Attacks against Swedish Jews on the rise

stockholm-iiIn the wake of the ongoing conflict involving Israel and Hamas militants operating from the Gaza Strip, Sweden has been experiencing a rash of anti-Semitic attacks throughout the country. Such is the escalation in incidents against Jews that Swedish police have put themselves on heightened alert, and are closely watching prominent Jewish sites.

The Local newspaper reports that the incidents are fairly benign, but still certainly unnerving to local Jews. The Israeli embassy in Stockholm has been covered in graffiti, with exclamations such as “Die!” “Murderers,” and “Crush Israel, you broke the ceasefire!”

Swastikas have also been appearing on Jewish buildings around the country. A Jewish centre in Helsingborg was almost burned down two times in three days by arsonists who poured flammable liquids on a wooden staircase, according to the Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) newspaper.

Threats against members of Jewish congregations, including more cases of graffiti, as well as another arson attack at a Jewish burial chapel in Malmo are further proof of a rise in anti-Semitism within Sweden.

The same trend happened following the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, but local authorities are uncertain whether the perpetrators are Palestinian sympathisers or just anti-Semites. Police in Stockholm have boosted security around the Israeli embassy and the offices of the Jewish congregation.

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