Teens apologise for bomb threat against Swedish synagogue
Rabbi living in Malmo says the two youths personally said sorry for the incident in December 2017
A rabbi living in the southern Swedish city of Malmo said that two teenagers who last year came to the local synagogue to threaten Jews apologised for their actions.
Moshe David HaCohen revealed the incident to the media for the first time in an interview aired Wednesday by Sveriges Radio.
The high school students, whose identity was not disclosed in the report, waited outside the synagogue in December to confront Jews, HaCohen said. They threatened to “throw bombs” on them, then fled.
The Jewish community contacted nearby high schools, leading to the identification of the teens. The principal suggested that the teens apologise, and they came to the synagogue the following week to say they are sorry, the report said. It also said police were aware of the teens’ actions but they had not been punished.
Police have referred the case to social services, according to the report, which did not name the school.
“It’s part of a bigger picture where the Jewish minority feels threatened, it’s a product of anti-Semitic rhetoric,” HaCohen told the radio station about the incident.
Following the U.S. recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital on Dec. 6, more than a dozen men hurled firebombs at a synagogue in Gothenburg, near Malmo. In Malmo, participants of a protest rally against Israel chanted in Arabic about shooting Jews following the recognition.
“We have announced the intifada from Malmö. We want our freedom back, and we will shoot the Jews,” some in the rally of 200 demonstrators shouted, according to Sveriges Radio. Intifada is the Arabic-language word for a violent uprising.
Malmo has an outsize anti-Semitism problem relative to the rest of Sweden, which has a Jewish population of some 20,000. The city’s synagogue has come under repeated attacks.
In 2014 and 2015, Sweden saw a total of 547 cases in which a hate crime targeting Jews was reported, according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention, or BRA. Of those cases, a quarter were reported in the Scania region, whose capital is Malmo, where approximately 1,000 Jews live, according to an investigation by Swedish broadcaster SVT.
First- and second-generation immigrants from the Middle East make up one-third of Malmo’s population of approximately 300,000.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
