Parisa Liljestrand, the minister of culture in Sweden, put it succinctly. “This is an absolute catastrophe for Swedish society,” she said, not mincing her words.
She was referring to the recent decision by the Jewish International Film Festival in Malmo, Sweden’s third-largest city, to cancel its event due to its inability to secure a venue. The festival, which was supposed to run from November 29 to December 2, was timed to mark the 250th anniversary of Jewish settlement in Sweden.
Established last year, it was lamentably cancelled after movie theatres and the non-profit Panora cinema declined to host it, citing safety concerns.
The public relations manager of Filmstaden Norden, a major movie theater chain, denied it space out of an abundance of caution. “This was not an easy decision, but we prioritize the safety of our staff,” Irene Hernberg was quoted as saying.
Panora claimed it was not accepting new clients.
The board of Folkets Hus, a local theatre that has hosted film screenings, declined to participate on security grounds.
The theaters in question have not explicitly spelled out their concerns, but one can safely assume that antisemitism and anti-Israel animosities are at the heart of them.
Understandably enough, the festival was shocked and disappointed by their craven response.
“At first, I was incredibly angry,” said Sofia Nerbrand, one of its organizers “I actually had a hard time accepting it. Now it has sunk in a little, but it’s still completely outrageous. I think it’s incredibly tragic that it has come to this.”
Indeed.
Liljestrand agrees that an unacceptable precedent has been created.
“It is, of course, alarming that we have reached this point, that one of our national minorities feels so vulnerable and that organizers believe it is not possible to arrange events and cultural activities with Jewish content,” she said, accurately identifying the problem.
As if to defuse it, Liljestrand added that the Swedish government has enacted several measures to increase security for Jewish organizations, institutions and events around the country.
Sweden’s efforts to protect the 18,000-strong Jewish community, the biggest in Scandinavia, is laudable. But what is Sweden doing to ensure that the film festival can proceed?
Judging by news reports, nothing whatsoever.
This is a disgraceful situation.
As the leader of the Liberal Party, Simona Mohamsson, correctly said, “If we are serious about Jews feeling safe in Sweden, we must put an end to the culture where vulnerable people are expected to step aside for their attackers. Those who praise terrorism and persecute Jews have no place in our country.”
Malmo, with a population of 365,000, is Sweden’s most multicultural city. It is currently home to about 500 Jews, but some 2,000 lived there in the 1970s.
Fourteen percent of its residents are Muslims.
By all accounts, antisemitism has been a recurring problem in Malmo, with a disproportionate percentage of antisemitic incidents having taken place there.
Neo-Nazis and Islamic radicals have been among the most common perpetrators, reports suggest.
Antisemitic incidents have been marginally lower in Stockholm, the capital, and in Gothenburg, Sweden’s second-largest city.
In general, there has been a five-fold increase in antisemitic incidents in Sweden since Hamas’ invasion of southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (BRA).
Jon Lundgren, a BRA investigator, estimates that around 20 percent of incidents registered by the Swedish police have been related to October 7. Thirty nine percent fell under the category of incitement against an ethnic group, while 28 percent were categorized as vandalism.
A month after Hamas’ rampage, the Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities conducted a survey among Jews. Ninety one percent felt less secure and 63 percent feared being victimized by antisemitic crimes. Still more troubling, 82 percent were afraid to be openly Jewish. In other words, they were reluctant to wear a Star of David or a yarmulke in public.
These somber statistics appear to explain why movie theatres in Malmo denied the Jewish International Film Festival a venue.
In the face of their cowardice, it is difficult to fathom why the Malmo municipality or the Swedish government did not step forward and offer the festival a suitable space. It is hard to believe that a suitable venue would not be available in a city as big as Malmo.
Sweden will set a very bad precedent if it allows antisemitic or anti-Israel animosity to dominate the cultural spirit of a city. Swedish authorities must do everything in their power to ensure that the festival goes on as planned.