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Swedish Jews outraged after authorities permit neo-Nazi march near synagogue on Yom Kippur | Swedish Jews outraged after authorities permit neo-Nazi march near synagogue on Yom Kippur |
(about 20 hours later) | |
Sweden’s Jewish community has called on police to stop a neo-Nazi group from marching near a synagogue in the country’s second largest city on the day of the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur, this year falling on September 30. | |
“It’s the day of the year when many Jews who don’t normally go to the synagogue will gather there. On this day, the police have decided to grant the neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement permission to march through Gothenburg, no more than a stone’s throw away from the synagogue,” Aron Verständig, chairman of The Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities, and Allan Stutzinky, chairman of the Jewish Community in Gothenburg, wrote in an op-ed published in the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, as cited by The Local. | “It’s the day of the year when many Jews who don’t normally go to the synagogue will gather there. On this day, the police have decided to grant the neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement permission to march through Gothenburg, no more than a stone’s throw away from the synagogue,” Aron Verständig, chairman of The Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities, and Allan Stutzinky, chairman of the Jewish Community in Gothenburg, wrote in an op-ed published in the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, as cited by The Local. |
Apart from “fear for our security”, the op-ed argues that the march “evokes uncomfortable associations”: during the Holocaust, “it wasn’t unusual for the German Nazis to conduct their horrendous atrocities on the most important days of the Jewish calendar.” | Apart from “fear for our security”, the op-ed argues that the march “evokes uncomfortable associations”: during the Holocaust, “it wasn’t unusual for the German Nazis to conduct their horrendous atrocities on the most important days of the Jewish calendar.” |
Initially, the neo-Nazi group NRM [Nordic Resistance Movement] asked to march on one of the Gothenburg’s major streets, Kungsportsavenyn, but the city authorities demanded that they change the route – which led to the new route passing quite close to the synagogue. | Initially, the neo-Nazi group NRM [Nordic Resistance Movement] asked to march on one of the Gothenburg’s major streets, Kungsportsavenyn, but the city authorities demanded that they change the route – which led to the new route passing quite close to the synagogue. |
“Let them stay in the periphery, where they belong,” Verständig and Stutzinky said in the op-ed. | “Let them stay in the periphery, where they belong,” Verständig and Stutzinky said in the op-ed. |
In another op-ed, penned for the Jerusalem Post, Ilya Meyer, former deputy chair of the West Sweden branch of the Sweden-Israel Friendship Association, argues that the Jewish community is at risk from the demonstration. | In another op-ed, penned for the Jerusalem Post, Ilya Meyer, former deputy chair of the West Sweden branch of the Sweden-Israel Friendship Association, argues that the Jewish community is at risk from the demonstration. |
READ MORE: ‘We know where you live’: Swedish Jewish center closed after Nazi threats | READ MORE: ‘We know where you live’: Swedish Jewish center closed after Nazi threats |
“Jews both young and elderly will be coming to and from the synagogue all day long. As such, having a Nazi demonstration route that takes a few hundred uniformed racists close to our main doors is very much a security issue. Not an emotive one. It is not our sensibilities that are under threat, but our physical well-being,” Meyer wrote. | “Jews both young and elderly will be coming to and from the synagogue all day long. As such, having a Nazi demonstration route that takes a few hundred uniformed racists close to our main doors is very much a security issue. Not an emotive one. It is not our sensibilities that are under threat, but our physical well-being,” Meyer wrote. |
“It is a risk that the Gothenburg police are refusing to acknowledge. And a refusal that is raising more than a few eyebrows here on Sweden’s west coast,” he added. | “It is a risk that the Gothenburg police are refusing to acknowledge. And a refusal that is raising more than a few eyebrows here on Sweden’s west coast,” he added. |
Meyer concluded that another kind of anti-Semitism now exists in Sweden, with Muslim worshippers showing it on regular basis. | Meyer concluded that another kind of anti-Semitism now exists in Sweden, with Muslim worshippers showing it on regular basis. |
“In Sweden, one single Nazi anti-Semitic event is gratefully embraced as a means of absolving Swedish society from the responsibility of dealing with 365 Islamist anti-Semitic events a year.” | “In Sweden, one single Nazi anti-Semitic event is gratefully embraced as a means of absolving Swedish society from the responsibility of dealing with 365 Islamist anti-Semitic events a year.” |
2016 became a record year for neo-Nazi groups in Sweden, with over 3,000 activities conducted by them, according to Swedish anti-racism foundation Expo’s annual report. It was the highest number since the foundation began carrying out the report in 2008. | 2016 became a record year for neo-Nazi groups in Sweden, with over 3,000 activities conducted by them, according to Swedish anti-racism foundation Expo’s annual report. It was the highest number since the foundation began carrying out the report in 2008. |
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