Another Black Eye for Malmö

This article first appeared in New English Review. 

Malmö, the third-largest city in Sweden, has a long history with its Jewish community. Two hundred and fifty years, in fact, which was scheduled to be celebrated with a Jewish film festival from October 29 to November 2, sponsored by Jewish International Film Festivals (JIFF). The festival had nothing to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, just films about Jewish life. Unfortunately, due to hostility toward Jews in the city, mostly due to the sizable Muslim population, about 25%, and fears of violence, the organizers have been unable to find a venue that would host the event. Thus, it appears the event will not take place. Over the past 250 years, the last several have not been good years for the Jewish community. This forced cancellation merely represents the latest chapter.

Much of Malmö’s Jewish population is composed of descendants of those Jews who escaped from Denmark during the Nazi occupation in World War 2. In recent years, many members of that community have left the city or even the country due to rising tensions with the exploding Muslim community. In March 2009, a Davis Cup tennis match between Israel and Sweden had to be played in an empty stadium in the city, as pro-Palestinian protesters rioted and battled with police. Then-Malmö mayor, Ilmar Reepalu, was openly hostile to the Jewish community. His attitude, publicly expressed, was that if Jews who supported Israel were afraid for their safety, they were welcome to leave. As stated above, many have taken his advice.

To be fair, both the city and the Skåne region, where Malmö is located, had allocated funding for the film festival, but no suitable venue was willing to host the event, citing security concerns as a reason. There could be little doubt that the event would draw protesters and likely violence as well. The police, however, were ready and willing to provide the necessary security.

So once again, we see a European country caving in to the threat of a protest and/or violence from members of one city’s restive Muslim population, which, when not harassing Jews, is committing all manner of violent crimes and periodically erupting in riots. (To be accurate, there is also the Antifa factor.) As in most Western European countries, a long-standing Jewish community is under threat of imported anti-Semitism from a recent immigrant community that has brought a centuries-old hatred of Jews with them, while the host country refuses to stand behind its Jewish fellow citizens and allow them the same rights and security as everyone else. In the case of Malmö itself, we have a city that distinguished itself as a haven for persecuted Jews in World War 2, but has, seemingly, lost its own sense of history.

My own opinion is that Europe has cynically calculated that the Muslims outnumber the Jews, and that the former are willing to resort to violence while the latter are not. Thus, the Jews are considered to be an “inconvenient” presence. While it is true that the city itself has tried to do the right thing by supporting the festival, it still constitutes an embarrassment that no facility, public or private, is willing to show films simply about Jewish people.