by Annika Hernroth-Rothstein
"We enter parliament in order to supply ourselves, in the arsenal of democracy, with its own weapons. If democracy is so stupid as to give us free tickets and salaries for this bear's work, that is its affair. We do not come as friends, nor even as neutrals. We come as enemies. As the wolf bursts into the flock, so we come."- Joseph Goebbels
A few weeks ago, my
country, Sweden, elected a new government. Well, not so much a new
government, but a return to a past I had hoped was long forgotten.
Chances are you would not have heard of this electoral upheaval had it
not been for the newly elected government choosing its first political
overture to be one involving foreign policy. Many have expressed shock
and confusion over the fact that Sweden's new center-left government
has decided to recognize the state of Palestine, thus making it the
first major European country to do so. But those of us who are familiar
with Sweden's political landscape know that this move has been a long
time coming.
The now-ruling Social
Democrats are a party with a long history of pro-Palestinian and
anti-Israeli sentiments and a seemingly never-ending flexibility toward
anti-Semitic attitudes within the flock: from former Prime Minister
Olof Palme's close friendship with Yasser Arafat and his comparisons
between Nazi Germany and Israel to the infamous Malmo Mayor Ilmar
Reepalu's anti-Zionist policies. And now, most recently, the popular
politician Adrian Kaba publicly claiming that the Mossad trained
Islamic State fighters to kill Muslims and that the Islamic State group
is a pawn in a Jewish-European right-wing conspiracy.
One might think that
such outlandish statements would cause national outrage, but they
don't. And it would be a mistake to assume that spreading anti-Semitic
myths would lead to Kaba leaving the Social Democratic party in
disgrace. Instead, Kaba is heading up the Malmo task force against
anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. That's not a typo. Such is the political
environment of the country I currently call home.
As a proud, public and
outspoken Swedish Jew, I am often asked if I worry about getting
attacked on the street for wearing my Magen David or having my home
vandalized for flying a large Israeli flag. My answer is always the
same: As much as I fear violent anti-Semitic individuals, I fear far
more the systemic anti-Semitism eating its way into our political
system.
The Swedish decision to
recognize the state of Palestine may seem like a thoughtless stunt
from a land of little consequence, but it speaks to a larger trend with
grave consequences for us all. As the anti-Semitism of yesterday
dresses up as the anti-Zionism of tomorrow, the latter gains political
momentum to do what the former never could. The coalition of Social
Democrats, Greens and the Left Party was elected not in spite of these
policies but because of them. They are now not attempting a coup but
merely fulfilling a promise.
One of the newly
appointed ministers in the new coalition government is Mehmet Kaplan of
the Green Party. Kaplan is no longer allowed entry into Israel after
his active and repeated involvement in the Ship to Gaza organization.
Kaplan has compared Swedish Muslims going overseas to fight a global
jihad with the Swedish freedom fighters in the 1939-1940 Finnish Winter
War against the Soviet Union, and he is often a prominent speaker at
anti-Israel rallies across the country. During one of these rallies,
Kaplan said his dream was to one day see Jerusalem "liberated." This
former head of the Swedish Muslim council and current member of the
Free Gaza movement has now been appointed housing and development
minister, and is thus one of the most powerful people in Sweden.
And this is what keeps
me up at night: If I get attacked for wearing my Magen David, I turn to
the police, relying on the law and the powers that be to right the
wrong that was done to me. But what to I do when my attacker holds one
of the highest offices in the land? Who will protect me when I am no
longer considered the victim but the criminal -- just for being me?
In 1933, Germans cast
their votes for death and ruin, but they did so claiming ignorance of
what was yet to come. Those who are now putting hatred in power all
over Europe do so against the backdrop of the Holocaust. As the last
witnesses draw breath, history is allowed to repeat itself by ballot
and popular vote.
However expected, this
latest turn in Swedish foreign policy is chilling in its calm
deliberation. This, after all, is how it starts and how it ends -- not
by committing illegal acts toward us, but by making us illegal, and by
going after the home we flee to once we have no place left to go.
In 2014, Swedes cast their votes for hate and ruin. And as the wolf bursts into the flock, so they have come.
Annika Hernroth-Rothstein is a
political adviser, activist and writer on the Middle East, religious
affairs and global anti-Semitism.
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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