The nation, the government, some of the people, the land. What is going on?
Swedish police record 60 hate crimes against Jews in 2012, up from average of 22 in 2010 and 2011
Sweden has stepped forward to recognize the independent State of Palestine - an action that shows their imagination is quite healthy, if not their sense of spatial time and reality.
A rabbi from the Swedish city of Malmo was attacked by men who hurled objects at him from a car and used anti-Semitic pejoratives.
What borders does this mythical country have? What is their national anthem? (The Martyr's March? Ode to Death and Destruction? O Say, Can You Fire a Rocket?). What steps have they taken for peace?
Oh, and how about a "country" that worships its murderers and terrorists and dances at the deaths of innocents?
The Swedish Ambassador to Israel, who believes we should be impressed because he is trying to learn Hebrew (oh, joy), believes that "The reports in Israel ignored the true depth and complexity of the issue as well as the bigger picture."
Malmö’s former mayor, Ilmar Reepalu, who left his post in February, 2013 after 28 years in office, has blamed the rise in anti-Semitism on Jews and has advised them to distance themselves from Israel to remain safe.
Does this mean that in Stockholm they can see the situation in the Middle East more clearly than we do here in Israel? What makes them think they understand the situation at all, never mind more clearly than we do? Was it their country under the rockets this summer? Have they had buses blow up in the streets of their cities?
Now, here is where a writer thinks: Wait, how much do I know about Sweden? I'll be honest - not much and more than I need to.
So I did a quick Google search "bus explosion Sweden" just to make sure that I hadn't missed some major news items...
Yes, the terrorist who blew up the bus with Israeli tourists in Bulgaria was from Sweden and in 1978, among the casualties of a bus bombing attack by Palestinian terrorists in Israel - there was at least one person from Sweden.
That must make them experts on the Middle East.
Classic anti-Semitic sentiments, such as Jewish control of the world’s banking system and media, permeate Swedish culture – through comedians or musicians – but are either ignored, defended, or glorified by media types as being enlightened.The Algemeiner, Sept, 2014
Magnus reiterated that his country "wants to continue in good and productive dialogue with Israel." Heck of a way to start that goal, Magnus - by rewarding the Palestinians who just fired 5,000 rockets at us this summer and are now doing their best to launch another intifada. Stoning attacks daily - including, again, last night on the light rail in Jerusalem? Yeah, moderates.
It's kind of hard to have a peace process in the middle of a war, so please, give us a break.
"Good and productive dialogue"? By recognizing unilateral actions in exchange for nothing? Again? By recognizing a country that has no borders? By offering to welcome them among the family of nations? This group that has elevated suicide, martyrdom, and murder to a fine art? That is what Sweden recognizes?
Magnus adds that the statement from the Swedish government "came as the peace process has been on hold for some time, and we want to help the sides return to negotiations."
To be fair, it's kind of hard to have a peace process in the middle of a war, so please, give us a break.
The Palestinians refused to come to the table? Where were you when they decided to form a unity government between Fatah and the terrorist Hamas leadership in Gaza? Now you want to help the sides? By deciding on the end game before any negotiations would come about?
On April 16, 2014, despite a rise in anti-Semitic attacks, the district of Skane, where Malmo is located, declined the Jewish community’s request to increase the number of security cameras around Jewish buildings.
One cannot ignore the political benefit for the Swedish government in taking this anti-Israel stand. After all, the Muslim population in Sweden is huge - in Malmo alone, the population is 30% Muslim. Magnus denies the politics and then admits to it, "The Social-Democratic party has for years said it would support Palestine and won the elections." Yeah, we noticed.
And why did the Swedish government single out Israel and the Palestinian issue to address rather than the ongoing massacre of people in Syria or the latest brutality of ISIS?
Why did the Swedish government, who tried to soften this absurd decision by saying that they are seeking to encourage "mutual recognition" ignore the very mutual part of their comment - they are offering recognition of "Palestine" yet say nothing of the fact that half the Palestinian leadership refuses to recognize Israel at all, and the other half agrees, under certain conditions, to deign to recognize Israel if we agree to strip ourselves of our identity - maybe they'll recognize Israel, but never Israel as the Jewish State.
And the timing of this announcement? Right before Yom Kippur. And the Swedish Ambassador tried to explain "it was part of a very long speech." Actually, it was clearly more a combination of political greed and the growing power of anti-Semitism in Sweden than anything else.
Perhaps the scariest fact is that anti-Semitism in Sweden is rated as relatively low compared to the much larger and more populated countries - then again, there are only 15,000 Jews in Sweden.