Sweden: first police cadet with a headscarf

Donna Eljammal

Donna Eljammal (26) is Sweden’s first police cadet with a headscarf. She had wanted to join the police long before she started wearing a hijab.

“Ever since I was little. I want to help others and move instead of just sitting in front of a computer.”

A few years ago it became possible to wear a headscarf or turban as part of the police uniform, after some debate.

Islam in Europe, 5 December 2011

See also The Local, 6 December 2011

And Polis Tidningen, 30 November 2011

Sweden: Muslim kicked off train for praying

A devout Muslim was kicked off a train bound for Flen, south of Stockholm, in May, after failing to show his ticket to the conductor as he was deep in prayer.

On his daily commute to Flen from his work in the capital, the 35-year-old man needed to carry out some of his daily prayers. In order not to disturb fellow passengers, he made his way to a calm and secluded compartment – something he had done several times before. ” I started to pray but then the conductor arrived and shoved me three times in the back causing me almost to topple over. Then she said ‘Show me the ticket! Hey!’,” the man told news site Nyheter24.

The man refused to show his monthly rail pass to the female conductor as he felt he couldn’t interrupt his prayers once he had started. However, as soon as he was finished he thought it appropriate to go look for her and show his ticket. “I went looking for her and showed her my pass. Instead of looking at it she said I should have shown it to her when she came by earlier,” he said. The man was told he would have to get off the train at the next stop. “She was ice cold. I feel demeaned and discriminated against,” he told Nyheter24.

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Swedish court bans niqab-wearing women

Three women wearing head scarves completely shielding their faces were denied entry to a Gothenburg courtroom on Friday during the remand hearing of one of the suspects in the Röda Sten murder plot case.

“I am responsible for order in this court room and I feel I can’t achieve that if I am unable to see the faces of the people present,” said district court judge Stefan Wikmark to Swedish TV4.

The three women were stopped as they were trying to enter the courtroom for the remand hearing 26-year-old Abdi Aziz Mahamud who is under suspicion for plotting the murder of Swedish artist Lars Vilks at an art exhibition in Gothenburg in September. All three women were wearing niqabs covering them from head to toe.

One of the guards at the Gothenburg District Court prevented them from stepping into the court room, referring to the ban on face coverings, according to TV4’s affiliate in Gothenburg. The decision to refuse the women from entering the court room while wearing their traditional garb was taken by Wikmark during the remand negotiations.

The Local, 28 October 2011

Swedish anti-racist magazine releases report on anti-Muslim hatred

Den Antimuslimska MiljönExpo Research has released a study of the anti-Muslim milieu. The report shows how several Swedish websites incite violence against Muslims.

After the terrorist attacks in Norway on 22 July, awareness of the anti-Muslim milieu increased. Expo Research’s study analyses how hatred of Muslims is spreading.

Among other things, the report shows that violent comments and posts are a regular feature of the anti-Muslim blogosphere.

A comment on one of Swedish Democrat MP Kenth Ekeroth’s blog posts about Islamisation and multiculturalism draws the following conclusion:

“the only obvious consequence of these trends with immigrants is the long-term use of lethal force against all immigrants especially Mohammedans, or civil war between the old Nordic people and the new immigrants, it is not a question of if but when.”

The new study describes the influential sections of the international anti-Muslim milieu, and the key concepts and texts and comments in the Swedish blogosphere.

The report was prepared by Research Expo, part of Expo Foundation. Expo Research collects and analyses information about racist groups, networks and phenomena.

Among other things, Expo Research is responsible for Expo’s archives, which contain Scandinavia’s largest collection of right-wing propaganda, and publishes a regular report on the white power movement.

The report can be downloaded here

Expo, 25 September 2011

Sweden: two men charged over Breivik ‘tribute’ attacks

Two men arrested in Västerås on suspicion of attempted murder expressed support for Anders Behring Breivik’s massacre in Norway prior to stabbing two men of non-Swedish origin.

Two men, aged 25 and 26, were charged in Västerås on Friday for attempted murder in connection with attacks on two men of south Asian origin at the end of July.

According to the Dagens Nyheter daily the police report details that one of the defendants sent the follow text message to the other shortly after Behring Brevik’s terror attack on July 22nd: “A Norwegian ‘Nazi’ has killed like, around 84! From the left who, like, cheered on Islam. HAHAHA!! WHITE POWER!”

The Local, 27 September 2011

Rise in Islamophobia and antisemitism in Sweden, study finds

Antisemitism och islamofobiThe number of xenophobic web sites have almost doubled since 2007 and Jews and Muslims wearing apparent religious symbols are subjected to significant discrimination in Sweden today, according to a new report from the Living History Forum (Forum för levande historia).

“Sweden as a whole is a tolerant country but this report shows that racism is growing and is being professionalized on the internet. There is today a small but growing minority that harbour hatred against Muslims and Jews,” minister for integration, Erik Ullenhag, wrote in a statement on Monday.

The report, which was requested by the government and carried out by the Forum, also shows that an increased number of racist web pages have been created in recent years and that prejudice is being spread through schoolbooks.

According to the report, the number of racist sites in Sweden has almost doubled in two years. In 2009 there were around 8,000 xenophobic Swedish sites whereas today the authors of the report estimate an increase to 15,000. This follows a EU-wide trend where right wing extremist groups are using the internet to spread hate-propaganda.

According to the report, these are characterized by anti-Semitic and Islamophobic views, where conspiracy theories are the most recurring elements. The Jewish group is often cast as world conspirators whereas the Muslim group is seen as physical occupiers, actively are on their way to taking over society through mass-immigration and rising nativity figures.

The Jewish community in Sweden consists of some 20,000 individuals and the Muslim community of 300,000. Fresh crime statistics show that there were 161 reports of crimes with anti-Semitic motives and 272 with Islamophobic motives last year. But according to the Forum it is difficult to get a fair idea of the situation from these statistics as they are based on police reports and the authors believe there may be many more unrecorded cases.

“Above all this study shows that research and follow-ups into preventative actions regarding intolerance against Jews and Muslims is sorely needed,” said head of Forum for Living History, Eskil Franck, in a statement.

The Local, 22 August 2011

Blame multiculturalism, mass immigration and Islamisation for Norway terrorist attacks, says Sweden Democrat politician

Sweden Democrat Erik Hellsborn has written on his blog that the twin attacks in Norway are the fault of “mass immigration” and “Islamisation”, denying that he feels any shame for sharing the same views as the perpetrator.

“If there hadn’t been any Islamisation or mass immigration then there wouldn’t have been anything to trigger Behring Breivik to do what he did,” wrote Hellsborn, who represents the party in Varberg in western Sweden.

“The ultimate responsibility is with the perpetrator, but if you are to discuss the underlying reasons which motivated him then it was caused by multiculturalism,” Hellsborn explained to the local Hallands Nyheter daily.

Hellsborn furthermore writes that he feels no shame or guilt that he and Anders Behring Breivik share the same nationalist ideology. Those who should feel guilt are those he calls “cosmopolitans” and argues that “in a Norwegian Norway this tragedy would never have happened”.

The political agenda detailed in Anders Behring Breivik’s “manifesto” bears striking similarity to the ideology professed by the Sweden Democrats and when asked if the the party should shoulder some responsibility, Hellsborn replied:

“No, Breivik is a product of the multicultural society. If Europe had not become multicultural then the shootings would not have happened.”

The Local, 26 July 2011

Israeli deputy minister meets German neo-Nazi millionaire

Patrik BrinkmannDeputy Minister Ayoob Kara met with Swedish-German millionaire Patrik Brinkmann who has ties with German neo-Nazi groups in Berlin over the weekend,Yedioth Ahronoth reported.

Brinkmann, who is trying to establish a far-right anti-Islamic party in Germany claims he is not an anti-Semite, however his previous close contacts with the German neo-Nazi party (NPD) and his past membership in another neo-Nazi party raise questions regarding his ideology.

Brinkmann, 44, made his fortune in the Swedish real estate business in the 1980s before becoming mixed in tax problems in his home country. As legal battles were going on he used the majority of his finances for the establishment of two research foundations which became closely affiliated with far-right and neo-Nazi elements in Germany.

The millionaire later began supporting the Pro NRW movement, Germany’s far-right and anti-Islamic party. He declared he fears that Sharia law will be introduced in the country and has pledged to establish a strong German right-wing party. He left the party last year in protest of its anti-Semitism, but resumed membership earlier this year. He now heads the party’s Berlin branch.

Brinkman visited Israel several months ago where he met Kara and announced his intention to promote one of his foundations in Israel. He met the deputy minister again in Berlin over the weekend as part of Kara’s private visit to the city’s World Culture Festival. Several months ago, Kara met with Austrian Freedom Party leader Heinz-Christian Strache who was once active in neo-Nazi groups.

Israel’s embassies in Berlin and Vienna have warned against such contacts. “Even if this is an alleged attempt to create an anti-Islamic European front, some of these elements seek to obtain an Israeli seal of approval without altering their anti-Semitic views,” an Israeli state official said.

The deputy minister said he was unaware of Brinkmann’s problematic connections with Germany’s neo-Nazi far-right movement, claiming this was “irrelevant.”

Ynetnews, 4 July 2011

See also Ayoob Kara’s meeting last month with Filip Dewinter of the Belgian far-right party Vlaams Belang.