Malmö Mayor Reepalu Slurs Jews Again

Reepalu: Pathetic lies and accusations

Reepalu Attempted to Paint Malmö's Beleaguered Jewish Community as a Nest of Bigots

In an intervew in NEO which was published on Thursday, Ilmar Reepalu (Social Democrat) once again took aim at the Jewish community. This time Reepalu (who has blamed Malmö's Jews for anti-Semitic attacks directed against them) falsely claimed that the Jewish community has been "infiltrated" by the Sweden Democrats Party, alleging that Sweden Democrat MP Kent Ekeroth has been active in the Jewish community. Reepalu then accused SD elements as being responsible for inciting "anti-Muslim hatred" in the Jewish community.

Understandably, a brouhaha broke out in the media and Reepalu then backtracked in Dagens Nyheter, claiming that he misinterpreted Ekeroth's presence at a community meeting. After accusing the Jews of hate-mongering, that kind of "oops!" remark was a pathetic excuse.

Even the generally optimistic Jewish community leader Lena Posner Körösi lashed out at Reepalu in the Christian daily Världen idag. Pulling no punches, she called him an anti-Semite. The Jewish community also  berated Reepalu in a letter to the Social Democrat Party, which all key members of the community signed. The community consensus is that Reepalu has lost all remaining shreds of credibility.

In the NEO interview, journalist Paulina Neuding, asked Reepalu about ongoing issues of criminality prevalent in the immigrant community in Malmö. One victim of criminal brutality was her own 84-year-old grandmother who was knocked to the ground by a gang of thugs. In short, Reepalu's response was to claim credit for a supposed vast improvement in community relations, and then to accuse the Jewish community of propagating hatred.  By sticking a Sweden Democrat label on the Jewish community, Reepalu attempted to paint the Jews as all a pile of far-right hate-mongerers.

As Rabbi Abraham Cooper points out in a Jerusalem Post article, Reepalu's remarks were both contemptible and added to the tension in Malmö. Coming on the heels of the despicable murders in Toulouse last week, Reepalu's comments should be denounced by the Social Democrats, Cooper added.

Blaming the Jews for anti-Semitism is a not-so-subtle variety of inversion, where the Jews are accused of being the "Nazis". It is time for Malmö and the Social Democrats to ask Ilmar Reepalu to get another job, and preferably one where he has to keep his nasty mouth shut.

By Chanah Shapira