denmark 2005

 

Vandalism of cars of members of the Jewish community, as well as threats and insults, were common forms of antisemitic expression in Denmark in 2005. The international furor surrounding the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad began in Denmark in fall 2005.

 

the Jewish community

Denmark was the first Scandinavian country to permit Jews to settle when they arrived there 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. The central communal organization is the Mosaiske Troessamfund. The community operates only one synagogue, the Great Synagogue completed in 1833, as well as the Caroline Jewish Day School (established in 1805). Joedisk Orientering is the leading Jewish publication.

 

political organizations and groups

Islamist Groups

The transnational fundamentalist Hizb ut-Tahrir (HuT) is well-established and very active in Denmark. The movement has influence on young Muslims, and can gather 400−1,500 people to their various events. In 2002 Fadi Abdul Latif, its spokesman, was convicted of making antisemitic threats. A Justice Department investigation found that there was no basis in Danish law to prohibit HuT (see ASW 2003/4). The son of militant Palestinian Imam Ahmad Abu Laban (see ASW 2002/3) was expelled from his college in Denmark for spreading the political message of HuT.

Other fundamentalist organizations active especially in educational institutions (such as universities and colleges) include Minhaj al-Quran, which operates among people of Pakistani origin, and al-Muhajiroun (see United Kingdom). Both disseminate propaganda urging the khilafa (political system in Islam; Caliphate) and Shariah laws.

            Two members of Minhaj al-Quran (Walid Khan and Ahmat Tanweer) won seats in the November municipal elections in Copenhagen. They were accused in the media of ‘double-talk’, one voice for the Danish public and the other for their Muslim constituency. So far they have kept a low profile.

           

Left-Wing Groups

Global Roots, a left-wing group active in attempting to boycott Israel, together with the humanitarian organization Folkekirkens Nødhjælp, erected replicas of Israel’s security fence, three times during 2005: in front of a Copenhagen shopping mall from January to April; during the music festival in Roskilde in July, and at the end of the year on Axeltorv, in central Copenhagen. The impact of these actions was limited, especially in the last two instances because of contra-demonstrations by supporters of Israel. Participants at these events carried banners equating the Star of David with the swastika.

 

Right-Wing Groups

Neo-Nazi and other extreme right groups, such as the Dansk Front, the Danish National Socialist Party (DNSP) and Blood & Honour, tend to maintain a much lower profile in Denmark than their counterparts in Sweden and Norway. Membership is small and their main concern is immigration.

 

antisemitic and racist activity

Ethnic youth (both newcomers and second or third generation immigrants) of Middle East origin are increasingly implicated in growing criminality in the country. Many of the new immigrants are concentrated in ghettos, such as Rosenhøj, close to the city of Aarhus. Hizb ut-Tahrir is very active in these areas.

            The protracted international furor surrounding the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad began in Denmark when the mainstream newspaper Jyllands Posten (with the second largest circulation in the country) printed cartoons of the Prophet on 30 September. Over the next few months they were reprinted in some 50 newspapers worldwide, including in Egypt (al-Fajr, 17 Oct.). Mass demonstrations of Muslims took place in Denmark and in other countries of western Europe, and especially in the Islamic world, and official complaints were made to the Danish government by Danish Muslims among many others. A delegation of Danish Muslims set out on an extended tour of the Middle East in order to rally support for its protest against the newspaper’s act of ‘blasphemy’ against 1.3 billion Muslims worldwide. The affair has given rise to a wide-ranging debate throughout Danish society on freedom of speech, with opponents accusing those that permit publication of such cartoons of racism.

Vandalism, sometimes repeated, of cars of members of the Jewish community was a common form of antisemitic expression in 2005. For example, the car of community spokesman Jacques Blum was vandalized four times, including in March and May 2005. Evidence showed that it been kicked and damaged with a blunt instrument.

            There were also frequent reports of insults and threats. In February alone, youths of Middle East origin yelled “Jewish whore” and “Jewish pig” at a young Danish woman near Copenhagen’s Great Synagogue; another similar group labeled two Jews wearing skullcaps on their way home from synagogue “Jew bastard,” accompanied by jeers in Arabic; and two Middle Eastern looking men told a skullcapped Jew that he had better convert to Islam if he wanted to escape a beating. During the High Holy Days in October guards at synagogue entrances reported several instances of youths of Middle East origin yelling insults such as “F—king Jews” and “Jew swine.”

            In March, Rabbi Emeritus Bent Melchior and community spokesman Jacques Blum received mail from the Dansk Front showing a Viking defending the flag of Denmark against “a Nigger, a Jew and a Turk.” Rabbi Melchior also received a handbill, in Arabic signed by Hizb ut-Tahrir, saying Jews were dirty swine and should be cleaned. The Jewish retirement home in Copenhagen received three anonymous antisemitic letters.

            In June, a neo-Nazi website posted pictures, names and phone numbers/e-mail addresses of Jews and foreigners − political figures, journalists and artists − living in Denmark. The site claimed that Jews were conspiring to control the world. The police were investigating. An increase in the number of racist websites was reported by the security services.

 

responses to antisemitism and racism

Two imans from the Danish Islamic Center participated in a conference organized by Police Intelligence (PET), in May 2005, on “The Roots of Terrorism in Europe.” Both blamed “the Israeli-Palestinian conflict” and growing Islamophobia in Europe and in Danish society for Muslim radicalization.

            Danish Prime Minister Fogh Rasmussen apologized on 5 May, the 60th anniversary of Denmark’s liberation, before an audience of 5,000, including Queen Margrethe III, for the extradition of innocent people, among them 21 Jews, to Nazi Germany during World War II. He was the main speaker at Mindelunden, where the majority of freedom fighters are buried. The place is a symbol of Danish resistance against the Nazis during WWII.

Six people from several countries are imprisoned in Denmark awaiting trial for “planning to carry out a terrorist act” (the location in Europe has not been disclosed). The six are connected to two others arrested in the Serbian Republic (one from Denmark and one from Sweden). During a search in a rented apartment, Serbian police found 20 kg explosives, a suicide belt, and literature and video tapes explaining the planned martyrdom. The investigation is still ongoing, but it is reported that the group had links to the Danish Islamist Said Mansour and British al-Muhajiroun leader Omar Bakri Mohammed.