Is the left against Jews!?

 Well some say that and if you look at the news and hear them speak, that’s the impression you get.

 

I am not interested in politics when it comes to left and right. I think that is a way to look at politics that is wrong, and a very new way as well.

 

So, If you think this, then you are right, if you think that then you are left…

 

But again is the left against the Jews?

 

 

Well personally I don’t think “The left in Sweden” is against Jews as a group. Most parties and movements on the Swedish left explicitly oppose antisemitism. But there are specific segments and situations where antisemitic ideas or hostility toward Jews show up, usually tied to Israel-Palestine politics.

 

I have been searching and reading articles etc and found out interesting things.

 

Israel-Palestine is the main flashpoint

Swedish left politics has a long tradition of solidarity with Palestinians, going back to Olof Palme in the 1970s. Sweden was the first EU country to recognise Palestine in 2014, pushed by the Social Democrats.

For most people on the left, this is about criticising Israeli government policy: settlements, Gaza, occupation. Where it turns into a problem for Jews:

• Spillover: Some protests and activist spaces blur “Israel” and “Jews.” Swedish Jewish congregations report vandalism and threats that spike when the conflict escalates.  Data shows hate crimes against Jews increase during Gaza wars.
• Rhetoric: Chants or signs at rallies sometimes use “Zionist” as a catch-all, or invoke tropes about money/power that match old anti semitic patterns. Even if aimed at Israel, Swedish Jews experience it as targeted at them.

It's been reported that at some rallies people have been screaming death to the Jews etc.

• Boycott debates: The very left political party, Vänsterpartiet and parts of Social Democrats support BDS. Jewish organisations in Sweden often say BDS feels like exclusion of Jews from public life, because Israel-related culture, academia, and business ties get targeted.

Power analysis + “anti-racist” frameworks

Some far-left groups in Sweden use an “oppressor/oppressed” lens. Because Jews in Sweden are often seen as integrated and middle-class, antisemitism sometimes gets treated as less urgent than Islamophobia or anti-Black racism.

• In 2023, a report from the Swedish Committee Against Antisemitism found examples of left-wing activists dismissing Jewish concerns about anti semitism as “deflection from Palestine.”
• Conspiracy thinking about “Zionist lobbies” or “global elites” shows up in some anti-imperialist circles. The structure overlaps with classic anti semitic tropes, even if “Jew” isn’t said out loud.

 

Demographics of left activism

In Malmö, where I live, the left includes large diaspora communities from the Middle East. Some of the anti semitic incidents documented there come from individuals within those communities who are also active in left-leaning anti-Israel protests. Swedish media and BRÅ crime stats have covered this tension since the early 2000s. That creates a local dynamic where “left” spaces and anti semitic harassment overlap, though the parties themselves condemn it.

 

But I have seen it several of times and it is the fact that Jews can't walk on the streets in my hometown with Jewish symbols, if so they get attacked.

What Swedish left parties actually say

• Socialdemokraterna: Party program condemns anti semitism. But members have been criticised for participating in rallies were anti semitic slogans were used.
• Vänsterpartiet: Officially against antisemitism. Has had to expel local members for anti semitic statements. Supports boycotts of Israel that Jewish groups oppose.
• Miljöpartiet: Similar position - anti-antisemitism in policy, but tensions around Israel activism.

It’s not one-sided

BRÅ’s hate crime reports consistently show anti semitic crimes in Sweden come from multiple sources:

• Right-wing extremists: Neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement, Holocaust denial, threats to synagogues.

This has been a problem for years but during the last years increased a lot.

• Islamist extremists: A subset of attacks and threats. This is getting more and more serious.
• Left-wing spaces: Usually harassment, exclusion, or conspiracy rhetoric tied to Israel, less often violence. This is also getting worse year after year.

 

A 2022 survey by the Living History Forum found that anti semitic attitudes exist across the political spectrum in Sweden, but manifest differently. On the left, it’s more correlated with extreme anti-Israel attitudes. On the right, more with ethnic nationalism.

 

 

 

So yes this is what I found out and in a way already knew, but what do our politicians do about it!?

Well they talk a lot. But can they walk that talk?

 

One thing they say is education. We need to teach young children about the holocaust etc. And yes that’s good but do we need to educate people not to scream “ Kill the Jews” and educate them not to harass and beat up Jews on the streets?

 

Social Minister Jakob Forssmed said it’s “completely unacceptable” for young people to feel unsafe going to a lecture or wearing a Star of David. And of cause it is, but as I said not much is happening.

 

Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard shared a video where former minister Maud Olofsson said 4 of 10 Swedish Jews consider emigration and 81% sometimes hide Jewish symbols. I would say it is always as they hide them!

I wrote down my thought on this 4 weeks ago, and planned to publish it here but over and over again new things show up.

Two days ago, a debate took place among the various parties in the Swedish Parliament. The Liberal leader, who has a Muslim background, wore a Star of David around her neck in support of the Jewish minority in Sweden.

The Left was confronted on this issue, but as usual, politicians wriggle out of it.

But then, the very next day, a left-wing politician—a Muslim woman—wrote that this Liberal Party leader is a disgrace and ought to be burned. A police report has now been filed against this politician.

What is going on!?

.........................................

The government is connecting this to immigration policy: plans to revise immigration law to “impose clear requirements for a decent way of life” on residence-permit applicants and expand deportation grounds. The argument is that Sweden’s openness has been misused to create division

 

 

Many Christian traditions see antisemitism as incompatible with their faith for a few reasons:

Jesus, the apostles, and the early church were Jewish. The Hebrew Bible/Old Testament is part of Christian scripture.

Churches have publicly repented for past teachings like “deicide charges” that fuelled antisemitism for centuries. Catholic Nostra Aetate 1965 and many Protestant statements since then reject that theology.

If antisemitism is putting a specific neighbour group in fear, the command to “love your neighbour as yourself” applies directly.

So the baseline for most churches isn’t politics, it’s: this is about people made in God’s image being targeted.

 

 You can disagree with the Israeli government without holding Swedish Jews responsible. Most Swedish Jewish families have lived here for generations and have nothing to do with Knesset decisions.

 

Christian tradition has “blessed are the peacemakers.” That means refusing to pick between caring about Palestinian suffering and caring about Jewish safety. Both can be true.

So again it is not easy but one thing is true, we can't continue with this anti semitism on our streets, it has to stop now.