Sweden's Israeli flag burning and tolerating the Iranian regime
Benjamin Weinthal of the Jerusalem Post writes about how Swedish prime minister Carl Bilt's government has been acting friendly towards Iran, not unlike Germany's own allowing of free trade to go on with them:
The burning of an Israeli flag in the heart of Stockholm’s bustling downtown shopping district this week coincided neatly with Swedish foreign minister Carl Bildt’s efforts to placate the Iranian regime.Unfortunately, in Sweden, just like in Norway, government/authority/society there often does seem very distastefully tolerant of hatemongering, and probably couldn't care less that Raoul Wallenberg was lost after WW2. What can be done for now is not to bother buying most Swedish imports if they keep on like this.
Bildt, who penned an opinion piece on Tuesday in the International Herald Tribune with his Finnish counterpart Erkki Tuomioja, has somewhat shifted his country’s policies toward Iran and Syria.
While citing his “deeply critical” attitude toward ongoing human rights violations, he nonetheless went to great lengths to prevent the EU from forcing Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson to pull the plug on its contracts with Assad’s regime.
The regimes in both Tehran and Damascus have exploited Western communications technology to crack down on pro-democracy movements. Bildt flatly denied that he sought to protect Sweden’s economic interests, and called his critics “ignorant.” Reuters quoted unnamed diplomats that it “was very unusual for Sweden, known as a staunch defender of human rights, to block sanctions, or for one member state to act alone to do so.”
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, sent me a note about a Swedish man, Johan Lundell, expressing outrage that his society would react indifferently to the burning of an Israeli flag. The two men suspected of stealing the flag from a dance group and burning it are believed to be Libyan immigrants.
“That such a hate act can be perpetrated with impunity in downtown Stockholm, with no action taken by authorities at the time or since, is an outrage and a danger to Jews,” wrote Rabbi Cooper. “Considering what happened in Norway last summer, the murders now in Toulouse, it is unacceptable to have this act go unanswered by authorities.”
Labels: anti-semitism, dhimmitude, iran, islam, Scandanavia, syria, terrorism
