Swedish Jews 'in fear' after Denmark attacks
TT/The Local/pvs - [email protected]
Published: 15 Feb, 2015 CET.
Updated: Sun 15 Feb 2015 12:13 CET
Jewish communities in Sweden were on their guard on Sunday following a deadly attack on a Copenhagen synagogue which followed an attack on an event featuring Swedish artist Lars Vilks.
"The first attack was against Lars Vilks, but it is no coincidence that the other was against a Jewish target," Lena Posner Körösi, chairwoman of the Jewish Central Council in Sweden, said. Several hours after an attack on the Krudttønden cultural centre in Copenhagen on Saturday, a young Jewish man standing guard outside a synagogue was shot dead. A bar mitzvah service was happening in the synagogue at the time. "What was supposed to have been a party, ended with a funeral," Lena Posner Körösi commented. Posner Körösi said she was sure the perpetrator had actively sought out a Jewish target following the first attack. "It either begins or ends with a Jewish target," she said, comparing the incident to the attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January. The day after the attack on Charlie Hebdo, a policeman was shot dead outside a Jewish school in Paris and the following day four died in a kosher store. "The hatred against us is completely blind and will stop at nothing. It is a threat to the entire democracy and against the entire Western world. It is a war," said Posner Körösi to the TT news agency. She said that the Jewish community had postponed some events planned for Sunday in the aftermath of the Copenhagen attacks and argued that what happened in Denmark could just as easily have happened in Sweden, where she says many Jews are facing daily discrimination and already live in fear of violence. "This might as well have happened in Stockholm, Gothenburg or Malmö. It could have been a dead Jew in Sweden. It could have been more," she said. According to Fredrik Milder at the Swedish Security Service (Säpo), it is still too early to say how the events in Denmark affect the threat level in Sweden. "This Is something that is continuously evaluated," he said. Säpo is now offering its support to the Swedish and Danish police in the investigation following the Copenhagen attacks. Säpo also has an ongoing cooperation with the Danish security police Pet. Swedish terror expert Magnus Ranstorp told TT that Säpo is already "on its knees when it comes to the Syrian fighters and all that". "It's a difficult security situation," he said.
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"The first attack was against Lars Vilks, but it is no coincidence that the other was against a Jewish target," Lena Posner Körösi, chairwoman of the Jewish Central Council in Sweden, said.
Several hours after an attack on the Krudttønden cultural centre in Copenhagen on Saturday, a young Jewish man standing guard outside a synagogue was shot dead. A bar mitzvah service was happening in the synagogue at the time.
"What was supposed to have been a party, ended with a funeral," Lena Posner Körösi commented.
Posner Körösi said she was sure the perpetrator had actively sought out a Jewish target following the first attack.
"It either begins or ends with a Jewish target," she said, comparing the incident to the attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in January.
The day after the attack on Charlie Hebdo, a policeman was shot dead outside a Jewish school in Paris and the following day four died in a kosher store.
"The hatred against us is completely blind and will stop at nothing. It is a threat to the entire democracy and against the entire Western world. It is a war," said Posner Körösi to the TT news agency.
She said that the Jewish community had postponed some events planned for Sunday in the aftermath of the Copenhagen attacks and argued that what happened in Denmark could just as easily have happened in Sweden, where she says many Jews are facing daily discrimination and already live in fear of violence.
"This might as well have happened in Stockholm, Gothenburg or Malmö. It could have been a dead Jew in Sweden. It could have been more," she said.
According to Fredrik Milder at the Swedish Security Service (Säpo), it is still too early to say how the events in Denmark affect the threat level in Sweden.
"This Is something that is continuously evaluated," he said.
Säpo is now offering its support to the Swedish and Danish police in the investigation following the Copenhagen attacks. Säpo also has an ongoing cooperation with the Danish security police Pet.
Swedish terror expert Magnus Ranstorp told TT that Säpo is already "on its knees when it comes to the Syrian fighters and all that".
"It's a difficult security situation," he said.
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