A Swedish reporter decided to undergo a social experiment–seeing what would happen if he wore a Jewish yarmulke and Star of David necklace and strolled around the streets of Malmo, Sweden.
Peter Lindgren said of his three-hour journey around Malmo: “As an Irish person abroad, I’ve never felt remotely threatened, but wearing the kippah for a few hours was enough to instill feelings of fear. Even when I didn’t feel afraid I was made to feel different and unwelcome.”
According to The Algemeiner, he “received direct threats as he walked through the city.”
Equipped with a hidden camera and microphone, Lindgren documented his activities. One man who saw what he was wearing called him a “Jewish shit” and demanded he leave immediately. Another yelled, “Satan Jew” at him as he harmlessly walked around the city.
The Algemeiner also reports that as Lindgren walked into the city’s Muslim areas, the threats increased to the point where swarms of gangs would confront him.
The social experiment was documented in “Jew-Hatred in Malmo,” an hour-long segment uploaded to YouTube.
The report stated that the remaining few within Malmo’s dwindling Jewish community “are afraid to leave their homes; many want to leave the city and do not want their children to grow up there.”
In 2013, another journalist, The Local’s Patrick Riley, repeated a similar experiment. He reported that throughout his short journey as a “Jew,” several had stared at him with “disbelief and menace,” and that he often feared for his safety.
Islamic anti-Semitism remains a widespread problem throughout Europe, leaving many within the continent’s Jewish population to flee for Israel. Following the French Charlie Hebdo and kosher supermarket killings, a Swedish-Jewish leader told The Local that she received a plethora of “emails and letters from Islamists containing threats.” She told AFP that threats against Jews have “at least doubled” in Sweden lately.
Follow Jordan on Twitter @JordanSchachtel
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.