Swedish Radio Sorry for ‘Anti-Semitic’ Responsibility Question
Swedish public radio apologized for a presenter’s question to the country’s Israeli ambassador about whether Jews are responsible for anti-Semitism.
“We offer our fullest apologies for this question,” Sveriges Radio said in a statement on its website. “It was misleading and put blame on individuals and on a vilified group.”
The Sveriges Radio reporter in a live interview asked the envoy, Isaac Bachman, “Are Jews themselves responsible for the progression of anti-Semitism?” Bachman responded that he rejects the question, to which the reporter responded, “Why,” the French news agency AFP reported.
The question came in the wake of a shooting attack on a synagogue in neighboring Denmark that left a Jewish volunteer security guard dead.
Along with the apology, which also said, “The Jewish community has suffered a horrible act of terror and has all our sympathy,” the station removed the program from its online archive.
Sweden officially recognized the state of Palestine in October. In response, Israel briefly recalled its ambassador. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last week inaugurated the Palestine embassy in Sweden.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the attack on the Copenhagen synagogue, Muslims in Norway have announced that they will form a “peace ring” around a synagogue in Oslo this weekend as part of an anti-violence demonstration, The Local Norway reported Tuesday, citing a report by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corp. NRK.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
