Sweden’s Social Democrats are taking action over Islamic influence in the party’s youth wing after it emerged that delegates from some of the nation’s migrant-dominated no-go zones have less-than-progressive views on LGBT policy.
Following several days of headlines across the national media exposing activists’ concern over the direction of certain Social Democrat Youth (SSU) branches, the centre-left party — Sweden’s largest — said in future it would require the movement’s leaders to sign a written contract expressing their adherence to social democratic values.
With most of the controversy centred around members of the Skåne region, the Social Democrats have warned the branch has three weeks to produce an “action plan” showing how it will address complaints, or else all of its funding will be withdrawn, according to Swedish Radio.
A report in Expressen earlier this week revealed that former SSU Skåne president Rizwan Elahi, who was number 11 in the Social Democrats’ parliament list, had branded atheism an “amoral idea” and asserted that Islam is “the solution to all the world’s problems today”.
It also highlighted anti-Semitic social media posts by Omar al-Ganas, who headed the region’s Hässleholm club, and Skåne SSU Vice-President Khloe Abdel Wahab having worked for the Egyptian government as examples of the branch failing to promote social democratic ideals.
Both members have now been removed from the SSU, the organisation’s national leader Philip Botström told the media earlier this week.
Following the initial exposé, members of other SSU branches came forward to express concern over the direction of the organisation in Skåne — Sweden’s southernmost province whose capital, Malmö, includes migrant-dominated no-go zones where notorious levels of violence and frequent grenade attacks have seen neighbourhoods likened to war zones in the Middle East.
Activists told Expressen that SSU Skåne had a “very dubious attitude” towards the LGBT agenda, complaining that the organisation sent only five delegates out of 30 to Pride celebrations in Stockholm, attendance at which was mandatory.
In addition, young Social Democrats alleged that members from the Skåne branch “screamed at” and intimidated attendants from other municipalities at the annual conference, one of whom said: “I was so extremely frustrated that [Skåne delegates] could bring 20 big guys along to scare people so they no longer dare vote or talk in the way they want.”
Another activist complained: “The annual conferences are now dominated by a bunch of young men who do not respect the statutes or accepted practices of democratic work.”
But “the worst” behaviour took place at this year’s conference, during a debate on a motion that Sweden should lift its blood donation ban on men who have recently engaged in sexual activity with other males, according to several attendants.
“There was a debate where one side was in favour of giving homosexuals the same rights as heterosexuals with regards to opportunities to give blood,” one participant said. “The arguments from the opposing side were not based on fact and reason, but rather on prejudice.”
“SSU Malmö and Hässleholm said that gay men are dirty and that they are at greater risk of getting diseases because they ‘sleep around’ more, which is incorrect,” one outraged Social Democrat explained.