Talk:History of the Jews in Sweden
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Removed link to website: swedenandthejews.blogspot.com, because it was written with an strong bias and an unnuanced take on this issue, and there are not any other links to sites containing opposing viewpoints or a more nuanced perspective to counter the arguments made on this blog. Main argument against this site is that it fails to present the problem of anti-Semitism in Sweden in its true complexity, effectively painting it as more of a widespread societal problem than it is, with statements such as these anonymous quotes which are presented as though it was the entire country speaking:
"This hatred is … both understandable, reasonable and justified" Sweden 2003
“Jew pigs!” Stockholm, Sweden 2002
"DEATH TO THE JEWS!” Stockholm, Sweden 2004
Also, with loaded statements such as:
"In Sweden one can publicly scream and chant “Jew pigs!” and “Death to the Jews!”, unpunished"
The above statement isn't justifiabliy any more true in Sweden than in other democratic countries in general. In fact Sweden has instituted a law against hate speech much like other countries, which while not entirely effective in all cases, makes the above statements technically untrue from a legal standpoint.
This statement below is both disproportionate and offensive:
"So when is enough enough? A judenrein Sweden perhaps? Yes, at the beginning of the millennium little Sweden actually had some 18,000 registered Jews. That wouldn’t be too much for Israel to airlift out."
Clearly the writer has little respect for the democratic system in Sweden or the generally tolerant world view of the majority of Swedes. It ignores the fact (according to a major survey of 30,000) that while anti-Semitism is a problem in Sweden as elsewhere, the majority of Swedes are not anti-Semetic, and that the problem is largely confined to marginalized groups such as Muslims and far-right or far-left groups. The website also makes the argument that the entire Swedish media has an anti-Semitic bias, based on certain media criticisms of Isreal government policies, and makes accusations of anti-Semitism against prominent Swedish politicians and others based on similar criticisms of the Israeli government. While anti-Semitism is a problem in Sweden as it around the world, this topic should be addressed in a more nuanced, factual, and balanced perspective whether within the Wikipedia article itself or in the links on this page. It would be more appropriate to link to news articles or other similar references than to have this biased blog as the sole link about this topic. Perhaps then the site could be re-listed as an editorial site. G coen (talk) 04:16, 2 March 2008 (UTC)
