will in Sweden.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Reepalu’s Brand-New Dialogue Forum Also “Under Fire”

Hate crimes in Malmö doubled during 2009 compared to the previous year, something that mayor Ilmar Reepalu (Social Democrat), claims he hadn’t noticed. Most evident is hate crime directed against the Jewish community.  Jewish residents of Malmö have been abused continuously by a portion of the large local Muslim community. As a result, the Jewish community is forced to spend millions of kronor on private security to protect its synagogue and cultural facilities.  In response to the worsening situation, Reepalu decided to create a dialogue forum, a forum which is now being criticized—even before it has opened. 

In the beginning of the year the citizens of Malmö found out that their mayor ignored threats against minorities in the city. They would also come to learn that the mayor is unable to keep his personal political views to himself. This is certainly a skill most competent politicians learn quickly enough. Nevertheless, he still has not been able to differentiate between the Jews in Malmö and the politics of the State of Israel. His feeling is that the Jews in his city must take their lumps if they fail to agree with the vocal local Muslims and won’t denounce Israel publicly.  It seems that Jews in Malmö must learn skills Reepalu doesn’t have in order to avoid being hit with rocks and bottles in the public square.

This incompetent mayor has come under increased criticism as time after time he has failed to take a stance against the increased number of anti-Semitic hate crimes that have occurred in the city. As a way to make up for his political flaws the mayor decided to create a dialogue forum to combat ethnic unrest in the city
The forum, as commented by Chairman of the Malmö Jewish community, Rolf Kahn;
-  “should not only concern the Jews and the Muslims but also, for example, groups from the Balkans and the Arab world.”

The coordinator of the forum, Björn Lagerbäck (People’s Liberal Party) stated in a recent interview with the local newspaper Sydsvenskan that hopefully he will be able to instill confidence among the involved parties. His party colleague and part of the opposition on the municipal council in Malmö, Ewa Bertz does not feel as optimistic about the new initiative.
According to Bertz “this is just another way for Reepalu to run away from his responsibilities. Politicians are not allowed to partake in the forum although it should be the responsibility of the leaders chosen by the people to partake in discussions on how we can reduce the conflicts in our city. This responsibility should not be delegated to single workgroups”.

Politician Lagerbäck, forum coordinator, doesn’t seem to be bothered by the fact that politicians aren’t allowed to participate in the forum.  Convolutedly he states: “In the dialogue forum I work as an official, not as a politician. As an official I have the rights to take employment that is offered to me without having to look the other way.” 

Mayor Reepalu has been the mayor of Malmö for some 15 years and the results of his policies are now evident. The city is torn and its authorities have been flaunted by severe and increasing hate crimes which Reepalu still avoids dealing with himself. Malmö, as a result of Reepalu’s policies, has areas in Rosengård where the Swedish firefighters face daily arson attacks. The firefighters aren’t able to enter these areas without police escort as they are often met with rocks thrown at them as they try to put out the fires.
The city is also hard-hit by gang violence, especially by two gangs known as the K and the M- phalanx. Not long ago a man was shot to death as a result of increased gang violence in Malmö,  right in the middle of the city. This man is another name added to the growing list of those who have fallen victim to gang violence in Malmö.

It seems evident that a dialogue forum doesn’t even begin to solve the problems the city faces today. If Reepalu feels that he can ignore Malmö’s problems by setting up a “chat room” run by flunkies who defend their rights to an extra job, then the city needs a new mayor who will confront the lawlessness and hate crime which now characterize Malmö .

Monday, May 10, 2010

Emergency Meeting Today Due to Continuous Arson Attacks in Rosengård

Malmö has become internationally infamous recently due to the rising number of anti-Semitic hate crimes which emanate from a fraction of the city’s Muslim population. The Malmo municipality headed by long term Social Democrat mayor Ilamar Reepalu has been large indifferent to this negative development.

 In Malmö, the majority of Muslim immigrants reside in one city district known as Rosengård. During 2008 and continuously during 2009 daily violent assaults against the Swedish authorities took place in the neighborhood. Today an emergency meeting is being held by the Swedish authorities as a response to the many arson attacks that Rosengård has experienced, and which show no signs of abating.
Arson has become part of the daily life for the residents in Rosengård. Many of the fires are set by torching cars in underground parking garages. Firefighters and rescue workers cannot enter this part of the city without police escort—this makes the area dangerous not only for the authorities, but also for the local inhabitants due to the lawlessness that prevails.

Just during this year, the local newspaper Sydsvenskan reported that Rosengård has been struck by some 25 arson attacks in underground garages. Sydsvenskan today adds this report:

Last Saturday firefighters received an alarm that two cars were on fire in an underground garage in Rosengård. Arriving on the spot, firefighters noted that there were two fires inside the garage, separated by some 100 meters. The police secured the location of the fire but were pelted with stones. After a while the situation became more strained.
-“We were given indications by the police that we should leave”, stated Southern Rescue Team Commander Torbjörn Krokström. At 00:52 the Southern Recue Team left the garage in accordance with their own guidelines for dealing with risks of violence. The fire was extinguished at that time and four cars had been destroyed. Due to the stone throwing, the rescue team was not able to stay behind for [site] control and airing of the garage.

As has been noted by the rescue team Commander Torbjörn Krokström, underground fires, even without the stone throwing, are a high-risk mission for a fire fighter. In such a fire large amounts of dangerous smoke and gases are trapped inside the garage and visibility is very poor due to smoke and minimal lighting, making their job even harder.

In Rosengård, it seems that this is the ideal way to terrorize the Swedish authorities. Set a car on fire, preferably in the most dangerous place possible and then attack both the police and the fire fighters that come to the rescue.

The problem of Rosengård remains a topic of contention in Swedish public opinion. Many, such as Magnus Ranstorp, the research director of the Centre for Asymmetric Threat Studies at the Swedish National Defense College, argue that a radicalization process is taking place in the area, others say this is not the case.

What we know is that Rosengård remains a problem, not only for the Jews that are subjected to hate crimes emanating from a small but violent percentage of its citizens, but also for the Swedish authorities that are unable to stop the arson attacks in the area.  And if the Swedish authorities themselves are under attack , what is the future of the rule of law in Sweden?

Sunday, May 9, 2010

The Swedish Connection

Recently, the online edition of the Jerusalem Post published a story titled “The Danish Connection” about terrorists inside Denmark who in 1969 were involved in plotting to kill Israel’s first Prime Minister David Ben Gurion. The April edition of the Swedish Jewish Chronicle (Judisk Krönika) reports about the Swedish involvement in Palestinian terror actions against Israeli targets.
In an article in the Swedish Jewish Chronicle written by Danish historian and journalist Bent Blüdnikow (page 6),  Swedes had already begun their involvement with Palestinian terrorism in the 1970s. There were, for example, early plans by Swedish Palestinians to bomb the Israeli embassy in Copenhagen and to kill the Chief Rabbi of Denmark.

The group that posed the greatest danger to the Jews in Scandinavia was Palestinian Ahmed Jibril’s PFLP-GC group which had its headquarters in Syria. This group had many active cells in Sweden, and its members who were involved in espionage and terror plans, had visited Syria to learn how to use hand grenades and machine guns.  As Blüdnikow further details in his article, some of the members of the group had during the 70-80s been sent to Israel for reconnaissance missions in order to take pictures of the Israeli coastal area and other important strategic locations.

During the 80s the Swedish foreign minister at the time, Sten Andersson was also a close friend of the PLO leader Yasser Arafat. Andersson sought to promote international recognition of the PLO and its goals even though the organization was actively  involved in international terrorism. A Swedish representative from the PLO office in Stockholm was in fact, deeply involved in terrorism and was consequently expelled  from Sweden in 1989. The same Arafat-led PLO which was supported by Andersson, in 1987 planned terror actions against Jewish congregations as well as airports in the Nordic countries.

On of the most dangerous Palestinian terror organizations at the time was the Abu Nidal group which was an independently-acting group, unlike the PLO which incorporated the PFPL and PFPL-GC. The Swedish Jewish Chronicle documents that some of the most dangerous members of the group lived freely in Sweden.

One example can be seen in the attack on the ship City of Poros outside Athens in 1988. During the Palestinian terror attack on the ship, which hosted Swedish and Danish passengers, 9 people, mostly tourists, were killed and 98 wounded; a number of them sustained severe injuries. It was later found that two of the responsible terrorists for the attack had been living in Sweden for some year. It also appeared that more members of the Abu Nidal group were still living in Sweden at that time. The terrorists also held and maintained a weapons storage site in the Sweden. The guns in the weapons cache were later proven to have been used in a terrorist attack at the airport in Rome where Abu Nidal sympathizers threw a hand grenade into an El-Al counter and opened fire on a group of people. 13 people were killed in that attack.  

There were also many people in Sweden that supported the Palestinian struggle for “liberation”. The Swedish left at the time did not differentiate between the state of Israel and the Jews; this would come to make Palestinian terror even more dangerous for Jews in Sweden. Swedish Jews were considered fair targets—as if they were Israeli combatants against Palestinian terror.

The Swedish support for the Palestinian cause was clearly showcased in the Swedish group “Palestinsk Front” (Palestinian Front). One of the most prominent representatives of the Palestinian “liberation” was—and still is—Jan Guillou. Gunnar Ekberg, a former Swedish intelligence agent who infiltrated the PFLP, reported in his book, Dom ska ju ändå dö (They Are Going to Die Anyway), that Jan Guillou went to Denmark’s international airport in 1969 to collect information about El-Al’s security systems on behalf of the PFLP. During that period the PFLP conducted deadly attacks against both Israelis and Jews around the world.


A young Jan Guillou

Guillou was also connected to another Palestinian terror group—the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFPLP)—and had trained with Palestinian guerilla forces inside Israel. In a 1969 article in the men’s magazine Lektyr, Guillou proudly tells the reader that he “took part in planning attacks against Israeli outposts”.

While Soviet-funded support for secular Palestinian terrorism ended with the fall of the Soviet Union, this does not mean Palestinian terrorism has ceased today. Today, a more radical, Islamist terror is prominent in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and it is probably indirectly funded by in part by the Swedish government. Today Sweden keeps a loose approach to immigration which is combined with a lack of oversight into the use of the foreign aid it channels to the Palestinians. Maintaining these policies as the status-quo, means that arguably, Sweden is still leaving open a conduit to aiding Palestinian-led terrorism against Israel.

Source: Judisk Krönika (Jewish Chronicle) available on: http://www.judiskkronika.se/

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Malmö’s Hate Mongering Mayor Marches against Israel

May Day – the first of May – is Labour Day in many countries, on which demonstrations by the workers take place in order to get better working conditions. In Sweden this is traditionally done under the auspices of the Social Democrats. This year in Malmö the city’s mayor Ilmar Reepalu decided to demonstrate on May 1 against "the occupation of Palestine". Under a large text which read: "Stop the occupation of Palestine" one can see a smiling Reepalu who commented in an interview with daily newspaper Expressen:

-”No land should occupy another land. The Soviet Union occupied the Baltic states during several decades. Israel has occupied land for 43 years now. I think its wrong, so does Barack Obama and many other people in the world as well." In this way Reepalu is making yet another contribution to the already tense situation in Malmö.

Reepalu’s statement is also another problematic one for many reasons. The Palestinian territories on the West Bank of the Jordan river are ”disputed” and not ”occupied” land. Israel conquered it in 1967 after it had been attacked by the Jordanians. These ruled on the West Bank without international recognition.

One cannot compare Israel’s position to that of the Soviet Union. Israel was created in accordance with the law and established in a territory under British Mandate. The Palestinians at the time did not even see themselves even as a nation. Israel could not take the land from the Palestinians as they were not in possession of it in the first place. Israel accepted in 1948 the division of the Western part of West-Palestine while the Arabs started a potentially genocidal war against Israel. Jordan was created earlier in the Eastern part of the British Mandate of Palestine. 
Furthermore the Soviet Union was not attacked by the Baltic States. The Baltic states did not reject the Soviet Union’s right to exist. Israel was willing to offer the Palestinians an independent state in 2000 but Arafat refused.  

All this is however secondary. The essence is that under Reepalu’s leadership Malmö has become a model of minority racism in Europe where crime emanating from part of the Muslim community thrives and where the police and firemen can only with difficulty enter certain areas. Reepalu has alos failed to protect a small minority, the Jews. This was one of his many responsabilities as mayor, which he did not fulfill. There has been an exodus of Jews from the town in recent years, which has led to the decrease of the Jewish community to only 650 members. This is an indicator of the flourishing anti-Semitism in Malmö. Reepalu has made significant contributions to this in various ways.

Reepalu is a Social Democrat politician, which in Sweden often means an anti-Israeli hate monger. That is probably also the reason why his party is not expelling him. He may be more outspoken than many others there but he is not beyond the pale of what is acceptable in these circles. The party’s leaders seem to have no problems with a man who is incompetent to manage as a major his town, has created a horrible international image for it and yet believes that he should deal with problems thousands of kilometers away.

Perhaps we will see one day a demonstration somewhere in the world protesting the major anti-Semitism and racism in Malmö. That one would be certainly more justified than the one Reepalu marched in.
 

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Islamic Group Demands Partial Islamic Sharia Law in Sweden

Before the last elections in 2006, Sweden’s Muslim Union (Sveriges Muslimska Förbund)—with some 70,000 members—sent out a request to all the Swedish party leaders,
 demanding that the Muslims in Sweden should be exempt from some Swedish legislation in respect to family law and instead answer to their own laws of Islam. Leader of the Social Democrats Mona Sahlin is close to Mahmoud Aldebe, the chairman of the Union. This makes this issue relevant again today as there will be national elections in Sweden in September and Sahlin may well be the next prime minister.

The controversial demands that were requested by Aldebe included that Muslims living in Sweden adhere to Islamic law for matters such as for example divorce, marriage and schooling. The Muslims in Sweden should also, as was requested by Aldebe, get two extra days of paid vacation in order to celebrate Muslim holidays as well as two hours of paid leave every Friday in order for Muslims to attend Friday prayer.

According to Aldebe, freedom of religion in Sweden is currently insufficient, and therefore the Muslim Union in Sweden should be allowed to apply Islamic legislation for family law.

Aldebe's suggestion met negative responses from, among others, the then party leader of the People’s Liberal Party, Lars Leijonborg, former minister for Higher Education and Research.  It should be noted that still to date there aren’t any other religious groups in Sweden that have made similar requests or received legal exemptions as a response to “lack of religious freedom”.. 

As an example of religious “freedoms” which are not accommodated by the state, according to Jewish law the Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday afternoon, meaning that observant Jews can’t work after sunset. In northerly Sweden, sunset in the winter occurs at early hours, before the end of a work day.  Jewish religious employees in Sweden must work according to Swedish labor legislation. If they can’t work out a flexible schedule, adding extra hours on another day, they have to get another job that will accommodate their religious needs.

Every religion does, of course, have its own special laws, yet the state of Sweden has legislation with a separation of religion from government. Sweden today can, in actuality, be identified as one of the world’s least religious countries. With that as a given, it would oppose every Swedish norm and value to allow a religious group to apply their own religious law in place of Swedish legislation. Islamic family law as applied to divorce, parental control over daughters' marriage, separation of the genders, etc., also goes against Swedish and western norms and values.

 If Sweden were to incorporate Islamic law in place of Swedish legislation for Muslim family law, this would also mean a halt to the Swedish integration process for the many Muslim immigrants that come to Sweden every year

Especially significant is that Aldebe demanded public school instruction in the pupils’ “home language”, effectively preventing students from learning Swedish with any fluency. Such a change would, instead of helping Muslim immigrants to integrate into Swedish society, further distance this already largely segregated community. 

Abd al Haqq Kielan, imam for the Swedish Islamic Association (Svenska Islamiska samfundet), was one of the opponents to the demand and argued that such a change wasn't desirable. In an article last year in the Swedish daily Expressen, Kielan also noted that Aldebe (perhaps due to their differences of opinion) called him “a Jew who converted to Islam to destroy the Muslims”.

According to Imam Kielan, the time has come for Sweden “to clearly take a stance against the Aldebe’s anti-democratic Muslim powers”.  It should be noted that accepting application of even a limited degree of Sharia law would also have the effect of imposing Islamic law on members of the immigrant community, whether they choose to practice Islam and accept Sharia law or not.

Before the upcoming elections it is important that Swedish voters know how the political parties in Sweden feel about such a change. Mona Sahlin, leader of the Social Democrats, has stated: "If two equally-qualified persons apply for a job at a workplace with few immigrants, the one called Muhammad should get the job. (…)”

Accepting “Islamic privilege” would mean that Sweden would take a big step away from the democratic values Swedish society (still?) represents.

Swedish Media Fails to Report Radical Islamic Connections to the "parking lot murder"

As already discussed twice this week in the blog, Sweden has a tendency to modify or censor inconvenient or provocative facts in reported news stories, as well as entertainment. Now it appears that a recent highly-reported story concerning a murder in the southern city of Landskrona, contained unreported details—such as that the perpetrator attended a possibly radical cellar mosque. This was however, not mentioned even once in Swedish media.

The recent story that occured at the end of March this year, concerned a young 23-year-old Lebanese immigrant man who, after entering a parking lot in Landskrona, got into a dispute with an elderly couple. The heated discussion over a parking lot space ended with the young man violently pushing the 78-year-old woman who fell to the ground and hit her head. The woman, Inger, would later die from her injuries. The "parking lot murder" was a long-running top story in Sweden as, until recently, the perpetrator remained unknown and in hiding. Now, however, a young man identified as Ahmad Akileh has been arrested for first degree murder.

Akileh, as can be read in the blog "Politiskt Inkorrekt", was born in Lebanon but upon his immigration to Sweden in 2007 was registered as coming from Iraq.

According to the blog "Jihad I Malmö" Ahmad Akileh is a Sunni Muslim and he and his family attend a cellar mosque in Landskrona. The Imam of the congregation Fekri Hamad does, according to the aforementioned blog, have close ties to the radical Imam Anas Khalifa who is connected to radical Muslim internet sites which preach Islamic messages of hatred and Jihad. Khalifa is also known for preaching Muslim intolerance towards Christians and Jews, and is a follower of the fundamentalist Salafi movement, whose exponents include the members of al Qaeda. Khalifa recently visited the Landskrona cellar mosque which indicates that the congregation still appreciates the radical philosophy of Imam Khalifa.

The building of the cellar mosque also hosts other groups such as Group 194, Swedish-Palestinian Friendship Association (Svensk-Palestinska vänskapsföreningen) and the Cultural Oriental Forum (kulturellt orientaliskt forum). According to the blogger Hans C. Petersson these were behind the anti-Israeli demonstration in Landskrona in 2009. In the demonstration Israeli flags were burned and swastikas appeared on signs.

Swedish media, including The Local reports that: "The suspect's immigrant background has become a source of major debate on internet forums and major demonstrations have been held in Landskrona with neo-Nazi and anti-fascist groups in attendance". The rather politically correct reporting by the Local clearly indicates the very Swedish approach to the story. It is clear that the newspaper doesn’t want to comment on the religious background of the perpetrator as an important fact in the story. In two other recent updates in the Local, neither the alleged murderer’s radical background , nor the protests are mentioned. Most probably, by avoiding making any connection to the Muslim community, the Swedes also avoid upsetting the radical Muslims that inhabits the country.

Clearly, a person should not be unjustly treated because of his religious association. Still, it should be in the interest of the Swedish state to investigate the background of a murderer, especially if he attends a radical cellar mosque. If the murder was an action resulting partly because of the radical ideas the man was subjected to, it would be in the interest of the Swedes to stop such radical influences in order to prevent further crime.

As long as the Swedish media conveniently represses reporting on these issues, the Swedish state can legitimize turning a blind eye to the fact that radical Islamic thought and blatant hate speech are flowing freely in the country.

Monday, May 3, 2010

Swedish Media Censored Danish “Halal Murder”

It is no secret that Sweden often chooses to not deal with certain topics in the media, despite the Swedish state’s claims to upholding freedom of the press. One particularly sensitive topic is radical Islamism. A few days ago we pointed out that even the “bleeped” version of South Park was too scary for Swedish television. Today we’ll give you a prime example of how Sweden once again, clearly afraid of upsetting the growing Muslim population in the country, chooses not to cover an important news item from neighbouring Denmark.

As reported in Hans C. Pettersson’s blog “Jihad I Malmö” last week, Danish police discovered that a man had been “halal murdered” in Copenhagen. The Danish capital is just across the Oresund Bridge from Malmö—only 35 minutes by train. Perhaps this is too close for comfort.

The first edition of the news item, as noted by Pettersson, was published in Danish the media on April 9, 2010, at 13:24. The cached version is available here and the headline translated from Danish reads “Got 15 Years for “Halal Murder”.

One part of the initial article reads; “The large carotid artery was cut straight off. The arteries to the heart were also cut off on both sides. This is the method used when you “halal” butcher an animal’, stated the law-court physician Gyda Lolk Ottosen in court.”

A short while after the story was published in Denmark, Pettersson, who often blogs about radical Islamic occurrences in Malmö and Sweden, noticed that the headline of the story had changed to:
“Father and Son convicted of knife murder”. The court statement by Dr. Ottosen was taken out (later added again) and had been replaced by the explanation that the murder was committed by means of some 100 stab wounds.

According to Pettersson, the term to “halal murder” someone has come into frequent use by radical Islamists in Malmö. Jewish children in Malmö have already been subjected to such threats. “Halal murder” has already taken place in Malmö. In 2009 two Muslim teenagers from Rosengård, members of the organization “Al-Nour Drita” in Malmö were found guilty of murdering a homosexual man.

Still, the Swedish media did not cover the Danish story. The Swedish news agency TT was completely silent on this item.

The Danes were hard-hit by violent radical Muslims worldwide after the Jyllands-Posten decision to publish the Mohammed cartoons. Similarly-posed threats occurred in Sweden after Swedish newspapers decided to publish Lars Vilks’ cartoon work portraying the prophet Mohammed as part human, part dog.  Vilks was forced into hiding by the Swedish police. While Sweden claims to uphold freedom of the press, it is evident that the fear of repercussions by the growing radical Islamic community in Scandinavia drives editorial decisions. Freedom of the press in Sweden exists only as long as the growing anti-democratic forces ravaging the country are appeased.