Hundreds join kippah walk in northern Sweden to protest against Nazi threats
Hundreds of people took part in a kippah walk in the northern Swedish town of Umeå on Sunday, in support of the local Jewish association which has decided to close its centre following Nazi threats.
The Jewish Association in Umeå earlier this month described having received threatening e-mails and having had its buildings vandalized with swastika stickers and the phrase “we know where you live”.
It said it had decided to end its activities after its members said they felt unsafe.
"Too many things have happened lately which mean that Jewish parents don't feel safe having their kids at the schools. Our children shouldn't need to live in a world where they have to be ashamed for what they are, but it's not possible to operate if people are scared," its spokesperson Carinne Sjöberg told public broadcaster SVT at the time.
On Sunday hundreds of people marched through Umeå in a kippah walk organized by The Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities, reports SVT.
Several local politicians, representing both the centre-left Social Democrats and centre-right Moderate party, took part in the walk as well as Israel's ambassador Isaac Bachman and the vicar of the Umeå branch of the Swedish Church.
Sweden has been battling anti-Semitism for years, and the country's interior minister Anders Ygeman earlier this month called the situation in Umeå “completely unacceptable.”
“We're seeing how Jewish and Muslim associations are being exposed to hatred and threats. That's why the government has trebled support for their security work. That's why we have doubled the number of police officers investigating hate crimes,” he told the TT news agency earlier in April.
READ ALSO: Jewish centre closes after Nazi threats
READ ALSO: How Malmö wants to tackle anti-Semitism
READ ALSO: My day as a kippah-wearing Jew in Malmö
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The Jewish Association in Umeå earlier this month described having received threatening e-mails and having had its buildings vandalized with swastika stickers and the phrase “we know where you live”.
It said it had decided to end its activities after its members said they felt unsafe.
"Too many things have happened lately which mean that Jewish parents don't feel safe having their kids at the schools. Our children shouldn't need to live in a world where they have to be ashamed for what they are, but it's not possible to operate if people are scared," its spokesperson Carinne Sjöberg told public broadcaster SVT at the time.
On Sunday hundreds of people marched through Umeå in a kippah walk organized by The Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities, reports SVT.
Several local politicians, representing both the centre-left Social Democrats and centre-right Moderate party, took part in the walk as well as Israel's ambassador Isaac Bachman and the vicar of the Umeå branch of the Swedish Church.
Sweden has been battling anti-Semitism for years, and the country's interior minister Anders Ygeman earlier this month called the situation in Umeå “completely unacceptable.”
“We're seeing how Jewish and Muslim associations are being exposed to hatred and threats. That's why the government has trebled support for their security work. That's why we have doubled the number of police officers investigating hate crimes,” he told the TT news agency earlier in April.
READ ALSO: Jewish centre closes after Nazi threats
READ ALSO: How Malmö wants to tackle anti-Semitism
READ ALSO: My day as a kippah-wearing Jew in Malmö
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