Love of the Land: Sweden, again

Sweden, again

David Harris
In the Trenches/JPost
31 January '10

Last time I wrote about Sweden, it was in regard to a one-two punch.

First, it was Aftonbladet, Sweden's largest-circulation newspaper, devoting two full pages to accusing the Israeli military of killing Palestinians to harvest their organs. Then came the refusal of Sweden's foreign minister, Carl Bildt, to condemn this modern-day blood libel.

That the paper could produce no evidence of this libelous charge didn't seem to bother those making the decision to go with the story. Why should a little thing like truth get in the way of selling papers or smearing Israel?

And that Minister Bildt, seldom shy to express his views, suddenly went silent on an issue affecting Sweden's image abroad and bilateral ties with Israel - even ignoring a plea from some EU colleagues to say something - couldn't have been more telling.

Oops - a slight correction. He wasn't silent when it came to calling his own ambassador in Israel onto the carpet for speaking out. When asked for her reaction to the Aftonbladet article, she appropriately condemned it. That was too much for the minister. His high-minded principles applied to defending freedom of the press, but not to criticizing its abuse.

Now it's the turn of Ilmar Reepalu. He's the mayor of Malmo, Sweden's third largest city.

You might think that the mayor has his hands full with local issues. After all, Malmo has, shall we say, more than its share of challenges.

The city has the largest concentration of Muslim immigrants in Sweden. And things aren't exactly going according to plan. The Swedish model of integration, played out in Malmo, has not begun to live up to the expectations of the social engineers who cooked it up. Instead, there's trouble galore.

Seething resentment among immigrants about isolation in what are effectively ghettoes, as well as a staggeringly high unemployment rate, has spilled over into periodic protests, some violent.

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Love of the Land: Sweden, again