October 17, 19:00
Swedish police are investigating how the words "The Holocaust was a fraud" were projected onto Malmö's main synagogue when the city was hosting an international forum against anti-Semitism, JTA reported.
These words were seen at the synagogue and other buildings in the city on the evening of October 13, the day of the International Forum for the Preservation of the Memory of the Holocaust and the Fight against Anti-Semitism. Police are considering the case as a hate crime, according to the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter. According to Dagens Nyheter, the Northern Resistance Movement, a neo-Nazi group, claimed responsibility for the incident.
The conference brought together heads of state and other prominent government officials from dozens of countries in a city known for its high levels of anti-Semitism. Israel's attacks on Gaza in 2009 sparked a wave of anti-Semitic attacks in Malmö, where more than 1,000 Jews were living at the time. Mayor Ilmar Ripalu then responded by inviting the local Jewish community to distance itself from Israel, giving many the impression that he blames the victims themselves for the attacks. The Jewish community in Sweden's third-largest city has since shrunk to about 500.
Despite the October 13 synagogue incident, Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission's coordinator against anti-Semitism, told JTA on October 15 that she believed the conference showed that "change is possible." “The fact that the conference was held in Malmö signals that this kind of thing will not be accepted and will be opposed,” said von Schnorbein. She presented at the conference a new strategic plan to combat anti-Semitism and promote Jewish life in Europe, published by the European Commission on October 5. Although the plan does not include a declared budget, von Schnorbein said that it will draw on programs from various departments, and its "components will receive funding in the millions of euros in the coming period."Among the goals of the plan is to create a common European methodology for documenting and reporting anti-Semitic hate crimes.
On October 12, Jewish community leaders complained at a separate conference in Brussels that the EU plan was "frivolous" because it did not solve two problems that have repelled local Jews for years: the ban on shechita and attempts to ban non-medical circumcision.
Von Schnurbein said the plan refers to the shechita problem. The document says that member states must find "a fair balance between respect for the freedom to practice religion and the protection of animal welfare." According to von Schnurbein, the European Commission and her office intend to promote efforts to achieve balance and urge "EU countries to use political and legal measures to ensure that Jews can live their lives in accordance with their religious traditions," she added. “But when it comes to the document, the Commission is bound by the ruling of the European Court,” which in 2020 confirmed Belgium's right to ban shechita.
https://lechaim-ru.translate.goog/news/slova-holokost-byl-aferoj-byli-sproetsirovany-na-zdanie-sinagogi-v-shvetsii-vo-vremya-mezhdunarodnoj-konferentsii-po-antisemitizmu/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui
October 17, 19:00
Swedish police are investigating how the words "The Holocaust was a fraud" were projected onto Malmö's main synagogue when the city was hosting an international forum against anti-Semitism, JTA reported.
These words were seen at the synagogue and other buildings in the city on the evening of October 13, the day of the International Forum for the Preservation of the Memory of the Holocaust and the Fight against Anti-Semitism. Police are considering the case as a hate crime, according to the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter. According to Dagens Nyheter, the Northern Resistance Movement, a neo-Nazi group, claimed responsibility for the incident.
The conference brought together heads of state and other prominent government officials from dozens of countries in a city known for its high levels of anti-Semitism. Israel's attacks on Gaza in 2009 sparked a wave of anti-Semitic attacks in Malmö, where more than 1,000 Jews were living at the time. Mayor Ilmar Ripalu then responded by inviting the local Jewish community to distance itself from Israel, giving many the impression that he blames the victims themselves for the attacks. The Jewish community in Sweden's third-largest city has since shrunk to about 500.
Despite the October 13 synagogue incident, Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission's coordinator against anti-Semitism, told JTA on October 15 that she believed the conference showed that "change is possible." “The fact that the conference was held in Malmö signals that this kind of thing will not be accepted and will be opposed,” said von Schnorbein. She presented at the conference a new strategic plan to combat anti-Semitism and promote Jewish life in Europe, published by the European Commission on October 5. Although the plan does not include a declared budget, von Schnorbein said that it will draw on programs from various departments, and its "components will receive funding in the millions of euros in the coming period."Among the goals of the plan is to create a common European methodology for documenting and reporting anti-Semitic hate crimes.
On October 12, Jewish community leaders complained at a separate conference in Brussels that the EU plan was "frivolous" because it did not solve two problems that have repelled local Jews for years: the ban on shechita and attempts to ban non-medical circumcision.
Von Schnurbein said the plan refers to the shechita problem. The document says that member states must find "a fair balance between respect for the freedom to practice religion and the protection of animal welfare." According to von Schnurbein, the European Commission and her office intend to promote efforts to achieve balance and urge "EU countries to use political and legal measures to ensure that Jews can live their lives in accordance with their religious traditions," she added. “But when it comes to the document, the Commission is bound by the ruling of the European Court,” which in 2020 confirmed Belgium's right to ban shechita.
https://lechaim-ru.translate.goog/news/slova-holokost-byl-aferoj-byli-sproetsirovany-na-zdanie-sinagogi-v-shvetsii-vo-vremya-mezhdunarodnoj-konferentsii-po-antisemitizmu/?_x_tr_sl=auto&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=nui
