denmark 2002-3
Antisemitism in
Denmark rose to unprecedented heights in 2002 with physical violence,
destruction of property, verbal and written threats and harrasment. The Jewish
community recorded 65 such incidents in 2002. In
June the community established a hotline for victims of antisemitic acts.
the jewish community
Denmark was the first Scandinavian
country that permitted Jews to settle there when they arrived in the 17th
century. Jews have enjoyed civic equality since 1814 and citizenship since
1849. Today there are 7,000 Jews in Denmark, out of a total population of 5.25
million. Most of the community is concentrated in Copenhagen, but smaller
communities exist in Odense and Aarhus. About one-third are Polish Jews (or
their children) who found sanctuary in the country after the antisemitic
campaign in communist Poland in 1968. The central communal organization is the
Mosaiske Troessamfund. The community operates several synagogues (including its
flagship Great Synagogue completed in 1833) as well as the Caroline Jewish Day
School (established in 1805). Jodisk Orientering is the leading Jewish
publication.
political organizations and EXTRA-parliamentary groups
Right-Wing Organizations
The right-wing, anti-Muslim Danish
People’s Party (Dansk Folkeparti – DF), led by Pia Kjaersgaard, is the
third largest party in the
Folketing (parliament). During the year
several members were convicted of racism for anti-Muslim statements and
posters. The party demonstrated its support for Israel by defying an anti-Israel
boycott (see below) and serving Israeli produce at its annual convention in
October.
The xenophobic Progress Party (Fremskridtspartiet)
won no seats in the autumn 2001 elections and is effectively defunct. Both
the Danish National Socialist Party (DNSB) and the Danish National
Front have always been marginal organizations. The DNSB runs a local radio
station.
Islamist Groups
antisemitic activity
Antisemitism in
Denmark rose to unprecedented heights in 2002, with physical violence against
individuals, destruction of property, verbal and written threats and
harrasment. The Jewish community registered 65 such incidents in 2002. In June
2002, the Jewish community established a hotline offering assistance to victims
of attacks, while the mayor of Copenhagen appealed to the chief of police for
protection for the city’s Jewish citizens. Jewish community president Jacques
Blum told reporters that Jews were afraid to walk in certain areas.
Violence, Vandalism,Threats and
Harassment
Several violent
attacks on Jewish individuals were recorded. Stones were thrown by a gang of
young Arabs at the family of a former president of the Jewish community in
Copenhagen; a young Jew, apparently identifiable because he wore a Star of
David, was threatened, and eventually kicked and throttled by a group of Arabs
at a health center; a Danish Jewish shop owner in Copenhagen was attacked and
knifed by a gang of Palestinian youths near his shop; and a Jewish woman
working in a video rental store was verbally abused and beaten by four Arab youths.
Jewish schoolchildren were also victims of
antisemitic attacks. A 15-year-old student at Denmark’s Jewish school was kicked
and beaten by a gang of four or five Muslims in November. Earlier in the year,
in September and October, Palestinian youths spat on, insulted and threatened
children at the school.
Among other violent incidents, the car of Jacques
Blum, president of the Jewish community in Copenhagen, was vandalized four
times between December 2001 and April 2002. In addition,
in late April he received menacing phone calls and was threatened by Arabs on
the street. Similar calls were received at the Jewish community offices and at
the home of a community security officer. In May a young Jewish man from
Ringsted complained to the police that he had been continually threatened and physically
harassed by Arabs in the past several
months and he feared to walk in the city. Israelis living in Denmark requested
protection from the Jewish community after having been threatened by
Palestinians. In August, vandals sprayed antisemitic graffiti on the outside walls
of the Copenhagen synagogue, as well as on nearby buildings.
On 7 April about 100 Palestinians, assisted by
members of the neo-Nazi White Pride group, shouted, pushed and threw rocks and
bottles during a peaceful pro-Israel demonstration in Copenhagen organized by
Christian activist Moses Hansen. When the demonstrators attempted to leave the
area they were attacked with fists, sticks, knives and brass knuckles. One
demonstrator was hit on the head with an axe and hospitalized. Thirty-one Palestinians
and several White Pride members were arrested. Two weeks later police arrested
another 11 Palestinians for threatening behavior at a second pro-Israel
demonstration in Copenhagen.
Police have been investigating reports of an
alleged hit list containing the names of some 15 prominent Jews. According to Jutland
Posten in August 2002), a radical Islamist organization offered a reward of
Dkr 250,000 (about $35,000) for killing one of the names on the list.
Propaganda
On 5 April Palestinian
imam Ahmad Abu Laban called on his congregation at Friday prayers to offer
their lives in a jihad for the Palestinian cause. Outside the mosque buses were
waiting to take the congregants to a demonstration at Parliament Square, where they
held up signs equating Judaism with Nazism, brandished a gun and burned the
Israeli flag. A few days earlier, at a similar demonstration in front of the
Israeli embassy, a father held up his small son who was dressed as a suicide
bomber. Another imam, Fatih Alev, accused Danish Jews of continuing “Sharon’s
dirty game.”
Several times during the year commentators
alleged in articles about Ariel Sharon, Israel or the Palestinians that a
Jewish lobby dictated the foreign policy of the United States. In addition,
anti-Israeli advocates, such as Joergen D. Groenbaek (19 April) and Flemming
Pade (2 July) in Berlingske Tidende, argued that the Holocaust was being
used by Jews to manipulate public opinion and muzzle political criticism of
Israel. Lau Sander Esbensen, in Politken (20 Nov.) claimed that the Holocaust
was used by the Jews to create “elbow room” for their arguments.
Many Palestinian
groups, left-wing political parties (such as the
Socialist People’s Party, the Unity List and the Communist Party) and NGOs
(such as the International Forum and the Anti-fascist Association), together with trade unions, launched a nation-wide campaign to boycott
Israel. The
boycott, which includes farm produce and manufactured goods, as well as cultural
and scientific exchanges, is specifically aimed at the preferential trade agreement
between the EU and Israel. Despite a huge propaganda campaign the boycott has
not had a great impact in Denmark.
As part of this campaign, attempts were made
to boycott a friendly football match between Denmark and Israel on 17 April. When,
nevertheless, 30,000 people showed up, violent demonstrations ensued outside
the stadium and about 150 demonstrators were arrested.
A general debate concerning Somali refugees
who practice circumcision on their young daughters expanded into antisemitic
claims against the brit mila (Jewish male circumcision ritual).
Although most writers were careful to avoid comments that might be construed as
antisemitic, Finn Nielsen, in Jyllands Posten (9 Sept.), stated, for
instance, that the practice of circumcision was “barbarian,” but that there was
no hope of abolishing it since any criticism led to “a chorus crying
‘Holocaust!’”
responses to antisemitism
The escalation in
antisemitism prompted a reaction on the part of some groups and individuals.
Both the Turkish Islamic Cultural Union and POEM, an umbrella organization for
ethnic minorities in Denmark, expressed their disapproval of antisemitic
actions. On 25 May 2002, three Danish-Palestinians, Naser Khader, Hanna Ziadeh
and Mahmoud Issa, published a full-page article in Danish and Arabic, in the
large-circulation daily Politiken, asking Danish Muslims to refrain from
antisemitism.
In December over 700 Jews and non-Jews placed
a full page announcement in the Politiken accusing the newspaper of
incitment to antisemitism because of its allegedly one-sided view of the
Israeli-Arab conflict.
The cultural mayor of Copenhagen, Martin Geertsen, demanded that
police reinforce their efforts to protect the Jewish community. Members of
Parliament from the Danish Peoples Party, as well as other prominent friends of
Israel, brought up the issue of protection for the Jews in the national press.
