http://www.israellycool.com/2013/10/20/irish-journalist-wears-kippah-for-a-day-in-malmo-sweden/ Irish Journalist Wears Kippah For A Day In Malmo, Sweden
Posted by: Aussie Dave in Aussie Dave October 20, 2013 10 Comments 127 Views
With antisemitic hate crimes on the rise in Sweden, Patrick Reilly, an Irish journalist living in Malmo, decided to wear a kippah (skullcap) for a day.
Antisemitic hilarity ensued.
patrick reillyAn Irish journalist living in Malmo, Patrick Reilly, decided to wear a kippah for the day and see what he experienced.
First he was being stared at, giggled at and finally called “f*cking Jew”. Feeling afraid, different and unwelcome he explained that he was relieved to take the kippah off and return to the social privilege of being a non-Jew.
“When I told [rabbi] Goldberg I intended to wear a kippah for a day he was initially concerned.”
The rabbi warned him, ”Don’t do anything you wouldn’t ordinarily do. Be careful as at times it can be unpleasant.”
“The idea was to go about my normal day and also visit places which a potential tourist may go to, albeit with one major difference – the kippah clipped to the back of my head. My intention was not to take the biggest risk possible by venturing into a suburb like Kroksbäck where a Gambian national was recently assaulted along with his young son and nearly thrown off a bridge in a racially motivated crime. Besides, Kroksbäck along with say Rosengård are not exactly tourist hotspots.
“Well, it didn’t take long before I got the feeling that I was on display as I walked towards Möllevången. Möllan, as it is referred to by locals, is the bohemian quarter of Malmö with a bustling fruit and veg market manned largely by immigrants by day and pubs serving cheap beer by night. I’ve walked down this street countless times in my normal garb, without causing as much as a backwards glance. Now, it was as if I had two heads judging by the number of stares arrowed in my direction. As I passed a well-known bar I spotted some lunchtime coffee drinkers looking open mouthed in my direction. Navigating the fruit and vegetable stalls it was obvious that I was being stared at by shoppers and stall workers. When it came time to make a purchase something strange happened. The stall worker started to giggle and beckoned his boss to come over and witness this transaction. Both were friendly to the point where it was almost too much. Stares I’d expected but good-natured laughter I certainly hadn’t. This was strange.”
Reilly had asked a friend to shadow him in the event that anything got “ugly.”
“Whilst in Möllan,” he explained, “we went to one of the local coffee shops sandwiched between the falafel and ethnic food stores.”
As the two waited for their drinks, Reilly and his friend were “spotted by two men in the corner of the small coffee shop. I could feel their eyes burning into the back of my borrowed shiny white kippah… On several occasions people stopped and looked back at me with a mixture of disbelief and menace. Another woman promptly broke into a fit of giggles like it was the funniest thing she had seen in ages.”
“After a while ,” Reilly explained, “I began to forget I was wearing the kippah until a burly man walked aggressively in my direction and mouthed ‘f*cking Jew’ to his friend. It was a reminder that making your Jewish identity in Malmö obvious carries its own risk. Frankly, it was a relief to take it off.”
None of this is surprising, given Malmo’s history of antisemitism and the mayor’s attitude towards it.
Read the entire thing.
http://politicalblindspot.com/a-european-reporters-day-as-a-jew/A European Reporter’s ‘Day As A Jew’
Posted by PBSpot Admin 17 October 2013 31 Comments
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Anti-Jewish hate crimes have been on the rise in Sweden. Virtually none of the hate-crimes in Sweden have been prosecuted. The former mayor Ilmar Reepalu has rightly been accused of anti-Semitism. Anti-Jewish bigotry has become the norm.
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre issued a travel warning in 2010 for the city of Malmö, Sweden, urging “extreme caution” for Jewish travelers. In 2011, a A year later, plans were scraped to film a Jewish-themed moved there due to concerns about anti-Jewish attitudes. By 2012, the Wiesenthal Centre reiterated that they “see no reason to relax or revoke” their travel warning. Only months later, the Jewish community centre was attacked in a bomb blast.
Few Malmö residents dare openly dress as religious Jews, in an attempt to conceal their faith. A recent report reveals that half of Sweden’s Jews hide their faith. Those who do wear tallitot or kippot, like rabbi Shneur Kesselman,or chef Shmuel Goldberg who publicly wears a kippah (also known as a yarmulke), both have experienced frequent harassment.
An Irish journalist living in Malmo, Patrick Reilly, decided to wear a kippah for the day and see what he experienced.
First he was being stared at, giggled at and finally called “f*cking Jew”. Feeling afraid, different and unwelcome he explained that he was relieved to take the kippah off and return to the social privilege of being a non-Jew.
“When I told [rabbi] Goldberg I intended to wear a kippah for a day he was initially concerned.”
The rabbi warned him, ”Don’t do anything you wouldn’t ordinarily do. Be careful as at times it can be unpleasant.”
“The idea was to go about my normal day and also visit places which a potential tourist may go to, albeit with one major difference – the kippah clipped to the back of my head. My intention was not to take the biggest risk possible by venturing into a suburb like Kroksbäck where a Gambian national was recently assaulted along with his young son and nearly thrown off a bridge in a racially motivated crime. Besides, Kroksbäck along with say Rosengård are not exactly tourist hotspots.
“Well, it didn’t take long before I got the feeling that I was on display as I walked towards Möllevången. Möllan, as it is referred to by locals, is the bohemian quarter of Malmö with a bustling fruit and veg market manned largely by immigrants by day and pubs serving cheap beer by night. I’ve walked down this street countless times in my normal garb, without causing as much as a backwards glance. Now, it was as if I had two heads judging by the number of stares arrowed in my direction. As I passed a well-known bar I spotted some lunchtime coffee drinkers looking open mouthed in my direction. Navigating the fruit and vegetable stalls it was obvious that I was being stared at by shoppers and stall workers. When it came time to make a purchase something strange happened. The stall worker started to giggle and beckoned his boss to come over and witness this transaction. Both were friendly to the point where it was almost too much. Stares I’d expected but good-natured laughter I certainly hadn’t. This was strange.”
Reilly had asked a friend to shadow him in the event that anything got “ugly.”
“Whilst in Möllan,” he explained, “we went to one of the local coffee shops sandwiched between the falafel and ethnic food stores.”
As the two waited for their drinks, Reilly and his friend were “spotted by two men in the corner of the small coffee shop. I could feel their eyes burning into the back of my borrowed shiny white kippah… On several occasions people stopped and looked back at me with a mixture of disbelief and menace. Another woman promptly broke into a fit of giggles like it was the funniest thing she had seen in ages.”
“After a while ,” Reilly explained, “I began to forget I was wearing the kippah until a burly man walked aggressively in my direction and mouthed ‘f*cking Jew’ to his friend. It was a reminder that making your Jewish identity in Malmö obvious carries its own risk. Frankly, it was a relief to take it off.”
At the end of the day, the journalist concludes that, “As an Irish person abroad I’ve never felt remotely threatened but wearing the kippah for a few hours was enough to instill feelings of fear. Even when I didn’t feel afraid I was made to feel different and unwelcome.The statistics show that my fear is well-placed. Sixty anti-Semitic hate crimes were registered in Malmö in 2012 – almost three times the number in previous years. None of these resulted in a conviction.”
BTW read the talkback letters very supportive of the Jews of Sweden
Topic: Non Jewish Irish Journalist visits Malmo Sweden with kipa on, read what happens (Read 902 times)