Following the bomb attack against a Jewish center in Malmö, Sweden, on Friday morning, World Jewish Congress President Ronald S. Lauder strongly condemned the incident and called on Sweden to reinforce the protection of Jewish sites. Lauder stated: “For a number of years now, Malmö has been a hotspot for anti-Jewish activities. The negative climate for Jews there continues to grow. Jews are frightened to wear kippahs or otherwise show their religious affiliation. It is high time that the Swedish authorities defend the rights of their Jewish citizens and give them the protection that is necessary.”
Early on Friday morning, an explosive device was detonated outside a Jewish center in Malmö that houses apartments, a kindergarten and meeting rooms, and bricks were thrown at its windows. Police later arrested two persons in connection with the incident but believe more people were involved. No-one was injured in the blast, but damage caused to the front door. According to witness statements the blasts were heard several blocks away.
Lauder declared: “Only a few days ago, several hundred people took to the streets to protest against the harassment to which Jews in this city are regularly subjected. There is real fear among the Jewish population of Malmö, and it is growing, not least because not a lot has been done to address the issue.”
Malmö’s Jewish community has endured a number of attacks in recent months and years, including verbal abuse as well as the desecration of a synagogue and a Jewish cemetery.
“We call on the local authorities to take all measures possible to protect the Jewish community in Malmo and our institutions,” said Lena Posner-Körösi, president of the Jewish Community Council in Sweden. “There must be a zero tolerance against acts of hate and anti-Semitism in the city,” she added.
Moshe Kantor, president of the European Jewish Congress, said in reaction: "The explosion of Malmo follows an unprecedented wave of attacks against Jews and Jewish targets in recent months, since the murders in Toulouse. The Jewish community in Europe is under attack, there is a real threat to Jewish communal life in parts of Europe and not enough is being done to protect it. A threat to Jewish life in Europe is a threat to the foundations of Europe.”
